Outstanding value — reviewers repeatedly call it a 'flagship killer' and 'the best value in an Android flagship', undercutting Samsung and Google substantially.
Battery life is a defining strength — the big 5,400mAh cell delivers 6–10 hours of screen-on time and is the single feature owners praise most, even those who switched away.
Charging is exceptional — 80W (US) / 100W (international) wired fully charges in roughly 30 minutes (owners report ~40 min real-world), plus 50W wireless.
The 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED is among the best phone displays — 120Hz, Dolby Vision, and a 4,500-nit peak that stays readable in harsh sunlight.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with up to 16/24GB RAM delivers top-tier performance that still feels fast a year-plus later.
Deal Breakers
Pros & Cons
OnePlus 12
Pros
Outstanding value — reviewers repeatedly call it a 'flagship killer' and 'the best value in an Android flagship', undercutting Samsung and Google substantially.
Battery life is a defining strength — the big 5,400mAh cell delivers 6–10 hours of screen-on time and is the single feature owners praise most, even those who switched away.
Charging is exceptional — 80W (US) / 100W (international) wired fully charges in roughly 30 minutes (owners report ~40 min real-world), plus 50W wireless.
The 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED is among the best phone displays — 120Hz, Dolby Vision, and a 4,500-nit peak that stays readable in harsh sunlight.
Detailed Comparison
Design & Build
OnePlus 12
Premium curved glass-sandwich build with a polarising circular Hasselblad camera island. Reviewers and owners love the in-hand feel; the camera bump and curved edges divide opinion.
The OnePlus 12 feels great in hand right out of the box — curved front and rear glass and a smooth matte rear panel make it comfortable to hold without flat edges digging in.
The familiar circular rear camera housing on a glass-sandwich design stands out with character and contributes significantly to the phone's premium appeal.
The camera module is strikingly bulky and carries a Hasselblad watermark unless you opt to remove it.
Reddit reaction to the design is split — 'the ugliest camera layout in the game' versus owners who find the Flowy Emerald finish gorgeous.
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OxygenOS has regressed and software-update longevity lags Samsung/Google — a recurring concern that makes some buyers hesitate.
The curved screen frustrates ergonomically and makes finding a good screen protector a genuine, repeated headache.
US connectivity is compromised — no Forced SA/VoNR support and occasional Wi-Fi-to-mobile-data handoff bugs.
The camera island is strikingly bulky and the periscope struggles in low light versus the main sensor.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra
What Reviewers Agree On
One of the best — frequently the best — camera phones of 2026, with a uniquely versatile quad Hasselblad system and class-leading 10x optical zoom
Class-leading battery life: a 7,050mAh silicon-carbon cell routinely delivers 8–10+ hours of screen-on time and can stretch to two days
100W SuperVOOC wired and 50W AirVOOC wireless charging — roughly 0–100% in 45–52 minutes
Stunning, distinctive Hasselblad-inspired design widely called one of the best-looking phones of the year
Excellent, very bright display — ~3,600 nits HDR peak and ~1,800 nits full-screen outdoors
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers top-of-chart benchmark performance
Best-in-class video on an Android phone, with strong stabilization and 8K30 / 4K120 Dolby Vision across lenses
Deal Breakers
Heavy and large (≈236–239g, ~9.1mm) with a polarising oversized circular camera island
Expensive (≈€1,699 / ~$1,100+ in China) with limited or no official availability in many markets
ColorOS trails Samsung and Google on AI-feature depth and integration, and feels iOS-derived to some users
Mediocre sustained performance — 3DMark stability around 49% with peak performance dropping within a minute
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with up to 16/24GB RAM delivers top-tier performance that still feels fast a year-plus later.
Cons
OxygenOS has regressed and software-update longevity lags Samsung/Google — a recurring concern that makes some buyers hesitate.
The curved screen frustrates ergonomically and makes finding a good screen protector a genuine, repeated headache.
US connectivity is compromised — no Forced SA/VoNR support and occasional Wi-Fi-to-mobile-data handoff bugs.
The camera island is strikingly bulky and the periscope struggles in low light versus the main sensor.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra
Pros
One of the best — frequently the best — camera phones of 2026, with a uniquely versatile quad Hasselblad system and class-leading 10x optical zoom
Class-leading battery life: a 7,050mAh silicon-carbon cell routinely delivers 8–10+ hours of screen-on time and can stretch to two days
100W SuperVOOC wired and 50W AirVOOC wireless charging — roughly 0–100% in 45–52 minutes
Stunning, distinctive Hasselblad-inspired design widely called one of the best-looking phones of the year
Excellent, very bright display — ~3,600 nits HDR peak and ~1,800 nits full-screen outdoors
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 delivers top-of-chart benchmark performance
Best-in-class video on an Android phone, with strong stabilization and 8K30 / 4K120 Dolby Vision across lenses
Cons
Heavy and large (≈236–239g, ~9.1mm) with a polarising oversized circular camera island
Expensive (≈€1,699 / ~$1,100+ in China) with limited or no official availability in many markets
ColorOS trails Samsung and Google on AI-feature depth and integration, and feels iOS-derived to some users
Mediocre sustained performance — 3DMark stability around 49% with peak performance dropping within a minute
Versus the S24+, owners note the Samsung is cleaner, thinner and lighter — the OnePlus is the chunkier of the two.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra
A Hasselblad-camera tribute in phone form — vegan leather, a symmetrical 'master eye' module and a Hexagon-inspired ring. Gorgeous to most, oversized to some, and undeniably heavy.
One of the best-looking phones of the year.
Inspired by the Hasselblad X2D camera — the most beautiful phone of 2026 so far.
The perfectly symmetrical 'master eye' camera module and Hasselblad-style shutter button clearly pay tribute to the brand's classic camera aesthetics.
The hardware is insanely ambitious, but the first thing you notice holding it isn't elegance — it's size and weight.
It weighs about 239g and measures ~9.1mm thick — a genuinely big phone.
Some find the huge circular camera apparatus ugly, when we usually ask for less intrusive camera bumps.
Display
OnePlus 12
A 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED with 120Hz, Dolby Vision, 2160Hz PWM dimming and a 4,500-nit peak — widely rated one of the best phone panels available, with the only knock being curved-edge ergonomics.
These are some of the best OLED panels you can get on a smartphone right now — and it gets brighter than the iPhone 15 Pro at 4K HDR YouTube playback.
HBM mode delivers excellent outdoor visibility even under harsh sunlight, and the QHD panel is noticeably sharper than a 1080p screen.
Notebookcheck rates the display the standout — scoring it 114% in their weighted display metric.
The curved edges add a premium flair with good palm rejection, but finding screen protectors is a real headache — most UV guards bubble within a month.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra
A 6.8-inch LTPO OLED with up to 144Hz and very high real-world brightness — among the brightest screens on any phone outdoors.
6.8-inch LTPO OLED panel up to 144Hz, with a maximum brightness around 1,800 nits and dimming as low as 1 nit.
Hits a staggering ~3,600 nits of peak HDR brightness, making it incredibly easy to see and edit shots in direct sunlight.
In manual mode the display peaks at 840 nits, rising to ~1,156 nits in auto on a 75% white patch and up to ~1,932 nits in the native gallery app.
The smoother 144Hz panel and 3,600-nit brightness outperform Samsung's display.
Cameras
OnePlus 12
A Hasselblad-tuned triple system — 50MP main, 64MP 3x periscope, 48MP ultrawide — that delivers a genuine flagship experience and the best OnePlus camera yet, though it still trails Pixel/Galaxy for stills and the periscope weakens in low light.
Triple rear: 50MP f/1.6 main with OIS, 64MP f/2.6 3x periscope telephoto with OIS, and 48MP ultrawide — plus 8K/24fps video.
The OnePlus 12 delivers on its camera promise — impressive detail and reliable zoom, easily one of the best camera efforts from OnePlus.
The 3x periscope is a daily-driver favorite — used 90% of the time — and 3x portrait mode is the standout, though it produces warmer tones and struggles in low light versus the main sensor.
In a three-way test against the Pixel 8 Pro and S24 Ultra, owners were 'honestly surprised at how good the cameras of the 12 are' — but the Pixel still took the best, most true-to-life pictures.
Versus the S24, owners say Samsung's cameras are definitely better in most comparison shots, though the OP12 occasionally looks better.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra
The reason to buy it. A Hasselblad-tuned quad system with the most versatile zoom on any phone, a true 10x optical periscope and an optional 300mm Hasselblad teleconverter. Near-universally praised, with only minor sharpness and ultrawide caveats.
A 200MP main, 200MP 3x telephoto, 50MP 10x optical telephoto and 50MP ultrawide, all Hasselblad-branded — camera-first overkill in the best way.
Consistently great photos, sharpness and dynamic range with really good color calibration — this phone did basically everything right in the camera department; an incredibly well-rounded smartphone camera.
Is this the best camera phone ever built? — my new favorite camera phone and one of the best Android phones I've ever used.
Even after a direct shootout, still the best camera phone I've ever used.
Detail is very good, but sharpness remains a bit underwhelming on the main camera.
Performance
OnePlus 12
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with up to 16/24GB RAM makes it 'uber-powerful' — top-tier speed that holds up well over time, with only thermal-throttled gaming as a caveat.
Powered by the high-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with up to 16GB of RAM — 'uber-powerful' and one of the best phones money can buy.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with 12GB LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0 keeps the phone feeling as fast in 2025 as it did on day one.
Notebookcheck scores performance 86% — strong, with the OnePlus 12 carrying the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (the 12R uses the older Gen 2).
Gaming is smooth and lag-free, but the phone restricts frame rates to 60fps once temperatures hit 40°C.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 puts it near the top of the benchmark charts, but sustained-load stability is mediocre and Oppo deliberately throttles early to control heat.
As expected, the Find X9 Ultra earns excellent benchmark scores near the top of the charts.
A 3D ultrasonic fingerprint scanner Oppo claims is 35% faster and 33% more reliable, plus vapor cooling to dissipate heat through the aluminium frame for better sustained performance.
3DMark returned ~7,530 best-loop and ~3,682 low-loop with only ~49% stability, and peak performance didn't last a minute — weak sustained behaviour.
Genshin Impact stayed consistently above 50fps and remained smooth even when throttling to ~30fps after ~16 minutes at 41.5°C, at under 4W power draw.
Honor of Kings averaged 144fps over 30 minutes at max settings; Genshin held max 60fps before stabilizing near 50fps.
Battery & Charging
OnePlus 12
The 5,400mAh battery is the phone's most-praised feature — multi-day-feeling endurance with 6–10 hours of screen-on time — paired with class-leading 80W (US) / 100W wired and 50W wireless charging.
The huge 5,400mAh battery is one of the key reasons the OnePlus 12 excels in long-term use, consistently delivering 6–7 hours of screen-on time at a constant 120Hz.
It easily lasts 9 to 10 hours of screen time on moderate use; at 6 months, 7–8 hours with all features on.
Charging spec: 100W wired 100% in 26 min (international) / 80W in 30 min (USA), plus 50W wireless to full in 55 min.
Real-world the battery fully charges from ~5% to 100% in about 40 minutes (occasionally up to 50) — and OnePlus includes the 100W SuperVOOC adapter in the box.
Even owners who sold the phone agree the one thing it did better than any other phone they've used is the battery.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra
A genuine highlight: a 7,050mAh silicon-carbon cell that posts some of the best endurance numbers of any 2026 flagship, with fast 100W wired and 50W wireless charging.
Draws power from a 7,050mAh battery — a sizeable increase over the previous generation — with 100W SuperVOOC wired and 50W AirVOOC wireless charging.
Earned an active-use battery score of over 20 hours; with the SuperVOOC charger it went 0–75% in 30 minutes and to full in 45 minutes.
After ~10 hours of continuous use starting at 7am it still had 53% battery, regularly getting 8–9 hours of screen-on time and ~40% left after a 13-hour day.
A PCMark synthetic loop returned 15 hours 2 minutes, and 100W SuperVOOC charging took ~49–52 minutes (the charger isn't included).
With moderate usage you can easily expect more than 2 days of battery life — Oppo finally feels like a truly complete product.
Value vs Competition
OnePlus 12
The OnePlus 12's core argument: flagship hardware that materially undercuts the Galaxy S24 and Pixel, with frequent discounts to ~$650 making the value case even stronger.
9to5Google's headline verdict: 'OnePlus 12 Review: The best value in a smartphone in 2024'.
Forbes / Moor Insights framed it bluntly: 'Samsung beware — OnePlus debuts a flagship killer with the OnePlus 12'.
It is significantly lower priced than comparable mainstream flagships — about 57% cheaper than an equivalent S24+ in one owner's market — squarely back in flagship-killer territory.
Reddit consensus: being significantly less expensive than the S24 Ultra makes it the top choice for most people; r/Android dubbed it 'The Best Premium Phone of 2024 (in the USA)'.
It frequently drops to ~$650 — a record low — making an already strong value proposition even better.
Still hits a sweet spot in 2025 — flagship-level features without the ultra-premium price, 'one of the best beast devices from OnePlus'.
Oppo Find X9 Ultra
Premium-priced and hard to buy in many markets, but reviewers broadly conclude it out-cameras the S26 Ultra and Pixel and edges the Vivo X300 Ultra on usability.
Its main compromises are the ~€1,699 price, large 236g body, occasional software concerns and limited availability in some markets.
It feels like Oppo wanted to make the camera first and just happened to also create the best Android phone you can get right now — though it won't win every year-end award.
The base Find X9 Ultra starts at 7,499 yuan in China — roughly £814 / ~$1,100 — but the heaviness and visual pressure are the first impression.
The closest rival is the Vivo X300 Ultra, but the X9 Ultra wins by having a more user-friendly OS.
The Hasselblad alliance delivers a phone that genuinely challenges the Galaxy S26 Ultra on cameras.
The ultrawide is probably the weakest part of the setup — with the first three cameras taking so much space, Oppo reused the Samsung GN5 sensor here.
Night-mode processing — color, contrast and exposure handling — is so much better than the Galaxy S26 Ultra's, and the ultrawide is now one of the best for detail preservation.
The optional 300mm Hasselblad teleconverter delivers ~13x (300mm) optical-feel zoom that retains real telephoto sharpness, extending to ~60x (1380mm).
Charges 0–100% in about 52 minutes on the official 80W charger in a head-to-head charge test.
