My first flagship after OnePlus 6T I rarely buy flagships, and much less on pre-order. I’ve seen several flagships come and go as I used my OP 6T on and off since 5 years. I’ve always been an LG fan and have used their phones almost exclusively until I was forced to use a second hand 6T as my main phone after my Velvet started to slow down after a year.Now 6T was an excellent model of OnePlus when it was riding the crest of flagship killers. What a worthy phone and still going strong even after so many years. I had to consider a new phone after my heavy app usage started to take a toll on this unit. The battery backup was still decent, but with a shattered back, I was hoping for a decent good-bye to this well used work horse.When OP12 was announced, something stirred in me like never before. Mind you, I’ve never batted an eyelid when so many models of OP and other heavyweights like Samsung, Vivo etc were released all these years. The Nothing phone 1 briefly seemed like a choice I’d make in a perfect world, but with their second model, they seemed to be making the same mistake that OnePlus had started making from their OP 8 onwards- price hikes based on previous success and average-ish features. And Nothing went by the no-charger move as a new phone company, parroting the big wigs and I dislike the hypocritical arguments these brands give. If you truly are a sincere, nature-conscious brand, you’ll want every customer to get the fast charging brick and a bonus case with your phones, not just a bare-bone phone and claim environmental claims, when in fact separate packaging of charging bricks costs more to the environment and landfills.Anywho, the OnePlus 12 had the features that not only made me notice them once again, but they also packed everything in it with premium features second to none, and also offered generous exchange bonuses and EMI discounts…now that’s what I call the return of this brand. Finally, somebody got serious on their board and started to think of value more than profits.I got a whopping 9k for my shattered 6T and a neat 5k in EMI discount. The phone effectively cost me about 54k, a steal for the specs of this flagship.Everything from unboxing to using the phone has been a joy. Almost every day I discover something nice. Many thoughtful features on the 12 have made me feel nostalgic as I reminisce about the good old feature-packed LG phones of a not-too-distant past. And of course, the camera is the sweetest thing here on the 12! What a pro-level experience for both novices and seasoned camera enthusiasts! Now I’m no professional, but for my untrained eyes, every picture looks perfect and videos are as fluid and crisp as any high-end camera out there.OnePlus has gotten one word back into their dictionary again- generous. From giving a 100-watt charger, a case to almost every high-end spec under the hood for a steal, now that’s called being generous and then some. Many of the UI features are also in the OP11, so very early on, I learnt the hidden tricks and features of the 12 by devouring videos about the 11.Battery is an all-time high for a flagship and the backup is excellent. I go for 2 days on a single charge. I’m not a gamer, but I imagine you’ll squeeze out a lot of juice from this baby and it will still not run dry. I still use the 6T’s fast charger and have reserved the 100-watt beast for travel. I’m in no hurry at home :)All in all, this has been the best purchase in 5 years for me. I’m so glad I waited and hit the jackpot with the 12. If OnePlus continues this winning formula of value over profits, they’ll be crowned “flagship killers” once again and rightfully so.
