The OnePlus 12 is my favorite gaming phone, and at $699 it’s a freaking steal on Prime Day

I fell in love with the OnePlus 12 for one reason and one reason only – it’s a beast of a gaming phone without the full flagship cost. Well, maybe there are two reasons: because it doesn’t even have the aggressive high-end styling we’ve come to expect from gaming phones. Regardless, it’s a great gaming phone with a jam-packed spec sheet, and it’s even better now that it’s down to just $699 as part of Amazon’s Prime Day celebration.

Now, there’s no denying that the OnePlus 12 is a complete flagship of 2024, keeping up with Samsung Galaxies and Google Pixels as we’ve come to expect. However, its secret power comes from the fact that OnePlus decided to push it a little further. The OnePlus 12 starts with 12GB of RAM in its base configuration, but the version on sale for Prime Day is even more powerful with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It’s a lot more than I’ve ever needed – but I haven’t even had to uninstall a single title when I’m bored with it.

This day one deal knocks the OnePlus 12 down to the price of a Google Pixel 8, but given its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, massive 5,400mAh battery, and wired or wireless fast charging options, I’d say that OnePlus has a bit of a leg up. It stays cooler even during marathon gaming sessions, thanks to the Cryo-Velocity Double Speed ​​Cooling System – a crazy long name to tell you that OnePlus has packed two steam chambers to keep its performance in check main.

Oh, and with a 6.82-inch display and 4,500 nits of peak brightness, you don’t even have to be really into gaming to see the OnePlus 12 for a good deal. It’s also a beast for streaming shows and movies, with its 120Hz refresh rate and Dolby Vision tuning. It was my favorite show to go with True Detective: Night Country, a show that takes place almost exclusively in complete darkness. I’ll also readily admit to losing a lot of productivity time while immersed in titles like Warhammer 40,000 Tacticus and Asphalt 9: Legends. No regrets – the games looked great and I could technically tell my boss I was working on a review, but I probably could have finished a few days earlier if I’d stayed on track.

So whether you’re after a powerful gaming phone in disguise or just a flagship device at a great price, the OnePlus 12 ticks both boxes. It’s a flagship with a spec sheet to rival any on the market, and a $699 discount that puts it in competition with phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8 – neither of which can keep pace.

If you’re interested in what a true OnePlus mid-ranger can do, the OnePlus 12R is also on sale for Prime Day. It drops to $449 from $599 with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, along with a few other features that would be perfectly at home in a 2023 flagship device.

Watch both below: