OnePlus 12 camera exposed in photos taken by company president

OnePlus' boss posts a few shots taken on the forthcoming flagship phone

OnePlus 12 render
(Image credit: OnLeaks / MySmartPrice)

The OnePlus 12 is heavily tipped to be coming this side of Christmas, with a launch in December being the safest bet. And that looks even more convincing now, considering the company's own president has posted photos he took using the forthcoming phone.

Li JieLouis took to the Chinese social media platform Weibo to show three images taken using the OnePlus 12. They were taken using the main camera and, what seems to be, at least one taken using the telephoto lens.

9to5Google claims that it seems to be the same camera as found on the new OnePlus Open, with the telephoto image being a 3x zoom with a 6x crop.

OnePlus 12 photo samples

(Image credit: Li JieLouis)

The OnePlus executive gives away few other clues. His Weibo post just states (translated): "Passing by the coffee shop on the corner, I will show you some photos I just took with OnePlus 12. Non-professional photography, my hands are shaking."

It's also hard to tell exactly how well the rear cam will perform from the images he offers – not least because they have been compressed for posting online – but the colour balance seems decent and there are no obvious artefacts.

According to an earlier post on Weibo, this time from a tipster, the OnePlus 12 is said to be using a new Sony Lytia sensor. This will debut in the phone, it is claimed, although there are few other details.

Previous rumours have stated that the main camera will sport a 50-megapixel sensor  (the Sony IMX966) but that no longer seems to be the case. As the OnePlus Open also uses a Sony Lytia sensor, it is far more likely to be a variant employed in the OnePlus 12 too.

Hopefully, we won't have too long to wait to find out. OnePlus is expected to announce its new flagship for the Chinese market in December and then roll it out globally early next year.

We should therefore see the replacement to one of the best Android phones of the year – the OnePlus 11 – on these shores around February 2024. That's just in time for Mobile World Congress, so it could be an exciting show on the horizon.

Rik Henderson
News Editor

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.