The OnePlus 12 could improve gamers' experience by providing 120 frames per second to all Android games, living up to its “Smooth beyond belief” title.
This feature was highlighted at the OnePlus launch event on January 23 along with an array of new features which could further improve gaming performance.
One key feature is the OnePlus 12’s new Trinity Engine which combines a host of software enhancements that were incorporated into Oxygen OS 14 and affects the device's CPU, RAM, and storage to optimize performance.
Combined with the new hardware from the dedicated X7 Independent Visual Processor developed by Pixelworks, it offers something called “Hyper rendering”. OnePlus states it uses in-house graphics algorithms working in conjunction with the Independent Visual Processor to provide upscaling of lower-resolution graphics and frame interpolation technology to raise frame rates.
Frame interpolation functions like TV motion smoothing by adding new frames in between the original ones, making motion appear smoother and boosting frame rates to 120fps. This could be a valuable tool as most Android titles still only support 60 frames per second, with a relatively small number of titles supporting the higher frame rates.
These high frame rates make action-packed games like first-person shooters and racing games appear more fluid and more immersive.
Some of the games that currently support 120fps include Call of Duty: Mobile, Eternium, and Shadowgun Legends. However, one of the most demanding Android games, Genshin Impact currently doesn’t support higher than 60fps which means the OnePlus 12 users could potentially see the game in silky smooth 120fps if the phone can handle it.
Demanding performance
Higher framerates are usually more demanding on the device but thankfully the OnePlus 12 features some very high-performance hardware.
It uses the latest flagship chip Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, which the Trinity Engine supports and should determine the best balance between enhanced performance and reduced power consumption to fit different scenarios.
This system intelligently allocates smartphone resources to offer enhanced performance, and to even extended battery life. This is supported by AI learning for intelligent performance management with the aim to offer consistently stable frame rates.
However, games using demanding settings like this need to worry about overheating and battery draining, and OnePlus also claims to have hardware solutions to these issues.
OnePlus has incorporated its largest vapor chamber cooling system ever to disperse heat efficiently and prevent hardware throttling performance.
It also uses low-power game super-resolution to upscale the games from a lower graphical quality to a native resolution saving power and is equipped with a 5,400mAh battery with fast 100W charging.
However, the OnePlus 12 isn’t the only way to enjoy fast refresh rates on your phone as an alternative option is Nvidia’s GeForce NOW’s cloud gaming service supports 120fps streaming for its Ultimate member's gaming on mobile, but it requires a fast internet connection and isn’t necessarily the best choice for gamers on the go.
I have yet to test the OnePlus 12’s gaming capabilities nevertheless if all its claims are true it could be a real contender to flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra when it comes to mobile gaming and could even offer a better alternative to specialized gaming phones like the Redmagic 9 Pro and Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro.
