OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition review: Maximum impact
Genshin Impact is among the most popular action role-playing games in the world, serving up gorgeous open-world environments and graphics-intensive battles. Yet, the game holds another distinction in the hands of technology reviewers and gamers alike — it serves as a good benchmark to measure how well a phone responds to high-intensity gaming. No surprise that OnePlus chose this game to pay homage to with its Genshin Impact Edition variant for the OnePlus 12R.
Now, OnePlus is no stranger to special edition variants (Star Wars, Marvel, McLaren), but the brand has gone the extra mile this time with a box that’s inspired by a central game character (Keqing), which opens up as a set to proudly display the phone and the accoutrements. It’s a treat for game fans, with a character badge and themed case, a poster, some more stickers and badges, and even a SIM ejector tool in the shape of a Lightning Stiletto.
The special edition 12R itself sees no change in dimensions, but it is clad in this alluring ‘Electro Violet’ colour, and the rear panel is etched in floral designs inspired by Keqing’s clothing. Bonus Easter Egg: shine a light on the phone’s top edge, and it reflects the word ‘Keqing’ onto a nearby surface! Details — it’s all in the details.
Switch it on, and the party continues with the game-inspired custom animations for common actions like booting up, charging, and unlocking, violet-themed wallpapers and themed system icons, and custom notification sounds for system sounds recorded by Keqing’s voice actor.
Under the hood, the phone packs in the same core specs as a regular 12R — last year’s top-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with 16 GB of LPDDR5X memory and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. OnePlus claims to have optimised this variant for Genshin Impact with its Trinity Engine for faster load times, better graphics quality, and better sustained performance.
In my testing, I found only minor differences while playing the game at high settings — it took only the slightest longer for the device to start getting mildly warm. I missed having some gaming extras thrown in for good measure, such as optional trigger buttons, but as a game fan, the rest of the package seals the deal for me. What’s not to like? You get a vibrant 1.5K display, good battery life and charging, and good gaming performance, all in a rather unique phone, for just a slight markup over the regular 12R.
Rating: 8/10
Price: INR 49,999 (16/256 GB)