HIGHLIGHTS

* The OnePlus 12 is expected to be the company’s next flagship smartphone.
* Fresh information suggests the OnePlus 12 will offer a major camera upgrade.
* It is also said to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. 
* OnePlus is apparently testing a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 phone with a periscope camera.
* The device in question may be the OnePlus 12.
* A periscope arrangement could greatly improve zoom photography on OnePlus flagships.

The OnePlus 11 launched earlier this year so there’s still a lot of time for the next flagship from the Chinese company, but the rumour mill has already started spilling some information on the OnePlus 12.

A new tip suggests we can expect a major camera upgrade on the OnePlus 12, and tests for the smartphone have already begun.

The next OnePlus flagship phone could bring a significant camera upgrade. According to Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station, the company is currently testing a periscope camera on the “SM8650” product line.

The said model number allegedly belongs to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. That means it is highly likely that the OnePlus phone said to be coming with a periscope camera arrangement is the OnePlus 12.

The regular telephoto cameras on the OnePlus flagships haven’t really had a great run. Even the OnePlus 11 offers just 2x optical zoom and tends to kill details on anything beyond 5x.

With a periscope lens, the OnePlus 12 may not only be able to zoom in further optically but also offer a slimmer design.

A periscope camera like the one OPPO has on the Find X6Pro could greatly help OnePlus improve its zoom game to compete with the likes of the Galaxy S23 Ultra with its 10x optical zoom and the Pixel 7 Pro with 5x optical zoom.

Further affirming Digital Chat Station’s claims, tipster Max Jambor also chimed in, saying that OnePlus has been testing periscope cameras for a while now.

Jambor claims there were even some periscope models of the OnePlus 10 Pro. Obviously, those never made it to the market.

That said, these are still early days for OnePlus 12 rumors. We’ll have to wait for something more concrete to leak before confirming a new camera arrangement for the next OnePlus flagship.

OnePlus 12 Specifications (Expected)

This is the first that we’re hearing about the OnePlus 12 so it’s best to not jump into any conclusions yet. As for this tip, it comes from Digital Chat Station (via Android Authority), a Weibo leaker who is known for correctly leaking one of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon naming plan before it was officially out.

* According to this tipster, OnePlus is currently testing a periscope camera on an “SM8650” product which is said to be the model number for Qualcomm’s next flagship mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. 

* Although the leaker doesn’t explicitly say it’s the OnePlus 12, the possibilities are very likely. 

* The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will release end of this year, and going by OnePlus’ flagship launch timeline, we should see the OnePlus 12 debuting early next year. 

* Tipster Max Jambor also said that OnePlus has been testing periscope cameras for quite some time now. 

With a periscope camera on the OnePlus 12, the smartphone will be able to offer much better zoom capabilities. This is one hardware that is present in most premium flagship smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro that offer 10x optical zoom and 5x optical zoom, respectively.

It’s too early to say since there’s still a long time to go for the next OnePlus flagship smartphone but this would definitely change the camera game for the OnePlus 12 among its competitors.

We should start seeing more on the OnePlus 12 soon but the expected launch of the smartphone would happen early 2024 unless the company has some change in plans.

ONEPLUS 12 KEY SPECIFICATIONS

Performance

Network & Connectivity

Sensors

Faqs on OnePlus 12

1) OnePlus 12 rumor suggests incoming periscope telephoto lens.Details?

Ans) OnePlus has been making huge progress with its phone cameras in recent years. The OnePlus 11, in particular, is one of the best camera phones around. The OnePlus 12 might be taking things a little further and adding a long-awaited piece of camera hardware: a periscope lens.

This rumor comes from a Weibo post (via PhoneArena (opens in new tab) ), claiming OnePlus is testing a new periscope lens to improve the optical zoom capabilities of the OnePlus 12. Considering the OnePlus 11’s telephoto lens currently offers 2x optical zoom, that upgrade would be long overdue.

The leaker claims that Oneplus and RealMe “both have periscope arrangements. They are currently testing on the SM8650 product line.” SM8650, as PhoneArena notes, is the expected codename for the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. That would line up with this being a OnePlus 12 feature, since the chip isn’t due until later this year and the OnePlus 12 won’t be arriving until early 2024.

Other phone companies are fast increasing their phones’ level of magnification, so this is a feature OnePlus can’t afford to ignore — not like it’s sort of done with wireless charging. Even Apple, a company that also doesn’t rush to offer new hardware features is said to be adding a periscope lens to the iPhone 15 Pro Max — and potentially even the iPhone 16 Pro next year.

The thing about telephoto lenses and optical zoom is that they need space — and the higher the magnification the more space is required. Keeping a traditional horizontal lens naturally limits how much magnification you can offer, because going too high inevitably increases the thickness of the phone. And if there’s anything modern smartphone companies hate, it’s unnecessarily thick phones.

The periscope lens helps solve that problem, by bending the light 90 degrees into a vertical telephoto lens setup. Just like the periscope of a submarine. Storing the lens vertically means there’s a lot more available space to exploit, allowing phones to offer much higher levels of magnification without altering the exterior design too much.

We declared the OnePlus 11 as the best value flagship Android phone in our OnePlus11 review. The camera was particularly noteworthy, especially given OnePlus’s now-long-running partnership with Hasselblad. It’s not enough to seriously compete with better camera phones, like the Pixel 7 Pro.

The 2x telephoto zoom was a particular let down, especially after the 3,3x optical zoom of the OnePlus 10 Pro. Here’s hoping that this new periscope camera can fix that problem, and offer some serious magnification on the OnePlus 12. And hopefully for a similar kind of price to the OnePlus 11.

2) OnePlus 12 will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and feature a big camera upgrade says tipster.Details?

Ans) A post made on the Chinese social media site Weibo by tipster Digital Chat Station (via AndroidAuthority) indicates that OnePlus is looking to upgrade its camera array for the next flagship release. The tipster, who correctly leaked Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon naming plan before it was announced by the chip designer back in 2021, now says that OnePlus  is testing a periscope camera on a product associated with a model number of “SM8650.” The latter turns out to be the rumored identity code of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.

So let’s add up the clues. The device in question will be powered by Qualcomm’s 2024 top-of-the-line application processor, it is expected to have a periscope camera, and it is being manufactured by OnePlus. It’s not too hard to figure out that Digital Chat Station is writing about the OnePlus 12. In his Weibo post, the tipster says that both OnePlus and Realme, both brands that are under the umbrella of Chinese manufacturer BBK Electronics, are testing the inclusion of a periscope camera on phones that will sport the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC.

The post also notes that not all of the phones will use the OmniVision 64B image sensor which has backed several telephoto lenses using a periscope camera. A periscope camera offers greater optical zoom capabilities than you would normally be able to get from a device as small as a smartphone. That’s because normally the focal length of the lens cannot exceed the thickness of the handset.

But with a periscope camera, the lens inside the device is folded up and mirrored prisms are used to help bend the light helping to take it from the lens to the image sensor. For example, without a periscope camera, the OnePlus 11 delivers 2x optical zoom. The Pixel 7 Pro, which does have a periscope camera, can give users up to 5x optical zoom and the periscope camera on the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra gives users up to 10x optical zoom.

3) OnePlus may finally adopt a periscope zoom camera.Details?

Ans) A big trend in smartphones over the past few years has been the “periscope” zoom camera, and it seems OnePlus will finally adopt the tech in an upcoming release.

Periscope lenses in smartphones allow for zoom that goes beyond 2-3x. Google uses the technique in Pixel phones to hit up to 5x optical zoom, while Samsung uses it for the 10x telephoto lens on its Ultra devices, and countless other brands have been jumping on board too. Even Apple is rumored to introduce a periscope lens on its next iPhone.

But OnePlus, surprisingly, has yet to use a periscope zoom lens in its smartphones. The OnePlus 10 Pro and OnePlus 11 both maxed out with traditional zoom methods at 3.3x and 2x respectively.

It seems that may soon change, though. Digital Chat Station reports on Weibo that OnePlus has a “periscope arrangement” in the pipeline, with testing underway. It’s unclear what optical zoom level OnePlus is aiming for, but the simple fact the brand is finally jumping on board is great to see.

Presumably, this would make its debut in the OnePlus 12 sometime next year. OnePlus’ next smartphone is expected to be its first foldable, which would be a relatively odd place for the tech to debut. Periscope lenses are quite rare in foldables, with Google’s new Pixel Fold offering the tech, as well as Huawei’s Mate X3 and some others. But most stick with rather basic camera hardware for the sake of space.

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