OnePlus 15R vs OnePlus 12R: Main differences
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The new OnePlus 15 has arrived to bolster the upper mid-range segment of the company, and it reveals the corner-cutting immediately. While it has a pretty high-end chip in the face of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, it comes without a telephoto camera while also increasing the price some $100 over the previous OnePlus 13R.
Not a particularly great pitch for the phone, but users of the older OnePlus 12R might be wondering if the time has already come to upgrade to the new OnePlus 15R. The OnePlus 12R is not a terribly outdated device given that it arrived in early 2024, but still, two years is often a large amount of time.
We tested the OnePlus 15R in our in-house battery, display, camera, and performance tests to deem if it's worth upgrading to this device if you're using a OnePlus 12R.
OnePlus 15R vs OnePlus 12R differences:
| OnePlus 15R | OnePlus 12R |
|---|---|
| Same flat aluminum design as OnePlus 15 | Slightly curved display and backplate, thin side frame |
| IP69/IP69K durability | Just IP64 water and dust resistance |
| 6.8-inch OLED screen, brighter and with up to 165 Hz refresh rate | A 6.8-inch display with the same resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate |
| Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chip, 3nm | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 4nm |
| 12GB/256GB, 16GB/512GB versions | 8GB of memory, 128GB UFS3.1 and 256GB UFS4.0 storage options |
| Dual camera, main and ultrawide | Triple camera system |
| 7,400 mAh SiC battery likely | A 5,500 mAh battery at the back |
Table of Contents:
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Design and Size
Two very different phones from different eras
No surprise here: the OnePlus 15R employs the same general design language as the OnePlus 15, just lacking a dedicated telephoto in the rear. Think flat aluminum frame, edges, and flat Gorilla Glass Victus 2 up front and in the back. There's also that redesigned camera island in the rear, which is no longer circular but an elongated squircle, as is trendy.
The OnePlus 12R, on the other hand, comes with the design language that was omnipresent a few years ago, with curved screens and backplates that are sloping towards a very thin aluminum frame. There's also an offset circular camera island in the back, which houses the phone's triple camera.
Size-wise, the OnePlus 15R is very similar to the OnePlus 12R, just slightly thinner, which is impressive given the much larger battery inside the newer device.
| OnePlus 15R | OnePlus 12R |
|---|---|
| Thickness 8.1 mm | Thickness 8.8 mm |
| Dimensions 163.4 x 77 mm | Dimensions 163.3 x 75.3 mm |
| Weight 213 gr | Weight 207 grams |
Colors-wise, the OnePlus 15R comes in Charcoal Black and Mint Breeze, which reminds us of the iPhone 17 Sage color. Good stuff. The OnePlus 12R came in Cool Blue and Iron Gray colors.
Both the OnePlus 15R and the OnePlus 12R share the same-sized 6.8-inch OLED displays. The OnePlus 15R employs the OnePlus 15's same 165 Hz support, which is only supported in select mobile games. In all other instances, the display runs at 120 Hz, just like any modern flagship phone.
| OnePlus 15R | OnePlus 12R |
|---|---|
| Size 6.8" | Size 6.8" |
| Brightness ~3000 nits (peak) | Brightness ~2000 nits (peak) |
As per our tests, the OnePlus 15R decidedly beats its older predecessor in most ways, but the most staggering difference is the peak brightness, where the new OnePlus dominates. Otherwise, both screens are awesome when it comes to color reproduction.
Performance and Software
Major gains for the OnePlus 15
The OnePlus 15R arrives with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset. This one is some 15% less powerful than the top Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip ticking in the OnePlus 15 flagship, but is still a very potent flagship processor anyway. This 15% difference is all in the synthetic benchmarks, and you won't notice any major discrepancies in real-life usage.
Inside the OnePlus 12R, we had the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, a 4nm chip that was a pretty decent performer in early 2024, and actually, still doesn't feel greatly outdated. It's pretty much perfect for light to moderate usage to this day, and you will only strain it in heavy gaming.
| OnePlus 15R | OnePlus 12R |
|---|---|
| Chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | Chip Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
| Process 3nm | Process 4nm |
| RAM, Storage 12/256GB 16/512GB LPDDR5X RAM UFS 4.0 storage | RAM, Storage 8/128GB 8/256GB LPDDR5X RAM UFS 4.0 storage |
In our battery tests, the OnePlus 15R dominates both the single- and multi-core Geekbench 6 tests.
In the 3DMark Extreme tests, the OnePlus 15R also serves a spectacular win over its aging predecessor.
The OnePlus 15R will come with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage or 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. The OnePlus 12R, on the other hand, came with 8GB of memory in both the 128GB and 256GB versions in the US, though better-specced versions existed in other regional markets.
Camera
Three versus two cameras
The OnePlus 15R has lost a telephoto and features just two at the rear. So, we get a 50MP main and an 8MP ultrawide. The OnePlus 12R came with three cameras, but it also didn't have a telephoto: the phone came with wide, ultrawide, and macro cameras in the back. Mostly a gimmick, this one was not a major boon to the OnePlus 12R camera package.
PhoneArena Camera Score:
Interestingly, in our test, the OnePlus 12R fared better, proving that newer isn't always better one more time.
| OnePlus 15R | OnePlus 12R |
|---|---|
| Main 50 MP | Main 50 MP, f/1.8 |
| Ultrawide 8 MP | Ultrawide 8 MP, f/2.2 |
| Macro 2 MP, f/2.4 |
Main camera
Ultrawide camera
Selfie
Video quality
Battery Life and Charging
OnePlus 15R power!
The OnePlus 15R features a massive 7,400 mAh silicon-carbon battery in the back. However, the minor increase doesn't propel the OnePlus 15R above the OnePlus 15 in terms of overall battery life, as the efficiency of the latter proves to be too good.
That said, battery life was definitely a forte of the OnePlus 12R, which fared well in our custom battery life tests. That was a few years ago, and time has progressed fast enough for battery technology in the meantime.
PhoneArena Battery and Charging Test Results:
In terms of charging, the OnePlus 15R comes with 80 W SuperVOOC wired charging and features the appropriate charger in the box. The OnePlus 12R supported faster 100 W wired charging, with no wireless charging on deck, but with the charger on board as well.
Specs Comparison
|
|
| OnePlus 15R | OnePlus 12R |
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| 163.4 x 77 x 8.1 mm | 163.3 x 75.3 x 8.8 m |
| Weight | |
| 213.0 g | 207.0 g |
| Size | |
|---|---|
| 6.8-inch | 6.8-inch |
| Type | |
| AMOLED, 165Hz | AMOLED, 120Hz |
| System chip | |
|---|---|
| Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (3 nm) | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SM8650-AB (4 nm) |
| Memory | |
| 12GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) 12GB/512GB |
16GB (LPDDR5X)/256GB (UFS 4.0) |
| OS | |
| Android (16) | Android (14) |
| Type | |
|---|---|
| 7400 mAh | 5500 mAh |
| Charge speed | |
| Wired: 80.0W | Wired: 100.0W |
| Main camera | |
|---|---|
| 50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56" Pixel size: 1.0 μm | 50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.9 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56" Pixel size: 1.0 μm |
| Second camera | |
| 8 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 16 mm Sensor size: 1/4" Pixel size: 1.12 μm | 8 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 16 mm Sensor size: 1/4" Pixel size: 1.12 μm |
| Third camera | |
| 2 MP (Macro) Aperture size: F2.4 |
|
| Front | |
| 32 MP | 32 MP |
See the full
OnePlus 15R vs OnePlus 12R specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
Summary
The OnePlus 15R is a decent budget flagship, though with some minor drawbacks, like the lack of a dedicated telephoto camera, which can definitely put off some users.
Still, the better battery life, brighter screen, and better performance suggest it might be worth considering as a potential upgrade path from the OnePlus 12R.
At this point, the OnePlus 12R is starting to show some signs of aging, and if OnePlus 12R users are looking to upgrade, then the upcoming OnePlus 15R might be the perfect device to upgrade to.
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