The OnePlus 12 and 12R are almost here – shipments in India will start on February 6. The flagship model combines the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with a 6.82” QHD+ 10-bit 120Hz LTPO display and a fairly powerful camera system (50MP main, 64MP 3x tele and 48MP ultra wide). The 5,400mAh battery showed solid endurance (though it doesn’t last long when gaming), plus it’s super fast to charge back up either over a wire (100W) or wirelessly (50W).
The OnePlus 12R opts to use last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 instead and loses the 64MP tele camera and 50MP ultra wide (it has an 8MP module instead). The battery has 5,500mAh capacity and supports 100W wired-only charging. The 12R will receive 3 OS updates and 4 years of security patches, compared to 4 updates and 5 years of patches for the 12.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE will also get 4 OS updates and 5 years of patches, though it’s on the pricey side for a phone with an Exynos 2200 (it’s a two year old chip). This one does have a tele camera (8MP, 3x) and a 12MP ultra wide. The battery is both small and slow with 4,500mAh capacity and 25W/15W charging. To be fair, the phone is smaller than the OnePlus duo with a 6.4” 120Hz display.
Alternatively, you can grab an iQOO 12. Both it and the S23 FE fall between the OnePlus 12 and 12R in terms of pricing. This one has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, however, plus a 6.78” 144Hz 10-bit LTPO display with 1,260 x 2,800px resolution. The camera is very similar to the OnePlus flagship with a 50MP main, 64MP 3x tele and 50MP ultra wide. The 5,000mAh battery is smaller and lacks wireless charging (it does have 120W wired charging, however).
Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 13 series began its international rollout this week, including India. Let’s look at the three 5G models.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro+ flexes a 200MP main camera (1/1.4” sensor) with OIS and a basic 8MP ultra wide. It has a 6.67” 1220p display, a 120Hz AMOLED panel with 12-bit colors and Dolby Vision. The phone is powered by the Dimensity 7200 Ultra and a 5,000mAh battery with 120W fast charging (wired only).
The regular Redmi Note 13 Pro is a lot cheaper (even without the small discount from Amazon) but is mostly the same phone – the camera is the same, at least. The display can’t go as high on the brightness, but is still a 12-bit 120Hz panel. The biggest change is that the chipset is a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2. A less impactful change is the battery, which is a bit bigger at 5,100mAh but slower (though by no means slow) with 67W charging.
Then there is the Redmi Note 13. This one uses the Dimensity 6080 and has a 6.67” display with lower resolution (FHD+) and 10-bit colors (no Dolby Vision or HDR). It drops the main camera to 108MP and the battery to 5,000mAh and 33W charging.
The Poco X6 Pro launched earlier this month and has an impressive screen – a 6.67” 12-bit 120Hz panel with Dolby Vision and 1,220 x 2,712px resolution – plus a fast Dimensity 8300 Ultra chipset. However, the 64+8+2MP camera is pretty basic. At least the 5,000mAh battery does 67W fast charging.
The regular Poco X6 is more reasonable in terms of price. It has the same display and camera, but switches over to a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2. Also, the battery gets a 100mAh bump (and keeps the 67W charging).
We will wrap up with a trio of Motorolas. The Moto G84 is just under ₹20,000 and is a 5G phone (Snapdragon 695) with a 6.5” 120-bit 120Hz FHD+ display. The 50MP main camera has a decently sized 1/1.5” sensor and OIS and is joined by an 8MP ultra wide. The 5,000mAh battery features 30W charging.
The Moto G54 is ₹5,000 cheaper while having very similar features. It uses the Dimensity 7020 chipset and its 6.5” 120Hz FHD+ display is an IPS LCD. The battery is bigger at 6,000mAh (with 33W charging). There is a 50MP main camera with OIS (and a smaller sensor) and an 8MP ultra wide.
Finally, the Moto G34 also uses a 6.5” 120Hz IPS LCD, though with only HD+ resolution. It’s still a 5G phone with the same Snapdragon 695 that we saw on the G84. It lacks an ultra wide camera and the 5,000mAh battery manages only 18W of charging. All three Motos have microSD slots, 3.5mm headphone jacks and stereo speakers.
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