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OnePlus Buds Pro 3 Review

The latest OnePlus Buds Pro 3 were recently launched at a price of ₹13,999, with potential discounts available. As someone who used the Buds Pro 2 daily for much of last year, I was eager to try these new earbuds, and I have several observations to share.

Design, Build, and Feel

The design of the Buds Pro 3 has seen some notable changes. First, the charging case has been updated to a flip design, similar to other recent OnePlus earbuds, moving away from the flat design of the Buds Pro 2. The case now features a textured, leather-like finish that enhances grip and feels sturdy and premium in hand. However, like Apple’s AirPods, they now come in a white colour, called Lunar Radiance, which may require more frequent cleaning.

The earbuds themselves maintain the familiar in-ear stem design but with some visible differences. The Buds Pro 3 are slightly larger, indicating an internal redesign, possibly to accommodate the dual DACs in each earbud, which deliver a more powerful audio experience compared to the previous model.

The stems are now longer and feature a touch-enabled sliding function for adjusting volume—a welcome and much-needed addition. However, getting the gesture right can be tricky, as I found my left earbud occasionally slipping out. The earbuds also now have “L” and “R” markings, making it easier to identify the correct earbud, another thoughtful improvement. And with an IP55 rating, won’t have sweat creep in through them.

A nice touch is the “co-created with Dynaudio” branding on the earbuds and the case.

Sound Performance

The Buds Pro 3 support Fast Pair, which means they quickly connect to Android devices, especially OnePlus phones, when brought close. The pairing process is swift, and the earbuds offer the same settings as the Buds Pro 2, with no significant changes. iPhone users can access similar features through the HeyMelody app, though OnePlus should do more to highlight this compatibility.

In terms of sound quality, the Buds Pro 3 deliver a noticeably louder, clearer, and crisper audio output. The bass is well-rounded, much like the Buds Pro 2, but with a richer overall sound. OnePlus claims these earbuds can cancel noise up to -50dB, and they deliver on that promise. The Adaptive Noise Cancellation feature adjusts to your environment, cutting out outside noise more naturally than the Buds Pro 2, which tended to create a slight vacuum effect.

Areas for Improvement

While the overall experience is designed with OnePlus phone users in mind, I feel there’s room for improvement for iOS users. The fit of the ear tips also leaves something to be desired. Despite trying all the provided tips, the fit still felt average and slightly loose during sound tests.

Another issue I’ve noticed with the Buds Pro 2 is that latency tends to increase over time, particularly when connected to a TV, leading to brief connection drops. I’ll need more time with the Buds Pro 3 to see if this issue persists.

As for call quality, there’s definite improvement—voices sound clearer, though still somewhat robotic.

Conclusion

The OnePlus Buds Pro 3 are simple and easy to use. Just pop them open, and they connect to your paired devices, ready to go. They offer a range of customization options and deliver sound quality that sits comfortably between Apple’s AirPods Pro and Samsung’s Buds Pro.

The standout feature here is the price. At ₹13,999, with potential discounts making them even more affordable, the Buds Pro 3 offer excellent value for money. With features like multiple device connections, fast charging (providing up to 43 hours of listening time), and LHDC support (though this won’t work with iOS and Pixel devices), they are a compelling choice.

Ultimately, it’s the combination of price and features that make the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 a great product for the money, especially when compared to pricier competitors like AirPods and Samsung buds.

OnePlus Buds 3 Review

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What can be considered as good sound is subjective, but with the slew of phones getting launched in the budget category, earbuds are also a category that has heated up in the past few years. OnePlus, who entered this segment a few years back have had some products that’ve done well in the market, while others that haven’t. They recently launched the OnePlus Buds 3 at a price of ₹5,499, which offers features that aren’t available in this segment. Does it deliver a punch in this segment? Let’s find out.

Design and Specs

**OnePlus Buds 3 – Metallic Grey or Splendid Blue**

The OnePlus Buds 3 are available in Metallic Grey or Splendid Blue, featuring a metal construction with a dual matte plus glossy finish that strikes a balance between style and subtlety. These stem-cell design buds offer IP55 rating for water and dust resistance. Their stems are slightly curved inwards and with the rubberized ear tips, they are comfortable for prolonged periods.

The stems are equipped with capacitive touch controls, allowing users to swipe up or down to adjust the volume, tap once to answer calls or skip tracks, and long-press to switch noise cancellation modes. However, they lack a default gesture for pausing or playing music, which can be customized Bluetooth settings on OnePlus or Oppo devices. The touch controls on the OnePlus Buds 3 are responsive and reliable, although they can be a bit unresponsive at times.

The design of the case is similar to the Pro series and features the OnePlus logo, pairing button and the Type-C charging port at the back. Each bud weighs approximately 5 grams, with the case contributing an additional 40 grams.

In terms of technical specifications, the Buds 3 are equipped with 10.4mm dual drivers and support Bluetooth 5.3, along with the LHDC 5.0 audio codec, in addition to standard SBC and AAC codecs, making them compatible with a wide range of Android and iOS devices. They also feature multiple device pairing and Google’s Fast Pair for a quicker connection process with Android devices.

Sound Quality

The OnePlus Buds 3 offer good audio quality, producing a bass-heavy sound with minimal distortion. There’s no need to turn the volume up high to enjoy the deep sounds. Sometimes, they play the deeper and middle sounds too loudly, but they usually work well with musical instruments and the singing sounds quite balanced. It’s advisable to adjust the EQ settings for a better experience across different types of music.

The microphone quality on the Buds 3 is commendable, providing clear call audio even in outdoor environments. This ensures that conversations are easily understandable by the person on the other end.

In terms of active noise cancellation, the Buds 3 perform satisfactorily for their price range. While audio quality is best with noise cancellation off, turning it on significantly reduces background noise. The transparency mode is also effective, allowing for awareness of surroundings without needing to remove the buds.

The Buds 3 excel in syncing audio and video, including high-bitrate content, and their gaming mode reduces latency for a seamless gaming experience. The feature that pauses and plays audio upon removing and reinserting the buds works smoothly, enhancing user convenience.

Battery

The OnePlus Buds 3 boast remarkable battery performance, delivering around 7.5 hours of playtime with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) enabled. When ANC is turned off, users can enjoy an extra 3 hours of usage. For daily listeners, charging the case once a week suffices. These results are especially notable when using the LHDC codec on OnePlus devices, enhancing the overall listening experience.

Conclusion

For the price of Rs. 5,499 and with offers the OnePlus Buds 3 are a pretty good product. And you can see an improvement in audio quality and tuning as well, indicating that the company is listening to the feedback and also heading in the right direction. Although they haven’t reached perfection yet. The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) is effective, the microphone delivers clear sound, the earbuds fit comfortably in the ear, and they boast impressive battery life. We give our thumbs up to the OnePlus Buds 3 and surely recommend them for anyone looking for quality earbuds.

OnePlus Watch 2 Review

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The latest addition of the OnePlus watch has been launched after a gap of nearly 3 years with a price of Rs. 24,999. At this price point this watch is competing with the likes of Samsung Gen 4 and Fossil’s Gen 6 watches and the likes of others in that category. Now this isn’t really a premium category watch like your Apple and Samsungs watches. And OnePlus knows that, with this they are trying to target a user that is looking for value for money + premium features and also someone who piggybacks on the OnePlus ecosystem.

Look, Body and Feel

The first thing I notice about the watch is its big dial, a 1.43-inch dial beams out at you with a premium build quality, especially for the price point. And this builds on the IP 68 water resistant rating plus a military grade durability. But while the look is premium the button and rotation dial quality feel average.

The colour is the flagship green, which can be seen on the OnePlus Pad, OnePlus Open, and the OnePlus 12. But at 80 gms the watch certainly feels heavy on the wrist, may be because of the stainless steel build, in comparison the Apple Watch that I use is about 32 gms. The display can go upto 1000 nits and this now also has an improved resolution of 466×466, which is more than the 454 pixels before. It is bright as daylight and you won’t have an issue viewing this under any conditions.

Dual Chipset

To improve the efficiency of the watch it now runs with a dual chipset, one is the Snapdragon W5 performance chipset that runs Wear OS 4, and the other is the BES 2700 efficiency chipset that runs the RTOS operating system. These run concurrently and in most cases I found it to be running smooth and fast. There is not much lag and the watch is able to handle what you throw at it efficiently. Yes, it isn’t lighting fast as I am use to with the Apple Watch, but full points to OnePlus on this one.

Graphics and Animations

But where I feel the let-down are the graphics. When I use the watch, the graphics, the animation, there just seems something missing in them, I can’t put a finger on it, but something is there. And its even more surprising since it features a 60 hz refresh rate, same as the apple watch which is actually pretty good, but for some reason it does feel that fluid. But the Wear OS 4 runs smooth and feels at home with the back button swipes for android, it’s just so intuitive to just do that.

Faces & Customisations

One of the interesting things about a smart watch is its faces, and in this case I found the ones in the O Health app to be limited. But you can download upto 80 more faces online, unfortunately that didn’t work for me since under embargo that didn’t seem to fire up. I do have a bone to pick when it comes to customisations as well. I felt those to be limited as compared to what I am use to with other options. But may be in this price segment this could be offering more?

But the good thing is that with Wear OS 4 now you can get things done easily and also use the google apps on the watch. The watch pairs fast, which is convenient and also will download the apps and access pretty well. But do note that in India specifically Google Pay and Google wallet wont work in India. And also for any iPhone fans, this is not compatible with the iPhones.

A Battery Powerhouse

One of the biggest things that OnePlus is pushing with this is the battery life. And with its 500 mAh battery, this is truly a battery power house. It allows upto 100 hours of battery and also now offers a power saving mode as well. And what’s interesting, in that mode you can get access to loads of basic functions, which lot of the other watches wont allow you to do. For instance, most smart watches just show the time in the power saving mode.

But in any case, if the battery also dies then you just need 10 mins to charge your watch. This comes with a 7.5-watt VOOC Charger, which could be better built honestly, but it supports fast charging and is also more than the usual 2.5 watt industry standard.

Health Apps

Now primarily you always use a watch for its heath features and the OnePlus Watch 2 also offers a host of them. And in most cases they work pretty well. Like for instance it accurately detected the bpm and in both the watches I used and that was pretty close. But the metric of calculating steps seemed quiet off. This does feature the new dual frequency for better precision, but there was surely a mismatch in the steps on both my watches. Now I dont know which watch is really giving the accurate step count honestly, but they aren’t the same. They have also enhanced some of the workout modes as well like the badminton mode, which I am looking forward to using it when my injury heals.

Conclusion

So how do I find the OnePlus Watch 2? Now one of my vices are watches actually, I really love them and I invest in them a lot as well. And for approx. 25k, I think this watch offers a lot and is surely decent. Yes, it isn’t the best at everything it does, but for that you also need to spend a lot more, like the Apple watch, which is nearly 2 times this price.

The way I look at it is that, this watch isn’t the best at everything, but it actually is consistent at everything, and for the price and the features it offers, I can see it being an appealing buy for users.

OnePlus 12R vs Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Camera Comparison Test

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Welcome to Asian Photography Magazine’s latest smartphone camera review. Today, we’re focusing on the camera capabilities of two recently launched mid-range smartphones: the OnePlus 12R and the Redmi Note 13 Pro+. Both models are priced competitively, with the OnePlus 12R starting at ₹39,999 and the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ at ₹31,999.

Interestingly, the OnePlus 12R hasn’t seen any updates to its camera compared to its predecessor, the 11R. However, it now features the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and some under-the-hood improvements, which could enhance its camera performance. On the flip side, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ boasts a significant camera upgrade, moving from a 50 MP to a 200 MP main camera. It also comes equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 7200-Ultra processor, promising better overall performance.

In this review, we’ll dive into which smartphone offers the better camera experience for consumers looking for quality photography without breaking the bank. Let’s find out which device takes the lead in the mid-range camera showdown.

Camera Setup

OnePlus 12R

Wide: 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
Ultra-Wide: 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 112˚, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm
Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4
Rear Video: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, gyro-EIS, OIS
Front: 16 MP, f/2.4, 26mm, 1/3″, 1.0µm
Front Video: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS

Redmi Note 13 Pro+

Wide: 200 MP, f/1.7, 23mm, 1/1.4″, 0.56µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS
Ultra-Wide: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚
Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4
Rear Video: 4K@24/30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS
Front: 16 MP, f/2.4
Front Video: 1080p@30/60fps

Daylight Main Camera

The OnePlus 12R has a 50 MP Sony IMX 890 camera, while the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ features a 200 MP main camera. Despite these differences, both phones produce images with a similar quality of 12.5 megapixels. The Redmi’s photos look more true to life, and the OnePlus’ photos are brighter and more colourful, which might be more appealing to some people, though I personally prefer the more natural look of the Redmi.

When it comes to how clear and detailed the photos are, both phones are pretty much the same. However, because the OnePlus makes images more vibrant, they can seem a bit sharper. The OnePlus also does a better job with HDR, making photos have better contrast and making colours look warmer and more inviting. Additionally, the OnePlus captures skin tones more realistically, while the Redmi tends to lighten them a bit too much.

Daylight Ultra-Wide Camera

In the ultra-wide camera category, both phones are equipped with an 8-MP sensor and produce images at this resolution. The pictures from both devices are warm, vibrant, and pleasing to look at. However, the Redmi sometimes shows slight colour fringing. On the other hand, the OnePlus occasionally suffers from over-sharpening, leading to a loss of detail in shadows and highlights in some images. Despite these minor issues, the performance of the ultra-wide cameras in both phones is quite similar, leaving little to differentiate between them.

Daylight Telephoto Camera

Both phones, the OnePlus and the Redmi, don’t have a special zoom camera, so they zoom in using their main camera and make the picture smaller to fit. The OnePlus can zoom in 2X, 5X, and 10X, while the Redmi does 2X, 4X, and 10X zoom. Despite this, both phones still produce photos that are 12.5 megapixels in size.

When zooming up to 5X, the OnePlus takes pictures that look warmer and more colourful, but the Redmi’s photos are clearer and sharper. This difference is even more noticeable when you zoom in more. At 10X zoom, thanks to its 200-megapixel sensor, the Redmi captures images that are much sharper and detailed, while the OnePlus photos show a lot of graininess.

Lowlight Main Camera

When it comes to taking pictures in low light, the quality of the photos from the main camera changes a lot compared to daylight. The Redmi’s pictures look yellowish, too bright, and the colours are too warm. On the other hand, the OnePlus takes pictures that look more real and gentle, which makes them nicer to look at. The OnePlus pictures also have more contrast, making them stand out more. However, just like in bright light, the Redmi pictures are sharper and have more details than the OnePlus pictures.

Lowlight Ultra-Wide Camera

In low light, the Redmi’s photos have a yellow tint, while the OnePlus photos lean slightly red. However, the Redmi’s images show noticeable distortion, making the OnePlus the better choice for clearer pictures. The OnePlus also captures colours that look more natural. When it comes to details and sharpness, both phones perform almost the same, offering very similar quality.

Lowlight Telephoto Camera

In low light conditions using zoom, the quality difference between the cameras becomes clearer. The OnePlus doesn’t capture details as sharply as the Redmi does. However, the OnePlus photos look more pleasing and natural, while the Redmi photos have a yellow tint and are more vivid than the actual scene.

Portrait

When it comes to taking portraits, the OnePlus phone does a better job. The pictures are more colourful and vibrant, making them more appealing to look at. They also have a warmer tone, while the Redmi phone’s photos have a slight blue tint. If you zoom in, you’ll notice that the images from the OnePlus are clearer and more detailed. Both phones are pretty good at figuring out where the edges of objects are, though.

In low light situations, the OnePlus phone still takes better pictures, showing off more detail and contrast. The Redmi phone’s pictures tend to have a reddish colour on people’s skin. Also, the OnePlus is better at recognizing edges in these conditions.

Macro

Honestly, I don’t see the point of including a 2-MP macro camera in these phones. It feels outdated, and it doesn’t really add much value. I understand that brands want to offer a triple camera setup at an affordable price, but it would be better if they included features that are actually useful.

From my experience, the image quality from these macro cameras is just average. They’re okay for basic use, but I wouldn’t recommend relying on them for macro photography.

Front Camera

Both phones have a 16 MP camera for selfies. The OnePlus phone takes more natural-looking photos, while the Redmi phone’s pictures look a bit yellow in dim light. Also, the Redmi tends to make skin look smoother in photos, but the OnePlus provides sharper contrast.

Video

When recording 4K videos at 30 FPS with the back cameras, the OnePlus phone clearly outperforms the Redmi. The colours in the OnePlus videos are brighter and more eye-catching. Plus, the OnePlus videos are smoother and have better contrast. On the other hand, the Redmi’s videos sometimes show burn marks, and when shooting in low light, there are noticeable flares and ghost-like effects. Overall, the OnePlus delivers superior video quality.

Conclusion

When comparing these phones, I initially thought the OnePlus 12R wouldn’t perform well in photography because it has the same camera setup as the 11R, especially since the Redmi has introduced an upgraded main camera. However, the OnePlus 12R actually offers more consistent camera performance. Additionally, its software, OxygenOS, provides a smoother and more optimized experience, making it worth the extra cost.

So, if you’re deciding which phone to buy, the OnePlus 12R not only has superior cameras but is also the better choice overall.

Text and Images by Bhavya Desai

OnePlus 12 vs iQOO 12 Camera Comparison Test

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Both, the OnePlus 12 and the iQOO 12 launched in December 2023 and January 2024, within a gap of a month. And since the time of these launches, there has been a lot of buzz about their cameras, especially since both of these brands are owned by the same parent company. BBK Electronics owns both, OnePlus and Vivo, and Vivo internally owns iQOO.

And both these devices have a very similar camera set-up, in fact they also use similar sensors and processors as well, making this comparison very interesting. The OnePlus 12 starts at ₹69,999 and the iQOO 12 starts at ₹57,999 and let’s find out which is the better camera between the two.

Look, Body & Feel

The iQOO 12 has been designed in association with the BMW M edition and you can see the reminiscence of that across the design, I really like the weight of the phone, it is really light and you hardly feel as if you are holding anything. But the camera module perspective the iQOO is very simple, they’ve not spent much time in trying to jazz up the module. It pretty much slapping on the module in the black background. The OnePlus on the other hand have some unique things about the 12, like the glitter effect when the light falls on it, also the flowy texture.

I have spoken about that in detail in my review of the OnePlus 12 Review here so you can see that as well.

Now both of the phones come with a triple camera set up and they have been updated of the latest software of Funtouch and Oxygen OS.

Camera Set-up:

iQOO 12

Wide: 50 MP, f/1.7, 23mm, 1/1.3″, 1.2µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS
Telephoto: 64 MP, f/2.6, 70mm, 1/2.0″, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
Ultra-Wide: 50 MP, f/2.0, 15mm, 119˚, AF
Rear Video: 8K@30fps, 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, gyro-EIS
Front: 16 MP, f/2.5
Front Video: 1080p@30fps

OnePlus 12

Wide: 50 MP, f/1.6, 23mm, 1/1.43″, 1.12µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS
Telephoto: 64 MP, f/2.6, 70mm, 1/2.0″, 0.7µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
Ultra-Wide: 48 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 114˚, 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF
Rear Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240/480fps
Front: 32 MP, f/2.4, 21mm (wide), 1/2.74″, 0.8µm
Front Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS

Daylight Main Camera

In the primary camera both of these have a 50-MP camera but they feature different sensors, the OP12 features the Sony LYT808 sensor while the iQOO 12 features the OmniVision OV50H sensor. But the output from OnePlus is at 14.3 MP and the iQOO is close behind at 13.9 MP. Now why is this important for you to understand. While all manufacturers claim that the phones have a 200-MP camera, 50-MP etc., the output actually it captures isn’t in its full resolution, unless you are activating it. So, these things can be deceptive and often users feel that this is the resolution that the phone shoots at.

To test the phones, I chose a setting where there are shadows, darker areas and also brighter areas so that it pushes the phones to do more and the images from the iQOO were slightly underexposed and over sharpened in most cases, while the OnePlus gives more saturated output. The colour vibrancy is also visibly more on the OnePlus than the iQOO. In terms of the HDR performance, in some cases the iQOO is much better with bringing out the shadows and highlights, while in the other the OnePlus is better. There is also a hint of slight reddish tinge in the images from the iQOO. In terms of sharpness and details both the phones deliver a good performance overall.

Daylight Ultra-Wide Camera

In the ultra-wide category the iQOO shoots with a 50-MP camera at a 15mm focal range and the OP shoots with a 48-MP camera with a 14mm focal range, and the output is bigger also in the iQOO with a 13.8 MP vs the 13.2 MP of the OP.

And in this case the performance was mixed from both the phones, in some cases the OP would be better and in the other iQOO would be better. Neither of them gives a consistent performance that you can really nail. Sometimes the images are underexposed on the OP and sometimes on the iQOO. Sometimes the HDR is better on the OP and other times better on the iQOO.

But like the primary camera, the iQOO again gives hints of reddish tone in them. While the OP 12 continues to give a slightly more vibrant image, which is slightly more saturated than the original scene. In terms of the sharpness and detail they both have a neck-to-neck performance with hardly to choose between them.

Daylight Telephoto Camera

In daylight both the phones feature the same sensor, which is the 64-MP OmniVision sensor, but the zoom capabilities that both of these offer are different. The OP 12 gives a range of 3x and 6x zoom which goes all the way up to 120x. On the other hand, the iQOO gives a zoom of 3x and 10X zoom up to 100x hybrid zoom.

In the images I like the fact that the iQOO gives you a more consistent tonal range across the focal range, which I found the OP 12 to not give. But yes, from the images perspective, both these phones give a good output. There is good sharpness and details in both, but slight over sharpening in the iQOO, especially at the higher focal range because of which the images also seem processed and sharper.

At the max focal range both the phones deliver ok result. You can’t really use these images, but one thing I’d like to mention is that with OP it’s a lot easier to shoot at the max focal range since it locks focus, which is very difficult to do with the iQOO.

Lowlight Main Camera

The performance in the lowlight category from both the phones is very different. When it comes to the primary camera, the results from the iQOO are slightly underexposed and over sharpened. The OP also over sharpens images in some cases, but is able to deliver a more natural and accurate output of the two. But I found the HDR performance of the iQOO to be much better in this case.

Lowlight Wide Camera

In the wide category the images similar to the daylight, both phones had a mixed output. Giving underexposed images sometimes and giving proper natural output the other times. But the images overall seemed more natural from the OP than the iQOO.

Lowlight Telephoto Camera

And much like the daylight performance the lowlight telephoto performance is also varied. You can see the difference in the images and the tonal range between the different focal range. The images are more contrasty and poppy in the OP and the iQOO processes those images more. Now both of these have the same sensors, but the OP delivers a closer to the real look. It’s as if they’ve been able to tweak the processing and signalling much better than iQOO. But the images are sharp and detailed in both phones, however at the max focal ranges you can see the stark difference in the output between both of them.

Macro

While OP has a higher hand in lowlight telephoto, in macro the iQOO with its super macro mode is really good. It allows you to blur the background which the OP won’t do. The images from the OP 12 also come out nice, but with the super macro mode the images from the iQOO are much better.

Portrait

In portraits both the phones allow you to shoot at 1,2 and 3x but the performance varies in both of them. They do deliver sharp and detailed images, but the OP gives a much warmer tone in the images, which might be liked more by the users. The iQOO adds a slight yellow tinge to the subject while the OP adds a slight reddish tinge. Neither of the phones deliver the actual scene in daylight. But in terms of the edge detection in daylight the iQOO is much better, sharper and well defined edges as compared to the OP.

But as good as the iQOO is in the daylight with edge detection, it’s is pretty average overall in lowlight portraits. The images are oversaturated, much too warm and also sometimes at the high focal range shows colour fringing again. The OP in this case delivers an OK performance, the images come slightly underexposed, but much better that the iQOO for sure. So overall in this case I would say the OP is more consistent overall in portraits.

Front camera

And OP is able to continue that in the front camera as well. It has a new 32-MP camera versus the iQOO 16-MP camera which at best delivers an ok performance. The images from the OP are sharper, much better and also is able to deliver more. Even in portrait the camera is able to sense the depth much better. For instance, I took this pic at F1.4 from both the phones and the iQOO gave less depth as compared to the OP. Yes, it does go as wide as 0.95 but even then I thought the depth was ok. In edge detection also the camera is much better.

Video Performance

In video both can shoot up to 8k but the iQOO goes up to 30 fps whereas the OP can go up to 24 fps. The OP also gives you 5 lenses to shoot from as compared to the iQOO.

In terms of output both the phones have a good output, but the samples from OP looks more vibrant and natural, the stabilisation is good in both but it is better in the OP again and overall in the video as well I felt that OP was better.

Other things

Every time that I was shooting with the IQOO the screen would show the live feed much darker than the actual output. That was surprising since there was no way for me to tell if what is the output the camera would show. Also the iQOO was heating up more than the OP as well.

The camera UI is something that I have included in this comparison coz I felt that the fluency of the camera app was better in the OnePlus and also the screen at 4500 nits is just phenomenal.

Conclusion

So which is the better camera between the two? Yes, both of these manufacturers need to work on certain aspects of their cameras even now, but overall in terms of not only the camera, but also the specs, the optimisation of how the phone works overall, OnePlus is the much better camera and phone in most aspects.

Text and Images by Bhavya Desai

OnePlus 12 Camera Review

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The OnePlus 12 was launched recently and this is the 4^th year of the collaboration between Hasselblad and OnePlus, which started with the OnePlus 9 series, where they initially had decided to invest 150 million over the next three years in the development of the cameras. Now I have used all the devices since the OnePlus 9 and some of the cameras have been really good and some not. But what’s exciting about this camera is that OnePlus has changed their thought process in this one. Which makes it exciting for the people that were waiting for a phone like this.

Camera Set Up

At first glance you can immediately understand that the cameras of the 12 are much bigger than the 11 and the telephoto lens is different. Also the small touches given to the camera module are interesting, like when the light hits the camera module then you can see that slight glitter with the flowy emerald design also has its touch inside the camera module as well.

Now what’s very interesting about the camera of the 12 is that it is the same set up as the OnePlus Open, except the placements of the camera.

Triple Cameras

Wide: 50 MP, f/1.6, 23mm, 1/1.43″, 1.12µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS
Telephoto: 64 MP, f/2.6, 70mm, 1/2.0″, 0.7µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom
Ultra-Wide: 48 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 114˚, 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF
Rear Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240/480fps
Front: 32 MP, f/2.4, 21mm (wide), 1/2.74″, 0.8µm
Front Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS

And the phone is powered by the latest Snapdragon Gen 3 processor. The phone that we have reviewed is the maxed-out version with a 16GB RAM and the 512 GB storage. The good thing is that there is a major bump from the cameras of the OnePlus 11, which also had a 50-MP and a 48-MP cameras, but the telephoto was only 32-MP and the front camera was a 16-MP one.

Daylight Wide Camera

The main camera is powered by the 50-MP Sony LYT808 sensor, which is a stacked sensor and it is supposed to let it 25% more light than before. This will give you a 23mm focal range to shoot from and the actual output of this camera is at 14.3 MP, which is better than the 12 MP of the OnePlus Open and the 12.5 MP of the OnePlus 11.

The images from the phone are good. They are sharp and detailed, well saturated as well, but they seem slightly vibrant than the original scenes. In most cases I felt that the colours were really popping out as opposed to what the actual scene was. But yes, in general nothing to complain about the wide camera.

The phone has a new HDR algorithm and we had also kept the HDR setting to Auto, and in this case I thought the performance was ok, nothing different than what I had seen in the previous phones.

Daylight Ultrawide Camera

For the ultrawide the phone offers a 48-MP camera which shoots at 14mm and also doubles up as the macro camera.

The images from the phone are sharp and detailed but the performance is varied and inconsistent. In some cases, the images from the phone are slightly contrasty and in the others, there is a slight reddish tinge as well in them. The colours however are good and saturated and continues the vibrancy in this lens as well. But there is visible distortion in the images that I shot and I wish that all wide lenses would have better distortion performance overall in all phones.

Daylight Telephoto Camera

The 12 has a new 64-MP OmniVision telephoto lens, and it’s the same one that is featured in the Open and also the iQOO 12 as well. This shoots at 70mm on 3x and can go all the way upto 120x as well.

And the images much like the Open are really good. OnePlus has found a great partner in OmniVision for this camera and it really works for them. The images are sharp, well saturated and really detailed. But yes, there is a slight difference in the image from the 2x to 3x. For instance, the images shot at 2x show a different colour while 3x and above show a different colour. But the resolution and sharpness of this lens is really good. And easily the telephoto is the best lens that it has.

Lowlight Wide Camera

In terms of lowlight the performance of the wide camera is good. Much like the daylight it delivers good and sharp images, the images look slightly pushed in some cases, but the output is nice. Infact the shadows and highlights also in this case come out well and the performance of the HDR is pretty good.

Lowlight Ultrawide Camera

And the performance in the ultrawide is also similar. Good output, well saturated images, sometimes they are slightly processed but from the normal perspective they are pretty good. Although underexposed sometimes, the images overall were decent and like most lens in the ultrawide category, the sharpness could be better.

Lowlight Telephoto Camera

Like daylight, the telephoto in lowlight is also pretty good. It delivers consistent performance and also the images are sharp, detailed and well saturated. Yes, on zooming in a lot you will find that the images aren’t sharp, but in most cases you aren’t really going to use that in such cases anyways. Although there were these occasional cases when I saw some colour fringing but that was just one odd occasion and you can surely give it a pass.

Portrait

For shooting portraits, the 12 gives you the option of three cameras to shoot from and honestly, I found the camera to deliver decent results. Across the different focal range, when shooting people, the images showed reddish and yellowish tinge under the same scenarios, the images are also contrasty sometime.

But the edge detection, sharpness and bokeh performance is really good and I am happy that like many phones of today it doesn’t really over sharpen or smoothens your skin. But yes, the performance surely leaves you wanting for more.

Macro

The wide lens also doubles us as the macro lens and the performance from the same is good. It doesn’t have a super macro mode like some of the cameras out there, but the performance from the lens is nice. The colours are vibrant, poppy, may be oversaturated sometimes, but they still look good to the naked eye. Infact I really like the bokeh as well that it was delivering when getting close to the subject.

Front Camera

The 12 features a new front camera in the form of 32-MP and it also now shoots 4k as opposed to the Full HD in the 11.

But where they have given the upgraded camera, it still doesn’t give the option to shoot with wide lens even now. The pinhole camera on the 12 has also moved to the centre instead of the left in the 11, which means you can now look straight instead of the side.

The images from the front camera are good and surely a big upgrade from what it was before and this is a big welcome change that I am happy to see in the 12. And in terms of the video as well the phone now shoots 4k upto 30 fps and that a really good sight to see. The performance is also good as you can see from the image.

Video

In terms of video the phone shoots 8k upto 24 fps and 4k upto 60 fps. The output is pretty good, the phone focuses fast and also the stabilisation is also nice. And in this regard the delivers whatever you ask of it, which is a good overall performance in this category.

Other Things

The phone with the 8 Gen 3 processors and the Trinity Engine is really fast and silky smooth top use. The good thing is also that it doesn’t lag as well when you shoot lot photos with the cameras and in most cases it will keep up to everything that you are doing.

The peak brightness is a whopping 4500 nits, and this thing can literally light up the moon as well. Even in high sunlight you will find its usage to be very easy and that’s a great thing.

Conclusion

So how do I find the OnePlus 12 cameras? Honestly, I have been using the OnePlus phones since a long time and I have mixed feeling reviewing this phone. From a general phone perspective this has the makings of being a good phone for the price, but from the cameras performance, for some reason it is just too inconsistent for me as of now. For instance, the main camera is really good and delivers vibrant pics, but the colour varies from the 2x to 3x cameras.

At the time of this review this phone has not received any update yet, and these are things that can easily be fixed with updates, and OnePlus is known to do that as well. So I am hoping that it gets fixed in time because I would surely like to see the Hasselblad and OnePlus team do much better than this.

Text and Images: Bhavya Desai