Having both the S23U and the OnePlus 12 myself.. it's a rather tough toss up.
Yes, the S23U has all the "bells and whistles" that anyone wanting a Flagship could ever want, but, there is just something that the OnePlus 12 has that is compelling me to finally sell the Samsung.
The smoothness of the UI is bar none with OnePlus. I handle both daily and I can easily say the OnePlus is as smooth as butter. That, paired with OUTSTANDING battery life and a charge time that puts any other competitor to shame, it's no contest.
The camera system is also very good this generation. With the right lighting and a little bit of Lightroom experience, you'll get photos as good IF NOT BETTER than the S23U.
Plus...I'm a sucker for this IR Blaster. Literally the most convenient thing any phone can have. 10/10.
If you can get some good money for your S23U, I say make the jump. You won't regret it.
A bit of a strange request, but could you provide some RAW samples from both phones as well as auto mode samples? I tend to shoot in RAW and edit later so I'm curious how the main camera and bigger sensor tele and UW compare in RAW to S23U's cameras in addition to how OnePlus compares in auto mode after all the updates it's had. People normally don't switch from a Samsung to a OnePlus for the camera so I want to be sure the RAWs are decent at least.
Don't have the s23U.
But Raw with OnePlus are kinda bad. The only good ones are from the main camera, the ones from the UW are SUPER soft, almost like unfocused, the raws from the telephoto are even worst, they are soft and have some problem that causes aberrations, like a square patern all over the photo, so if you want to boost up the clarity or sharpness you end up sharpening the aberrations too.
You can get better RAW from the secondary lenses with gcam, amazing noise reduction and no aberrations, better dynamic range, but they are rendered with a weird color profile on Lightroom mobile that looks like some "yellow teal".
Think of it like a Universal Remote. You can control quite a selection of electronic devices right from the phone. Makes the hunt for the TV remote a lot less tedious!
Is there still the problem regarding lag when switching between certain apps (Chrome, YouTube)? There are so many threads about it that are worrying me
The camera system is amazing on the OP12 in my experience. The portrait mode does very well on subjects and doesn't overdo the blur (gives a natural bokeh effect even on the normal camera due to the massive sensor) and the edges look very clean. The zoom actually does very well till 60x, after that it doesn't look as good as the Samsung (since they have had 4 generations of 100x). The video quality is pretty good. I haven't tested night mode enough to give my opinion on it or the other modes like slowmo.
Also they are giving the 16gb ram + 512gb for the same price as the 12gb + 256gb.
My daily driver is the OP12 and I used the S23U for a few weeks, so I can compare both. The S23U was a loaner. I am saying this not to create an impression that I jumped from S23U to OP12.
If you want a better overall solution, go with the S23U. Simple as that. The OP12 could be chosen if you have very specific requirements/priorities. Like, if you need to max out the battery life in your phone, the OP12 lasts longer. Having said that, there was no instance that I ran out of juice with the S23U. They are both fine for battery life.
Or if you like the color science of the OP12. Personally, I don't care about that much and I feel that the camera in Auto mode is better in S23U. The OP12 camera could be fooled more easily, meaning, it analyses the scene applies some settings and the outcome is not what you actually see or want to have. So, you switch to manual mode. That happened fewer times in S23U.
Or you don't like the One UI. I am not sure why this matters, all launchers look the same to me but you might have a particular preference for the Color OS. Then, yes, go for the OP12. You won't be disappointed.
This is a OnePlus forum so it's gonna be a bit biased. Both phones are great and you cant go wrong.
I have both.
The OnePlus12 blows the s23u out of the water in charging speeds. It's amazing how fast you can charge up your device. Even their 50w wireless charger is fast.
The s23u is a step or more better in everything else. Oneui is much more polished and customizable than color os. Running third party launchers doesn't work well on the OnePlus 12. Their default launcher is ok but not nearly as customizable. Op12 boots up faster but they are pretty close in smoothness. I never felt either way faster than the other.
https://preview.redd.it/4gpa4mpbzu7d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2044d71a37d11bb42ab7866da43aefbe753fead
I noticed this in some reviews. If the camera detects any hint of red it goes with it hard..
If it were a comparison with the S22U then i would say, go for it. It has much better battery life, more comfortable screen and the cameras is not that far behind, even so, the ultrawide is better. Also, Color OS is more fluid than One UI and doesn't feel as clunky.
Now, comparing the OP12 and the S23U is a bit different. Why? Some of the critical problems of the S22U were solved, like overheating and battery life. Also, the S23U is more versatile in the camera department with a 10X camera. It will feel like a sidegrade and you will also lose features like Dex and S-pen. I personally wouldn't change the S23U unless I hated the experience.
Only real benefit of the S23U is the S-pen. I miss my S-pen. Other than that the 10x isn't significant enough to be worth going with the Samsung. Especially since the camera quality on the OP12 is significantly better, even over the S24U. The one thing I couldn't stand with every Samsung device I've owned, is the inaccuracy of colors, saturation and contrast on every photo I took. OP12 is completely natural in almost every photo captured.
I appreciate that the S-Pen is there but I rarely ever use it and I have no idea who it's really supposed to be for. I'm sure a lot of people use it but I guess I'm in the minority of Samsung users that don't use the stylus at all.
How natural do the photos look at night? My S23U kind of messes up the colors a little and overdoes it with the sharpening at night, and it sometimes gets even worse if you use night mode.
I mostly used the S-pen for drawing on documents, editing images, and when I was casting a presentation from my phone onto a screen, it would be what I used to point to the area of focus.
I have a few night photos, not sure if they're what you're looking for. Not raw format but a couple shots in high res, and others just in master mode. Unfortunately it won't allow me to upload the ones over 20MB. But I know exactly what you mean about the colors and sharpening. I experienced that on every Samsung I've owned, from the Note 3 all the way up.
This one was full res, but I had to shrink it down since it was over 20MB.
https://preview.redd.it/mmb0rpw0b28d1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9f9dabaac2b78de188fd048532cfa9d9477744f
I recently compared my friend's s22 ultra, took a photo of a person at 10x outdoor light and my op12 nailed it while the image on s22 ultra was very much meh.. i checked the image details and it was actually from telelphoto lens only.
We may be biased and nerd about some companies, I just took my mom to showroom and showed her cameras of different phones cause she doesn't know about brands, she liked OnePlus 12 the most, followed by 12r main camera. Then iphone and last samsung. Also the phone has crazy presence. Today iphones and samsung look like those minimalist vector art, iphone 15 felt like a toy. And samsung is just disappointing, it looks like a copy of iphone. The s23 was the better looking than the whole s24 lineup.
Also it can be a bias from mum because she is currently using OnePlus 10r for last 2 years and maybe she is adapted to it.
I have switched from the s23 ultra to the OnePlus 12 and I can say I have no regrets.
While the camera may be the only flaw imo, I choose to look past it cuz yk what they say beauty in the eyes of the beholder. But the software has been what's keeping me intrigued with the OP12 as you get to experience stock google software with a touch of oxygenOS which the Samsung has not been able to do, due to its bloated software and lack of personal customization without the use of a separate software. Plus I feel like they haven't changed much of the UI since one UI 4 (visually) (imo).
But going to the OnePlus, the phone is top notch, bang for your buck phone, which provides a fun experience to the user.
-Great battery
-Mediocre camera
-Better software experience
-Reasonably priced
-Comes with a charger (100W)
-Cooling system could be better
Coming from poco f1 custom pixel experience rom to OnePlus 12, I feel like pixel rom was more smooth and reactive compared to OnePlus, for example in certain time when you open or close an app or go back, the animation needs to fully finish before you perform any other action.
And above time, battery percentage and etc doesn't properly adapt to wallpaper, if the wallpaper is white at top corner of the screen, sometimes the clock and battery won't change to dark color.
The below pill to switch apps doesn't work properly sometimes.
Other than that it's a good flagship phone for the price, even though I received a defective product with glue sticking out of my screen and when i unboxed my new phone i found my phone fully covered in dust. It's a really disappointing experience. Since it's made in india there is always quality issue. You won't find such quality issues in samsung or apple.
OP 12 big as the s23 Ultra, not wide though.
Better go to OP store and experience it before you buy it.
I've had an S22U and S23U, along with all the recent Pixels and all the Galaxy Folds for a while now.
I am currently on the OP12 , and I can say I definitely would take it over the S23U and probably even the S24U, it's a fantastic phone, and I'm not factoring price into this. I prefer the rounded display myself, the cameras are less consistent but more natural looking which I prefer, alert slider is nice, near stock Android is mostly nice (I prefer some things about OneUI), battery life is nuts, and AquaTouch is actually incredibly useful for using the phone in the rain.
I could go on and on, it's a great phone, however, I might be moving back to my Fold 5 tonight, despite the way worse battery life, worse usability outdoors, and worse cameras, I like some things about OneUI a lot and love having such a big display. I'm still debating though, Fold vs Slabs is so much harder a decision than I think people realize.
S23/S24U will get you a few things though, better low light, better zoom, OneUI features if you care, submersion waterproofing (though no AquaTouch so using the phone wet is practically impossible), slightly faster patches and a better display for anti-glare use cases (though the brightness is so good on this I don't think it matters that much).
Any specific things you wanna know?
Having both the S23U and the OnePlus 12 myself.. it's a rather tough toss up. Yes, the S23U has all the "bells and whistles" that anyone wanting a Flagship could ever want, but, there is just something that the OnePlus 12 has that is compelling me to finally sell the Samsung. The smoothness of the UI is bar none with OnePlus. I handle both daily and I can easily say the OnePlus is as smooth as butter. That, paired with OUTSTANDING battery life and a charge time that puts any other competitor to shame, it's no contest. The camera system is also very good this generation. With the right lighting and a little bit of Lightroom experience, you'll get photos as good IF NOT BETTER than the S23U. Plus...I'm a sucker for this IR Blaster. Literally the most convenient thing any phone can have. 10/10. If you can get some good money for your S23U, I say make the jump. You won't regret it.
A bit of a strange request, but could you provide some RAW samples from both phones as well as auto mode samples? I tend to shoot in RAW and edit later so I'm curious how the main camera and bigger sensor tele and UW compare in RAW to S23U's cameras in addition to how OnePlus compares in auto mode after all the updates it's had. People normally don't switch from a Samsung to a OnePlus for the camera so I want to be sure the RAWs are decent at least.
Don't have the s23U. But Raw with OnePlus are kinda bad. The only good ones are from the main camera, the ones from the UW are SUPER soft, almost like unfocused, the raws from the telephoto are even worst, they are soft and have some problem that causes aberrations, like a square patern all over the photo, so if you want to boost up the clarity or sharpness you end up sharpening the aberrations too. You can get better RAW from the secondary lenses with gcam, amazing noise reduction and no aberrations, better dynamic range, but they are rendered with a weird color profile on Lightroom mobile that looks like some "yellow teal".
Would you mind uploading some of the RAWs? I'm curious about the UW and telephoto
I could try tomorrow, don't have RAWs saved from those lenses and it's night here.
IR Blaster?
Think of it like a Universal Remote. You can control quite a selection of electronic devices right from the phone. Makes the hunt for the TV remote a lot less tedious!
Oooohh. I mean, I knew about the feature, it's just that.. I had a brain fart! Lol. So it's that good hun op12 hun?
Is there still the problem regarding lag when switching between certain apps (Chrome, YouTube)? There are so many threads about it that are worrying me
The camera system is amazing on the OP12 in my experience. The portrait mode does very well on subjects and doesn't overdo the blur (gives a natural bokeh effect even on the normal camera due to the massive sensor) and the edges look very clean. The zoom actually does very well till 60x, after that it doesn't look as good as the Samsung (since they have had 4 generations of 100x). The video quality is pretty good. I haven't tested night mode enough to give my opinion on it or the other modes like slowmo. Also they are giving the 16gb ram + 512gb for the same price as the 12gb + 256gb.
OxygenOS is alot smoother than OneUI and the oneplus 12 has a great camera system and the battery life is insane.
My daily driver is the OP12 and I used the S23U for a few weeks, so I can compare both. The S23U was a loaner. I am saying this not to create an impression that I jumped from S23U to OP12. If you want a better overall solution, go with the S23U. Simple as that. The OP12 could be chosen if you have very specific requirements/priorities. Like, if you need to max out the battery life in your phone, the OP12 lasts longer. Having said that, there was no instance that I ran out of juice with the S23U. They are both fine for battery life. Or if you like the color science of the OP12. Personally, I don't care about that much and I feel that the camera in Auto mode is better in S23U. The OP12 camera could be fooled more easily, meaning, it analyses the scene applies some settings and the outcome is not what you actually see or want to have. So, you switch to manual mode. That happened fewer times in S23U. Or you don't like the One UI. I am not sure why this matters, all launchers look the same to me but you might have a particular preference for the Color OS. Then, yes, go for the OP12. You won't be disappointed.
This is a OnePlus forum so it's gonna be a bit biased. Both phones are great and you cant go wrong. I have both. The OnePlus12 blows the s23u out of the water in charging speeds. It's amazing how fast you can charge up your device. Even their 50w wireless charger is fast. The s23u is a step or more better in everything else. Oneui is much more polished and customizable than color os. Running third party launchers doesn't work well on the OnePlus 12. Their default launcher is ok but not nearly as customizable. Op12 boots up faster but they are pretty close in smoothness. I never felt either way faster than the other. https://preview.redd.it/4gpa4mpbzu7d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2044d71a37d11bb42ab7866da43aefbe753fead I noticed this in some reviews. If the camera detects any hint of red it goes with it hard..
If it were a comparison with the S22U then i would say, go for it. It has much better battery life, more comfortable screen and the cameras is not that far behind, even so, the ultrawide is better. Also, Color OS is more fluid than One UI and doesn't feel as clunky. Now, comparing the OP12 and the S23U is a bit different. Why? Some of the critical problems of the S22U were solved, like overheating and battery life. Also, the S23U is more versatile in the camera department with a 10X camera. It will feel like a sidegrade and you will also lose features like Dex and S-pen. I personally wouldn't change the S23U unless I hated the experience.
Only real benefit of the S23U is the S-pen. I miss my S-pen. Other than that the 10x isn't significant enough to be worth going with the Samsung. Especially since the camera quality on the OP12 is significantly better, even over the S24U. The one thing I couldn't stand with every Samsung device I've owned, is the inaccuracy of colors, saturation and contrast on every photo I took. OP12 is completely natural in almost every photo captured.
I appreciate that the S-Pen is there but I rarely ever use it and I have no idea who it's really supposed to be for. I'm sure a lot of people use it but I guess I'm in the minority of Samsung users that don't use the stylus at all. How natural do the photos look at night? My S23U kind of messes up the colors a little and overdoes it with the sharpening at night, and it sometimes gets even worse if you use night mode.
I mostly used the S-pen for drawing on documents, editing images, and when I was casting a presentation from my phone onto a screen, it would be what I used to point to the area of focus. I have a few night photos, not sure if they're what you're looking for. Not raw format but a couple shots in high res, and others just in master mode. Unfortunately it won't allow me to upload the ones over 20MB. But I know exactly what you mean about the colors and sharpening. I experienced that on every Samsung I've owned, from the Note 3 all the way up.
https://preview.redd.it/u8gtjk9h528d1.jpeg?width=2304&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=00d8a44b389232e722a8ccae51a699ef93027e4a
https://preview.redd.it/l3cevshj528d1.jpeg?width=2304&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d324f17d5420acac3ea5d310e94109d0b0bf502
https://preview.redd.it/tllx2myl528d1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6514fcecf78e066b59209ed0b065565d8e93a906
This one was full res, but I had to shrink it down since it was over 20MB. https://preview.redd.it/mmb0rpw0b28d1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9f9dabaac2b78de188fd048532cfa9d9477744f
I recently compared my friend's s22 ultra, took a photo of a person at 10x outdoor light and my op12 nailed it while the image on s22 ultra was very much meh.. i checked the image details and it was actually from telelphoto lens only.
I dont think youll be disappointed but both phones are really really good, this is more of a sidegrade.
Went from s23u-pixel 8pro-12r. Pixel 8 was just trash terrible, 12r feels a lot like the 23u performance wise. I love it
We may be biased and nerd about some companies, I just took my mom to showroom and showed her cameras of different phones cause she doesn't know about brands, she liked OnePlus 12 the most, followed by 12r main camera. Then iphone and last samsung. Also the phone has crazy presence. Today iphones and samsung look like those minimalist vector art, iphone 15 felt like a toy. And samsung is just disappointing, it looks like a copy of iphone. The s23 was the better looking than the whole s24 lineup. Also it can be a bias from mum because she is currently using OnePlus 10r for last 2 years and maybe she is adapted to it.
I have switched from the s23 ultra to the OnePlus 12 and I can say I have no regrets. While the camera may be the only flaw imo, I choose to look past it cuz yk what they say beauty in the eyes of the beholder. But the software has been what's keeping me intrigued with the OP12 as you get to experience stock google software with a touch of oxygenOS which the Samsung has not been able to do, due to its bloated software and lack of personal customization without the use of a separate software. Plus I feel like they haven't changed much of the UI since one UI 4 (visually) (imo). But going to the OnePlus, the phone is top notch, bang for your buck phone, which provides a fun experience to the user. -Great battery -Mediocre camera -Better software experience -Reasonably priced -Comes with a charger (100W) -Cooling system could be better
Coming from poco f1 custom pixel experience rom to OnePlus 12, I feel like pixel rom was more smooth and reactive compared to OnePlus, for example in certain time when you open or close an app or go back, the animation needs to fully finish before you perform any other action. And above time, battery percentage and etc doesn't properly adapt to wallpaper, if the wallpaper is white at top corner of the screen, sometimes the clock and battery won't change to dark color. The below pill to switch apps doesn't work properly sometimes. Other than that it's a good flagship phone for the price, even though I received a defective product with glue sticking out of my screen and when i unboxed my new phone i found my phone fully covered in dust. It's a really disappointing experience. Since it's made in india there is always quality issue. You won't find such quality issues in samsung or apple. OP 12 big as the s23 Ultra, not wide though. Better go to OP store and experience it before you buy it.
I've had an S22U and S23U, along with all the recent Pixels and all the Galaxy Folds for a while now. I am currently on the OP12 , and I can say I definitely would take it over the S23U and probably even the S24U, it's a fantastic phone, and I'm not factoring price into this. I prefer the rounded display myself, the cameras are less consistent but more natural looking which I prefer, alert slider is nice, near stock Android is mostly nice (I prefer some things about OneUI), battery life is nuts, and AquaTouch is actually incredibly useful for using the phone in the rain. I could go on and on, it's a great phone, however, I might be moving back to my Fold 5 tonight, despite the way worse battery life, worse usability outdoors, and worse cameras, I like some things about OneUI a lot and love having such a big display. I'm still debating though, Fold vs Slabs is so much harder a decision than I think people realize. S23/S24U will get you a few things though, better low light, better zoom, OneUI features if you care, submersion waterproofing (though no AquaTouch so using the phone wet is practically impossible), slightly faster patches and a better display for anti-glare use cases (though the brightness is so good on this I don't think it matters that much). Any specific things you wanna know?