We got our hands on the new OnePlus flagship, the OnePlus 12. Mind you, if you had not told us, we would not have known. That is because the black unit of the OnePlus 12 we have received for review looked almost exactly like the OnePlus 11 we had reviewed a year ago. Glittering glass back? Check. Shiny round camera unit? Check. Curved sides? Check. Curved display? Check. The green variant looks different but the black one does not. So what's new? A fair bit.

Let's start with that AMOLED display, It might appear similar to its predecessor, but it is actually larger at 6.82 inches, and has a slightly higher resolution, although it remains QHD+, and has a refresh rate of 120 Hz. What's amazing is that it has the highest brightness we have seen on any smartphone - a maximum brightness of 4500 nits (the Galaxy S24 Ultra is 2600 nits!). It will not strike you right away, but this is a stunning display!

The specs are totally top notch. The processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (similar to the one on the Galaxy S24 Ultra). You get 12 GB/ 256 GB and 16 GB/ 512 GB RAM and storage variants, and it is very fast LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage too. Stereo speakers are present and the battery has been bumped up to a massive 5400 mAh with support for 100W fast charging and a charger in the box too. Wireless charging is back - and it is a speedy 50W!

Then there are the cameras. You still get a 50 MP Sony main sensor with OIS, and a 48 megapixel ultrawide, just as in the OnePlus 11. But the big change is in the telephoto, which goes up to 64 MP from 32 MP in the OnePlus 11, and gives 3x optical zoom and 6x lossless zoom, which is decent. There are a lot of Hasselblad features, as the collaboration with the brand continues. The selfie camera has been bumped up to 32 MP. All sensors are "improved" too!

The phone is made of premium materials (Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in front), though minus current-craze titanium, and comes with OxygenOS running on top of Android 14, with no talk of AI powers! The price is higher, though - the OnePlus 12 starts at Rs 64,999, which is more than the Rs 56,999 of the OnePlus 11, although the base model has more storage and RAM. It looks comfortingly familiar, if a little larger. Is it worth the extra bucks? Time will tell!

(As always, we welcome any queries you may have about the OnePlus 12! Ask away, and we will attempt to answer)