Forget the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra — the OnePlus 12 is the flagship phone you should buy

OnePlus 12 in hand
(Image credit: Future)

The OnePlus 12 will soon hit shelves, and it’s an incredible value for a flagship phone that’s packed with premium features. Even better, the preorder deals up for grabs on this phone are excellent.

Right now the OnePlus 12 (16GB RAM/512GB storage) is $799 at OnePlus. This deal includes a free upgrade to extra RAM and storage space compared to the 12GB/256GB base model. So not only will you have more space to store apps and photos, your phone will run faster too. 

But the savings don’t stop there — trade in any phone, in any condition and OnePlus will knock an additional $100 off the OnePlus 12, bringing its price down to $699. Yes, that includes the old Nokia brick sitting in your drawer. If you have something newer, you can get up to $700 trade-in credit from OnePlus, meaning you get the phone starting from just $99.

OnePlus 12 (16GB/512GB): from $99 w/trade-in @ OnePlusPrice check: $799 @ Amazon | $799 @ Best Buy

OnePlus 12 (16GB/512GB): from $99 w/trade-in @ OnePlus
In our OnePlus 12 review, we called this phone "the affordable flagship to beat." Its large 6.82-inch 2K OLED 120Hz display, powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, long-lasting 5,400 mAh battery and wireless charging capabilities make it one of the best value phones you can get right now. The phone features sharp 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 64MP 3x telephoto cameras, and a 32MP selfie camera. As well as a free storage/RAM upgrade, OnePlus offers up to $700 off via trade-in, with a guaranteed $100 off for trading in any phone in any condition.
Price check: $799 @ Amazon | $799 @ Best Buy 

If you’re not already convinced this phone is great, our hugely positive OnePlus 12 review could sway your opinion. We loved nearly everything about this phone, and it’s a great alternative to Apple's and Samsung's flagships at a lower price.

Boasting an incredible 6.82-inch 2K ProXDR OLED display with a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz, content looks excellent on this phone. Motion looked smooth and fluid while playing video games, and OnePlus claims this phone can reach up to 4,500 nits of brightness. There’s also an Aqua Touch feature, which ensures touch accuracy if the phone’s screen gets wet.

In terms of cameras, the OnePlus 12 sports 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, and 64MP 3x telephoto cameras, as well as a 32MP selfie cam around the front. All of these take excellent shots, and we saw sharp details, realistic colors, and good dynamic range in photos. The selfie camera also captured realistic, true-to-life skin colors in our tests. Unfortunately, AI photo editing features like those found on the Samsung Galaxy S24 are absent.

Running on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, the OnePlus 12 handles everyday tasks like using streaming, browsing and switching apps like a champ. It also handled demanding games like Diablo Immortal without a hiccup. While its performance came in behind the iPhone 15 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in our Geekbench CPU tests, that’s somewhat understandable considering its much lower price.

OnePlus phones have historically had great battery life, and the same is true for the OnePlus 12. Our reviewer was able to get through a full work day consistently with at least 25% battery remaining. We’re still conducting tests on the OnePlus 12’s battery life, but we’re confident that it will beat the OnePlus 11’s excellent battery life of 13 hours, 10 minutes due to its more power efficient Snapdragon chip.

In case all that wasn’t enough, you’ll also get 4 major Android updates and 5 years of security updates guaranteed with this phone. It’s truly one of the best value phones out there, so make sure you don’t miss this offer to get it at an even better price. If you’re hungry for more sales, make sure to check out the this awesome Super Bowl OLED TV deal.

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Millie Davis-Williams

Millie is a Deals writer at Tom's Guide specializing in deals content. She also covers the latest tech news and and creates how-to articles about everything from phones, streaming devices, and headphones to apps and video games. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gaming on her Nintendo Switch and creating digital art.