OnePlus Ace 3 launched: The OnePlus 12R in all but name

OnePlus has teased the OnePlus Ace 3 in China for a few weeks now, and this handset is expected to land in global markets as the OnePlus 12R. Now, the Chinese brand has indeed launched the mid-range phone in its home market.

True to OnePlus’s previous teases and disclosures, the Ace 3 looks like a very compelling upper mid-range phone. Starting with the design, you’ve got an aluminum frame, a glass back, that familiar rear camera housing, and a three-stage alert slider.

OnePlus has also trumpeted the Ace 3’s screen in recent days, sharing some DNA with the flagship-tier OnePlus 12 display. Expect a 1.5K OLED screen (LTPO, 120Hz), complete with 4,500 nits of peak brightness. Of course, peak brightness doesn’t really matter for the vast majority of users, but you’re still getting a claimed 1,600 nits in high brightness mode and up to 800 nits of brightness when manually adjusting the screen brightness. The firm has also touted a variety of eye protection measures for this display.

The rest of the OnePlus Ace 3 specs

The Ace 3 is no slouch when it comes to the meat and potatoes, though. Expect last year’s still beefy Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, and a 5,500mAh battery with 100W wired charging. There’s no wireless charging on offer, but this isn’t a surprise given the fact that it’s an upper mid-range device rather than a full-blown flagship handset. OnePlus is also promising that the phone’s battery health will remain above 80% after four years of usage (presumably 1,600 charging cycles).

The Ace 3 packs a triple rear camera system, with a 50MP camera (IMX890, f/1.8, OIS) being the primary shooter. OnePlus says the phone is using photo algorithms derived from its flagship devices, but software can only take you so far. So we’re curious to see whether the Ace 3/OnePlus 12R delivers respectable results in this regard. We’re looking at the usual 8MP ultrawide + 2MP macro shooters for the secondary rear cameras.

Other notable features worth knowing include an IR blaster, an optical in-display fingerprint sensor, and Rainwater Touch tech for more responsive touch input in a downpour.

OnePlus Ace 3 pricing and availability

The OnePlus Ace 3 will be available in China starting at 2,599 yuan (~$357) for the base 12GB/256GB model, all the way to 3,499 yuan (~$492) for the top-end 16GB/1TB model. These are early bird prices as per OPPO’s China store. You can expect the Ace 3 to be priced slightly higher when it goes on open sale. It comes in Star Black, Mingsha Gold, and Moon Sea Blue color options.

Ace devices are restricted to China but typically get released outside their home market as OnePlus R phones. OnePlus has already confirmed that the OnePlus 12R will launch in global markets on January 23, and it’s widely expected to be a rebranded Ace 3.

This wasn’t the only product launched on the day, as OnePlus launched the OnePlus Buds 3 as well (seen above). The new earbuds offer a few perks when connected to the Ace 3, such as LHDC 5.0 codec support and lower latency. The earbuds also promise multi-point connectivity and active noise cancelation. Interestingly, OnePlus says you can apparently customize the pop-up window that shows on your phone when you connect to the Buds 3, using pictures or videos. We’ll need to see this in action to get a better idea of what’s going on here.

Expect to pay 499 yuan (~$70) for the OnePlus Buds 3 in China. We’re expecting these earbuds to land in international markets on January 23 at the global OnePlus 12/OnePlus 12R event.