I laid my eyes on Genshin Impact in late 2020. Unfortunately, the Galaxy device I owned at the time, the Samsung Galaxy S10, was barely chugging along to play the game comfortably. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I discovered the power of Android gaming phones — how dedicated gaming hardware could shift how a game or an app performs. For example, if you own a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, you won’t worry so much about how it handles Genshin Impact, but these phones are over $1300. You can cut that price to almost half by buying a gaming phone, like the Redmagic Pro 9. But not everyone wants to purchase a separate phone for gaming.
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There’s also a third in-between option; the OnePlus and the HoYoverse teams have again collaborated to develop a specialty device to empower your Genshin Impact gaming experience. The OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition isn’t just a novelty device packaged with Genshin Impact knickknacks and a custom design; both teams have worked to create a device that can improve the game’s speed, loading times, storage, and visual experience. So today, I’m here to tell you everything I uncovered while testing the OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition (GIE), such as what’s inside the box and whether nabbing this phone is worth the asking price.
What’s included in the OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition box
It goes beyond what you’d expect
OnePlus has released similar Genshin Impact collaborations in the past. One of the most impressive features every single time is the packaging. Everything is neatly packed in a box; the box and its contents open as a set, holding the phone and trinkets over a beautiful purple-inspired Keqing backdrop. The set may not be necessary, but seeing the company go the extra mile by including these finer details in its careful packaging is pretty impressive.
Inside the box you’ll find:
- A charger (USB-C): power adapter and cable
- Two Keqing acrylic stands (detachable)
- A SIM card ejector tool
- The OnePlus 12R (Genshin Impact Edition) phone
- A Keqing-themed case
- Keqing character badge
- A collection of Keqing collab emotes (with covered pin backings and a sticker sheet)
- Instruction manual/Warranty/a OnePlus membership card
- Keqing poster
- Letter to the Traveler
The packaging brings back memories of the Xiangling and Hu Tao-themed phones. Xiangling’s OnePlus collab included a gift box that opened as a red lunchbox with Wanmin’s Restaurant resident Guoba at the center. Hu Tao’s OnePlus collab reproduced the bustling city of Liyue Harbor. Overall, the new Keqing gift box exudes the same elegance and surreal feeling you had when she wore her outfit during year 2 of the Lunar New Year event in version 2.4. As a faithful Genshin Impact player, I am more than pleased.
Performance
OnePlus’ Hyper Technology shows in full force
The game plays perfectly at Medium (graphical) settings. Though the device can handle the graphics cranked to High, it will start feeling warm. For Genshin Impact, I usually default to High at 30 FPS while exploring/clearing chests on the map. Then, I will lower graphics to Medium for more combat-heavy activities (like clearing the Abyss) while upping the game to 60 FPS. After testing, I noticed no stuttering, and the touch controls remained responsive. This is all thanks to OnePlus’s Hyper Technology and RAM-Vita, which optimizes RAM usage and improves performance, lighting, and touch response in-game.
HyperRendering theoretically achieves 120 FPS, but Genshin Impact caps out at 60 FPS.
However, holding the device itself didn’t feel as comfortable as holding my RedMagic 6 Pro (in my hands) — but this is all due to Nubia’s sturdy size and the optional trigger buttons for improved finger placement. Compared to my Galaxy S23, the OnePlus 12R GIE felt miles ahead in terms of comfort and performance.
You will also notice that the OnePlus 12R GIE comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (sadly not the Gen 3). But the true winner is OnePlus’ HyperRendering and HyperBoosting technology. Opening Genshin Impact will automatically turn on all of the optimization tech while closing background apps, securing dedicated RAM, and using texture smoothing to ensure a great experience. It goes to show that you don’t need the most powerful chip on the market to gain solid performance.
OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition
- SoC
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
OnePlus 12R vs OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition
A premium reskin that doesn’t cut corners
Comparing the OnePlus 12R GIE to the regular OnePlus 12R, the phones are identical. They have the same design, size, and composition; both phones have similar specs, but the OnePlus 12R GIE’s optimized Trinity Engine does the heavy lifting to keep these phones separated. Another note is that the OnePlus 12R GIE only comes in the 16GB/256 GB model, which is more than you can ask for when running Genshin Impact since the game uses nearly 30GB of storage space and requires more RAM than most premium budget phones can handle (although 16GB is a bit overkill, that also makes the phone future-proof for handling the game long-term). And if you’re already a sucker for other HoYoverse games like me, you will be making good use of your storage space in no time.
OnePlus 12R review: A real flagship killer for $500
A phone that packs all the power you need for the price you want to pay
Although the OnePlus 12R GIE offers a custom UI, it still runs on the same OS as the regular OnePlus 12R model: OxygenOS 14.0 (based on Android 14). But as a long-time Genshin Impact player, I find the new home screen and Genshin-inspired icons a welcome treat. Every aspect of the design feels customized and personalized, just like the teams I spend carefully crafting in Genshin Impact.
What I like about the OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition
It’s difficult to take your eyes off the phone
The OnePlus 12R GIE phone offers the best of both worlds. It functions well as an everyday phone, and its size is perfect — not too big or small, so carrying it around in your pocket isn’t awkward and inconvenient. The phone performs surprisingly well for a non-gaming brand. It doesn’t overheat (from the hours I spent testing it), which shows how the phone’s cryo-velocity cooling system is working its magic.
The best part, the display is an absolute treat. The OnePlus 12R GIE offers a noticeably vibrant 1.5K display, achieving a max of 4500 nits peak brightness — more than 2.5 times the recorded display on my Galaxy S23 (1750 nits). Though these numbers are nonsensical in practice, what matters is that you can still see your screen in different environments. This allowed me to play anywhere, including my patio (with a bit of shade) and inside my lit bedroom, without worry.
And, of course, I’m still gushing over the beautiful handiwork by the OnePlus team. The Electro Violet colorway makes for the most attractive device ever to grace my eyes. The custom-etched backing with the floral Liyue-inspired patterns in lilac colors is also a really elegant design choice.
My favorite part about the limited edition phone is that you’re still getting the best of both worlds. It’s an excellent everyday phone that can also match dedicated gaming phones to fire up HoYoverse’s monstrous gaming app. The design has the everyday user in mind while providing the horsepower to play comfortably. The battery life is also great, lasting an entire work or school day (assuming a mix of gaming and app browsing), and it only takes half an hour to charge fully — less downtime is always desirable.
What I don’t like about OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition
It’s not the be-all and end-all solution to Android gaming
While the OnePlus 12R GIE may just be my favorite device for playing the game, if you’re the type that plays demanding competitive titles (like FPS games), I suggest looking into dedicated gaming phones instead. Even when the OnePlus pro-gamer mode works like a beast, the phone simply isn’t as comfortable to hold without a controller slapped on, and unfortunately, some of our favorite games, like Genshin Impact, still lack Android controller support.
Is the OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition phone a winner?
It absolutely is
If you’re a long-term Genshin Impact player constantly deleting apps to make space for updates and looking for an overall phone upgrade, you should definitely look into how OnePlus phones have come a long way in the last couple of years, going toe-to-toe with Google and Samsung’s flagship devices. The OnePlus GIE may be slightly pricey at $650 (compared to the regular $500 OnePlus 12R), but it’s not that bad of a deal for a phone equipped to handle one of the most demanding Android games, all the while offering one of the slickest themes I’ve seen yet. Of course, supplies are limited, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pick up a regular OnePlus 12R, which is a great device even without the Genshin theme.
OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition
OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact Edition takes OP’s tried and true OnePlus 12R and slaps a slick Genshin Impact theme on top with tons of perks, like tuned performance for lengthy gaming sessions.
