I tried a major Samsung rival that charges fully in LESS than half an hour

It's rare to find a flagship smartphone with top-notch features for less than a grand these days.

But OnePlus may have gotten it right.

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The company's latest OnePlus 12 packs a lot of punch on several fronts, especially the battery.

Of course, nothing is absolutely perfect: read The Sun's full review to find out if the OnePlus 12 is the Android phone for you.

OnePlus 12: look and feel

The OnePlus 12 has quite a distinctive, polished look with glossy curved edges and an aramid fiber back (which keeps it lighter).

I really like how the fiber material feels in my hand, it provides extra grip and no marks from sweaty fingers.

OnePlus hasn't made the titanium leap like Apple and Samsung, sticking to an aluminum frame that won't be as strong against impacts.

The phone is available in Silky Black or Flowy Emerald – the black model (which we're testing) is a great secure option, but the Flowy Emerald has a real wow factor.

As for the display, at 6.82 inches it measures about the same as the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

With a mega resolution of 3168 x 1440, watching videos becomes a real eye-pleaser. In fact, I'm mesmerized watching the animation that appears when you unlock the device every time.

It's also worth noting that OnePlus hasn't actually made the phone water-resistant – so it doesn't accidentally fall into the toilet – and only manages to withstand drops like rain.

One unique feature that OnePlus did shout about when it announced the phone in January was Aqua Touch, a screen technology that lets you use the device when it's wet – ideal for those of us in rainy Britain.

While I was able to slide around the phone and tap icons better than other phones I've owned in the past, it wasn't 100 percent smooth as I'd hoped.

OnePlus 12: Performance

The OnePlus 12 glides effortlessly no matter what I throw at it thanks to the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, also used in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Whether I was playing games or switching between multiple apps, they all ran as smoothly as butter.

With a starting price of £849 / $799.99 on a flagship handset, it packs some serious power over the competition, especially with that mighty battery

You get up to 512GB of storage, enough for most people to store high-quality videos, photos, and apps.

There are no standout AI features like the Galaxy S24. This can make the OnePlus 12 feel a little dull, but it helps keep the performance speed high.

And unlike Samsung which has committed to maintaining security updates for the S24 series for at least seven years, OnePlus is only committing to at least four years of Android updates and five years of security updates for the 12.

OnePlus 12: Battery

One area where the OnePlus 12 excels is the battery.

It has a capacity of 5,400 mAh (actually two battery cells) and can easily last more than two days.

Not only that, the battery also charges super fast: from nothing to 100 percent in just 26 minutes.

OnePlus has also decided to bring back wireless charging – the company claims the phone can be fully charged in 55 minutes via its own wireless charging feature, although we haven't been able to verify this.

OnePlus 12: Camera

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OnePlus is once again working with photography company Hasselblad for its camera system.

It takes some decent shots with plenty of detail and color, but I felt it lacked richness compared to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

The zoom lens can also take clear photos from a distance.

Video was pretty comparable, but zooming while you're filming isn't ideal as it gets a little jittery.

As for night shots, the ProXDR display technology cleverly enhances photos so that elements are quite visible – although the problem is that this only works on the phone's display itself, so if you share them they won't look quite as glorious .