When buying a flagship smartphone, most users will first consider options from Samsung, Google, or Apple. There’s also OnePlus, which delivers a top-tier experience with its premium smartphones at a slightly lower price, albeit with some compromises. TheOnePlus 11is the perfect example of this — it packs great internals, a big display, and superfast charging but misses out on wireless charging. And that has been the case with OnePlus' last few offerings, as they have all skipped wireless charging in favor of fast wired charging. It appears that theOnePlus 12could finally address this shortcoming.
LeakerDigital Chat Station(viaAndroid Authority) claims the OnePlus 12 could feature 50W wireless charging. This would be a welcome addition as even the company’s first foldable, the $1,700OnePlus Open, misses out on wireless charging despite all ourfavorite foldablespacking the functionality.
The BBK-owned firm has long claimed that its superfast wired charging makes wireless charging redundant. But then, the latter is not meant to replace the former — wireless charging is all about convenience. And crazy fast wired charging speeds are all about topping up your phone’s cell in the least amount of time.
If the rumor turns out accurate, in one move, OnePlus will not only address a key point for which its phones have been criticized over the last few years but also leapfrog the competition. Thebest Android phonesare limited to topping up their cells wirelessly at about 15-20W.
2021’sOnePlus 9 Prowas the last phone from the company to feature both wired and wireless charging capabilities. However, a proprietary AIRVOOC charger was needed to reach the promised 50W speeds. The OnePlus 12 will also likely require a special wireless charger to top up its cell at the rumored 50W peak speed.
Seemingly, OnePlus plans to fix other drawbacks that have plagued its phones so far by offering USB 3.2 support, a decent periscope shooter, and an IR blaster on the OnePlus 12.
USB 3.2 will allow for significantly faster data transfer speeds of up to 5-10Gbps over USB-C. For comparison, the OnePlus 11 can transfer data at paltry speeds of up to 480Mbps.
As for the periscope shooter, the company could use the same 3x 64MP sensor as seen on the OnePlus Open. While it does not have the same long-range zoom capabilities as theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultraor theGoogle Pixel 8 Pro, it stands out with its amazing picture quality.
The inclusion of an IR blaster will be a welcome addition as well, as you’re able to then use the phone to control other IR-based home appliances around you, like TVs and ACs. The sensor was commonly found in Android phones a decade ago but was eventually phased out.
