A former OnePlus fan checks out the OnePlus 12

When the OnePlus One came out in 2014, I was not only a big fan of the phone, but also of OnePlus itself. I’ve been a fan of the company throughout 2019, launching what I consider to be the company’s pinnacle phone, the OnePlus 7 Pro, and I can’t praise the phone enough here. Android Authority Whenever I’m allowed to. In 2020, with the launch of the OnePlus 8 series, I lost interest and moved on. Nothing OnePlus has done since then has drawn me back – in fact, I’d say most of what it’s done has pushed me further away.

Fast forward a few years and the OnePlus 12 is now available for everyone to buy. Obviously, it’s very different from the OnePlus 7 Pro and certainly from the OnePlus One. After all, a lot has changed in ten years. As an experiment, I used the OnePlus 12 alongside a OnePlus One and made the video you see above. When I came away, I was surprised by how much I missed the early days of OnePlus. Not just because of the phone, but also because of the feeling OnePlus once gave me. I realized I hadn’t felt like this in a long, long time.

When OnePlus entered the mobile scene in 2013, it directly attracted people from the custom ROM development community. This community is passionate about all things Android and is thriving in 2013. The Android operating system was still relatively new at the time, and independent developers were excited about where they could take it. It’s an exciting time for the Android ecosystem – and OnePlus knows how to capitalize on it. I know it sounds like OnePlus opted for a sport or something, but it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like being “seen,” I guess.

Then, with the OnePlus One, the community had an exciting phone. The One launched with a ROM that was originally a separate fork of Android called Cyanogen (now known as Lineage OS). This immediately legitimizes it in the community. It’s also a pretty cool phone in its own right. It has the best Android processor out there, an incredibly low price, and a unique design that’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen. This is a geeky phone for geeks—the original “flagship killer.”

But the number one reason OnePlus is so important to me is that I feel like I can communicate directly with the company. The OnePlus Community Forum at the time created a one-to-one connection with the brand. This is obviously an exaggeration, but I really feel like I could post a suggestion on the forum and someone at OnePlus would read it and implement the changes. This is “our” brand.

As time went on and OnePlus released more and more phones, it became very disconnected from the community. It all culminates in the OnePlus 6T, which follows the trend started by the iPhone and is the first OnePlus phone to do so without one. This goes against the wishes of the community. I can confidently say that no one in the OnePlus community wants to buy a phone without a headphone jack in 2018. By doing this, OnePlus is sending what I consider to be a tacit message: we no longer care what you think or want.

After that, it was only a matter of time before I started losing interest in the company. OnePlus stopped focusing on the developer community and started catering its phones to regular consumers. It started launching devices exclusively in certain countries, Carl Pei left, OPPO took over, and Oxygen OS lost its identity as more and more Color OS features crept in. By this time, the company was a shadow of its former self.

The OnePlus 12 is a great phone; I want to clarify my point before continuing. In an era where mobile phones are becoming more and more expensive, it offers many premium features at a very competitive price. I love so much.

The phone also looks a lot different than other phones on the market, especially compared to iPhones, Pixels, or Samsung phones. It has some unique elements such as a beautiful flowing emerald back. I think OnePlus nails two very important characteristics of a great smartphone here: exciting design and powerful hardware.

But for someone like me to be enthusiastic about it, it’s not enough to just have a cool-looking, feature-packed phone. While the OnePlus 12 has a lot going for it, there’s a lot that doesn’t work for me. The most glaring issue is software. Back in the day, Oxygen OS was basically stock Android with a lot of new features added — and they were pretty cool. Now, Oxygen OS is just Color OS, and it’s not my cup of tea. The modern Oxygen operating system is a hybrid of Android and iOS, overlaid with some cartoonish designs. It seemed to have no obvious identity and certainly nothing that attracted me to it.

Putting aside my personal beef with the software, the OnePlus 12’s spec sheet is truly incredible. It has the best Android processor out there (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3), solid camera hardware, and one of the most impressive displays of 2024. But again, specs don’t define a phone. Look at One Plus One. The One was incredible when it launched, but specs-wise it wasn’t that great. Yes, it had the best processor at the time (Snapdragon 801), but the rest of the specs were standard. But it’s the OnePlus One’s overall design, its software, its community, its support, its price, its ambitions that make this phone so exciting.It’s not just specs; everythingand these exciting yet intangible aspects are exactly what the OnePlus 12 lacks.

My biggest question when using the OnePlus 12 is: Who is this phone for? Galaxy S24 Ultra is the top and best device in the Android world. It’s for those who want their phone to do everything.It has the S Pen, the best camera hardware, Galaxy AI, and an incredible display — and it’s all about simplicity the best. Then there’s the Pixel 8 Pro, which isn’t the best phone by any means but is designed for Android purists who want the best point-and-shoot experience combined with Google’s own unfiltered take on Android.

Then you get something like the Nothing Phone 2, which really doesn’t have the best stuff, but it has a unique design with a Glyph light, a transparent back, and a completely redesigned Android skin. It appeals to young consumers who want a very fashion-forward phone. And of course, there’s the iPhone, for everyone who doesn’t want an Android phone.

But what about OnePlus 12? I don’t know who this is for. It’s not for mobile photographers, hipster youth, Android purists, or people who want the best specs. OnePlus sells millions of phones, so I’m not trying to say that no one buys its products, but who are the consumers that OnePlus is going after? After using the OnePlus 12, this wasn’t clear to me. It doesn’t have any obvious features other than it looks pretty and has some features under the hood, but that doesn’t make me feel anything close to enthusiastic about it.

Considering everything I’ve said here, the big question is: can OnePlus do it again? Can the brand get me (and others like me) as enthusiastic about its phones now as it was when it launched the OnePlus One? Is it possible for OnePlus to regain its former glory?

I don’t think it’s possible – at least not as things stand today. When OnePlus was first developed, it was in the early stages of Android history. Things didn’t work out the way they did now, and I think OnePlus is stuck in a lightning-in-a-bottle situation. This is the right company with the right phone at the right time.

Even if today’s OnePlus wanted to recapture lightning in a bottle, I’m not sure it could. It’s too big. There’s just too much risk to be taken to be that kind of company again. Think about it: When OnePlus first started, it was just a branch of OPPO, and the expected sales of OnePlus phones were only 50,000 units. It was targeting a niche market and suddenly found itself selling a million phones. In other words, the company succeeded even though it wasn’t trying to do it on any macro level. It’s so small, and it has such direct intentions, specifically targeting the Android development community, that it doesn’t seem to have shareholders to worry about, sells millions of devices, and appeals to many different types of consumers. However, today’s OnePlus cares a lot about these three things.

Looking at the OnePlus 12 with one hand and the OnePlus One with the other reminded me of how much I love OnePlus, and how long it’s been since I felt that way — not just about it, but about any phone or phone. Mobile phone brands.

I was so excited when I got the OnePlus One. I had to grab an invitation to buy a OnePlus One, and I could only get invitations from people who had already purchased it. So just clicking the “buy” button feels like an accomplishment.Then I unpacked it, touched sandstone for the first time, flashed a new ROM, and showed it to friends and family; here’s the one event.

I don’t know if I’ll ever feel the same way about my phone again. That’s not the case with the OnePlus 12, and I don’t think it’s the case with OnePlus in general. This probably wouldn’t happen with any other company either. I think Android may be too mature now. The excitement was gone. From now on, I just take my phone out of the box, install some apps, and go about my day.

At least I’ll always have someone to remind me of what it was like.