While I love the Pixel 8a's cameras, the mighty OnePlus 12R is the mother of all budget phones and just better overall. Heck, it's a midrange master. While one would usually have to spend $499.99 to acquire the 128GB variant, today's OnePlus Cyber Monday sales have slashed that price tag by $100. If you want the best budget phone of the year, you can get the OnePlus 12R for $399.99 at Best Buy.
If you've been eyeing the Cool Blue colorway, there's bad news and good news. The bad news is, the 128GB variant is sold out and you can only get it in Iron Gray. However, the good news is that you can get the better 256GB version in Cool Blue for a discounted price too, saving you $100 off the original price. I recommend this variant because 128GB runs out really fast these days and the 12R doesn't have a memory card slot.
The OnePlus 12R has a lovely and very vibrant 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED screen with PWM dimming, so it's friendly to sensitive users. It's powered by a flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, so the Pixel 8a's performance is nothing in comparison to the beastly 12R. Another bonus point is that the phone boasts a robust IP64 water and dust-resistant rating.
✅Recommended if: you need a two-day battery life, flagship performance, clean software, three years of OS upgrades, blazing fast wired charging, and solid cameras.
❌Skip this deal if: you want expandable storage and an audio jack.
You really never settle with the OnePlus 12R. This device is a performance beast. Depending on the memory specs, you either get 12GB or 16GB of RAM. Last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC delivers unbelievable performance for gaming, multitasking, and anything in between. There's no app or task this phone can't handle.
Although not as fast as the Asian variant, you still get a blazing quick 80W fast charging speed coupled with a gigantic 5,500mAh battery in North America. It lasts me all day and then some with very heavy use. The only feature lacking is wireless charging, but with a phone that charges this fast and lasts this long, you won't miss it.
I can't say the cameras are significantly better than the Pixel 8a, but they come close and are surely good enough to keep up with it in most scenarios. I was honestly very taken aback by how good the 50MP camera's picture quality is, and even the videos are quite nice.
The OnePlus 12R comes with Android 14, but you can upgrade to Android 15 right away. OnePlus promises three major OS updates, so you can rest assured it'll be good to go until Android 16. It is easily the best affordable Android phone that money can buy right now.
