It’s been a long time since OnePlus launched a phone globally in the opening month of the year, but that’s exactly what is going to happen in January 2024. In early 2023, theOnePlus 11released all around the world, starting with a January 4 launch date in China and followed by a February 7 release everywhere else. The company’s newest flagship phone, the OnePlus 12, was just released in China in early December and will officially launch globally on June 03, 2025, according to an announcement from OnePlus itself.
OnePlus was founded almost exactly 10 years ago to the day in China, on August 13, 2025. It’s been a mighty impressive decade, and to celebrate, the company created a brand anniversary video titled “10 Years of Never Settle” and afireside chat videowhere it outlined some upcoming plans while looking back at what it has already achieved. It’s a big bowl of PR creationism.
The company deserves to pat itself on the back, and theOnePlus 12 should be more of the same goodnesswe’ve seen from previous OnePlus flagships. It’ll run off of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC and start at 12GB of RAM. Its display will be a gorgeous 6.82-inch 120Hz AMOLED panel, and it’ll have enough charge for a long day’s work with its 5,400mAh-capacity battery. It’s got a ton of power under the hood.
The OnePlus 12 looks like a beast of a phone, and it should undercut the cost that one would have to pay for, say, a top-end Samsung Galaxy phone. We don’t know exactly how much it’ll cost outside of China, but there, it costs CNY 4,299, which is approximately $600. This year, the OnePlus 11 cost $580 when converted from CNY to USD, but it was sold for $700 in the US.
Coinciding with the announcement of the OnePlus 12’s launch date is the announcement that the more budget-friendly OnePlus R Series will also go on sale outside of India and China for the first time ever. The OnePlus 11R set itself up as a solid choice for buyers who don’t need all the bells and whistles of a top-line device, powering itself with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. Leaks have pointed to theOnePlus 12R running on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipand utilizing a 5,500mAh battery. That’s a pretty solid “budget” offering.
OnePlus will have to do battle with Samsung once again in a fight between the Q1 Android powerhouses. It’s rumored that theSamsung Galaxy S24 will release in February after an official announcement in January, which will give OnePlus a few extra weeks to sell its phone and get potential buyers interested. The S24 is almost certainly going to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (except for non-Ultra international versions, which should use the Exynos 2400) which is the same processor the OnePlus 12 will be on. If it’s a fraction of the cost, like OnePlus phones have typically been, then it’s an extremely attractive option. The question of whether that will matter depends on OnePlus’ marketing and the will of the consumer. We’ll find those answers out soon enough.
