Third OnePlus 12R camera won’t be as useful as it should be

The OnePlus 12R is coming next month, as it was confirmed recently. The company confirmed that it will launch alongside the OnePlus 12 on January 23. That will be their global launch, as the OnePlus 12 already launched in China. Having said that, more OnePlus 12R info just surfaced, as it seems like its third camera on the back won’t be as useful as we’ve hoped it will.

The third OnePlus 12R camera on the back won’t be what we hoped for

A lot of OnePlus 12R information already surfaced. We have almost all of its specifications at this point. Some details are missing, and Max Jambor, a well-known tipster, has just decided to fill in one of those gaps.

The third camera on the back of the OnePlus 12R will be a 2-megapixel unit, as rumored, unfortunately. It will be a 2-megapixel macro camera, the tipster has confirmed. Initially, it was rumored to be a 32-megapixel telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom.

Needless to say, that telephoto camera would be far more useful. A 2-megapixel camera is generally not great, especially when it comes to a macro camera. Chances are you’ll stay away from it in general, and use the main or ultrawide shooters for macros.

2-megapixel macro cameras usually end up being underwhelming

Not a single phone I’ve tested, that contained a 2-megapixel macro camera, was supposed to have it. The images taken with it don’t look great in basically any condition. You can get somewhat usable shots in great lighting, but only barely.

It is understandable that OnePlus had to cut costs, however. The OnePlus 12R will have a great set of specs in general, and presumably a great price tag, so something had to go. It would maybe be a better idea to omit the third camera altogether than to use this one.

Either way, we’ll see what exactly we’ll get. The other two cameras do look good on paper. A 50-megapixel main camera (Sony’s IMX890 sensor), and an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera. Those are not the very best camera specs out there, but… you can’t expect that considering this will technically be a mid-range device. The OnePlus 12 will be an entirely different story.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will fuel the OnePlus 12R, allegedly. The phone is said to include a 5,500mAh battery, and support 100W charging. A large 120Hz display will also be in use, by the way.