OnePlus 12 vs iPhone 15 Pro: It’s all about priorities
It has been a few months since OnePlus introduced the world to its newest Android flagship OnePlus 12. It is a feature-packed smartphone and is turning out to be a great ‘flagship killer’ from the company. We have already compared the new OnePlus beast with the Pixel 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24+.
Now, let’s see how it will fare against a smartphone from the rival camp. It is time for the OnePlus 12 vs iPhone 15 Pro, and here is what we found.
Design and Display
The OnePlus 12 has a design that is distinctive and easier to spot, even among the other Android smartphones. You get a big round camera module on the back featuring all the camera sensors and LED flash. There is the signature Alert Slider on the side that lets you switch between ring, silent, and vibrate modes. The back panel has glass with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection and the phone has an IP65 rating.
The iPhone 15 Pro design is also unique but nothing new when you talk about iPhones of the recent times. It has the same camera module that we have been seeing for the last few generations. However, Apple has opted for grade 5 titanium on the frames this time. There is a new Action Button that lets you assign it to a specific task through the phone’s settings. You also get a better IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
The OnePlus 12 offers a 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display with 1440 x 3168 pixels resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. It offers HDR10+, Dolby Vision, 4,500 nits peak brightness, and Always On Display.
On another hand, the iPhone 15 Pro comes with a 6.1-inch LTPO OLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate. It offers Always On Display, Dolby Vision, and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. Apple has continued with Dynamic Island which offers valuable information from various apps through Live Activities.
The OnePlus 12 is a better proposition considering its bigger and brighter display panel.
Performance
The OnePlus 12 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. It is a 4nm octa-core flagship chipset and is currently the best one you can get from Qualcomm. There is an Adreno 750 GPU for handling graphics-intensive tasks including gaming. You further get up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB onboard storage options.
The iPhone 15 Pro comes with Apple’s own 3nm A17 Pro Bionic processor. It is capable of playing AAA console titles like Resident Evil 4 and Death Stranding. You get 8GB of RAM across all configuration variants but storage options go up to 1TB.
Neither of these smartphones will disappoint you when it comes to either day-to-day or heavy tasks including gaming. But if we have to pick one, the iPhone 15 Pro is the undisputed performance king.
Cameras
The OnePlus 12 has a triple camera setup featuring a 50MP wide-angle sensor, a 64MP periscope telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom, and a 48MP ultra-wide sensor. You get phase detection autofocus (PDAF) with all three sensors but only the first two cameras offer OIS support. OnePlus has collaborated with Hasselblad to tune up the camera and has certainly improved from last year.
The iPhone 15 Pro also has a triple camera setup which is headlined by a 48MP wide-angle sensor. The other two cameras include a 12MP telephoto sensor and a 12MP ultrawide sensor. You get PDAF with all three sensors but only the first two offer OIS support.
Both these smartphones are great photography devices but Apple shines when it comes to video recording and consistency across most conditions.
Software
The OnePlus 12 ships with the latest Android 14 layered with the company’s custom skin OxygenOS. It offers heavy customization options which is something Android fans love and miss on iOS devices. OnePlus has also improved on the software support aspect by promising four major OS upgrades and five years of security updates.
The iPhone 15 Pro runs iOS 17 and is upgradeable to the latest available iOS version. It offers the typical user experience that you expect from iOS. While Apple does not officially commit to a specific number, we do know that it will continue to get upgrades for years to come.
Battery
The OnePlus 12 has a 5,400mAh battery with 80W wired fast charging in the United States. It is claimed to charge the smartphone from zero to 100% within 30 minutes. There is also support for 50W wireless charging (full charge in 55 minutes) and 10W reverse wireless charging.
The iPhone 15 Pro has a smaller 3,274mAh battery but thanks to iOS optimizations, it should last for a day. It also supports slower charging speeds as it can go only up to 30W. Another thing to note is that Apple does not ship a charger with the box. So, you will need to buy that separately if you do not have one already. You do get 15W Qi2 and MagSafe wireless charging support along with 4.5W reverse wireless charging.
Verdict
The decision to pick one of the OnePlus 12 and iPhone 15 Pro is not exactly an easy one. Most of it comes down to what you want from your next smartphone. If you want it to be snappy and do the majority of the things that a modern flagship can but without burning a hole in your pocket, the OnePlus 12 is a no-brainer. However, if you have no budget issues and are okay with moving to iOS or are already an iPhone user, the iPhone 15 Pro should be your choice.