AH Awards: Most underrated smartphone 2024 – OnePlus 12R

OnePlus delivered a flagship phone at a fraction of the flagship cost with the OnePlus 12R

OnePlus has always been a smartphone company that prides itself on delivering high-performance, flagship-level smartphones at a fraction of the flagship cost, and the OnePlus 12R certainly falls in line with that, and that’s why we’ve awarded it the most underrated smartphone of 2024.

While it is arguably very good, we don’t feel it got quite the attention it deserves. For $500, you could end up with a smartphone that was powerful enough to handle even the most demanding games that Android has to offer, and yet, you weren’t paying close to $1,000 for that kind of capability. On top of that, the OnePlus 12R had some pretty amazing battery life. Lasting us for about 12 hours of screen on time during our review, which is pretty darn good.

It charges incredibly fast too thanks to the included 100W charger. This is already quite a bit better than some phones that cost hundreds more can deliver.

Using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 allowed for huge savings on the final price

This is partly the reason why OnePlus was able to offer the OnePlus 12R at such a good price. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform is from 2023. So it was last year’s mobile platform. That being said, it still performs exceptionally well and delivers high-performance gaming as well as other demanding tasks. So really you’re not losing out on a whole lot by going with a phone that has an older chipset.

You certainly gain something though. You get to keep hundreds of dollars in your bank account. This sort of value is nearly unparalleled. And when you pair that chipset with great battery life and quick charging times, a high-resolution display, and a pretty decent camera, it’s easy to see why the OnePlus 12R is so good. As good as it is though, it still feels like it was overshadowed by devices like the OnePlus 12, despite being almost the same, at least in all the areas that really matter.

This is why the OnePlus 12R has won our award for the most underrated smartphone of 2024. It’s also our pick for the best budget smartphone of 2024, which should come as no surprise.