The best OnePlus phones for games 2025

The OnePlus 12 is easily the best OnePlus phone in 2025, providing a premium flagship experience for less than big-name brands like Samsung and Apple. From gaming performance to battery life, this thing delivers. It’s also very nice to look at, with the option to pick between two gorgeous Silky Black and Flowy Diamond designs.

2023’s OnePlus 11 was decent enough, but the OnePlus 12 feels like a big step up – though this does mean a higher price. It’s a rapid charger, going from flat to 100% in only 30 minutes, and its trio of fantastic cameras – a 50MP wide, 64MP 3x telephoto, and 48MP ultrawide – are ideal for any amateur photographer, offering detailed wide shots and stunning portraits. As you can probably tell, we’re big fans of this phone.

There’s a caveat to the OnePlus 12 in that it’s not as packed with AI features as some other 2025 flagship phones. That isn’t to say they couldn’t come with future updates, though. It’s also worth noting that this phone’s IP65 rating makes it a little less waterproof than we’d like for something so expensive, but it’s nothing you can’t work around with a solid case and screen protector.

Sure, the OnePlus 12 and 13 are impressive, but we’re still big fans of this slightly older flagship that is now more affordable than ever. Just because it’s cheap, doesn’t mean it’s not impress, with the OnePlus 11 packing a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and a gorgeous 120Hz AMOLED display.

The 11’s impressive screen helps to make it the best phone from OnePlus to date. To make sure the impressive display keeps going, it has a 13-hour battery life and a ton of storage space. Together, this means you have a powerful device that can smoothly run streaming services, games, and multitasking. There are many phones out there that share the same tech, but most cost more than $1,000.

We do have to point out that there is a slight downgrade when it comes to the camera. It caps at a two-times zoom, while the OnePlus 10 Pro has a 3.3-times zoom. Still, the camera on the OnePlus 11 does rival other high-end devices, and it’s more than capable of taking pictures worthy of showing off on your Instagram account.

The OnePlus 11 is also missing wireless charging – this isn’t a huge dealbreaker, but the convenience of wireless charging makes it a sorely missed feature. For our in-depth analysis, check out our full OnePlus 11 5G review.

As far as debut foldables go, they don’t get much better than the OnePlus Open. Considering the brand has had less time to perfect the concept compared to the likes of Samsung and Honor, the Open is a thing of beauty with a sleek and slim design, a stunning OLED display, and more than enough performance power to run demanding games such as Diablo Immortal, Honkai Star Rail, and PUBG Mobile.

The best thing about the OnePlus Open is its charging speed. Even the brand new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 struggles to compete against the OnePlus in this area, with the Open offering a full charge in just under 45 minutes. It’s also, as we’ve come to expect from OnePlus, a pretty handy snapper, with a triple-camera set-up consisting of 48MP wide, 64MP 3x telephoto, and 48MP ultrawide lenses. That should cover you from super-zoomed to wide-angle shots, and everything in between.

The only real downside to the OnePlus Open is that it’s so expensive. Admittedly, nearly all foldable phones are, but that still doesn’t make it any easier to part with over $1,500. It also doesn’t offer the best protection against dust and water, with just an IPX4 rating, which means it’s only vaguely splashproof. Again, though, that’s an issue for a few foldables, so we can’t criticize the Open too much for that.

The mid-range price point is congested with fantastic phones like the Google Pixel 8a and Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, but the OnePlus 12R might still be our favorite of the bunch. With its elegant design, fantastic gaming performance thanks to a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and a stunning AMOLED screen that keeps content looking crisp, it’s the closest you can get to a flagship experience without spending upwards of $800.

Still, the biggest selling point we came across during our testing of the 12R is its stellar battery life and wicked-fast charging. Even with pretty intensive gaming use, you can be sure this phone is going to get through the day, and you don’t need to leave it charging all night as it boosts from 0-100% in less than an hour. That’s a level of practicality that beats out much pricier alternatives like the iPhone 15 and Samsung Galaxy S24. It helps that it looks snazzy too, with an elegant design that might be the best we’ve seen from OnePlus yet.

There are a couple of caveats to the 12R, though. For a start, it doesn’t offer wireless charging, which is always a nice extra. The more concerning issue is the IP64 rating, though, which suggests that this phone doesn’t play nice at all when it comes into contact with water. If you pick one up, we’d suggest picking up a case too, just for that added layer of protection from spills and drops. If you want the full lowdown, see our OnePlus 12R review.

When thinking of gaming phones, OnePlus isn’t the first one that comes to mind, though it does collaborate with Hoyoverse for Genshin Impact theme phones. However, just because the company doesn’t market its phones as powerhouse gaming devices doesn’t mean that they don’t work well with the best mobile games.

The OnePlus 10T, complete with a cooling system for long play sessions, a solid chipset in the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, and a pre-installed hyperboost gaming engine that enables a GPA frame stabilizer, is the best gaming phone they offer. Yes, this thing is capable of much more than just running Candy Crush – Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail run swimmingly on this device.

Beyond its gaming capabilities, the OnePlus 10T does have other features that make it a superior option; the speed at which this phone runs is nothing short of impressive, thanks to its chipset (though the OnePlus 11 does beat it just slightly). Furthermore, while the phone isn’t the cheapest on the market, it actually looks more expensive than it is, thanks to its slick design.

Beyond the chipset and design, the 10T is one of the best OnePlus phones for its charging power, taking just ten minutes to fully juice up your phone. More than that, though it’s not the latest OnePlus flagship device, its 120Hz refresh-rate 6.7” AMOLED screen gives it a very crisp display. It’s another reason to consider this cell phone if a gaming device is on your radar.

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G just about makes it onto this list as it’s an affordable way to get 5G. I’d go so far as to say that’s one of the most appealing aspects of the phone. You see, this smartphone can’t contend with the likes of the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus 10 Pro when it comes to power and the like, but it is a standout amongst similar devices from other manufacturers.

This device is also readily available in the US, so consumers stateside don’t have to worry about the struggle that may come with getting their hands on a OnePlus Nord 2T. The Nord 2T is the superior device, though that superiority does come with upwards of parting with at least an extra $150. However, that extra cost can also net you up to an extra 6GB of RAM and double the storage capacity.

The cheap 5G capabilities and reasonable systems make this phone a worthy purchase for those seeking to pick up a smartphone without the eye-watering cost of a top-of-the-range Samsung or iPhone. The OnePlus Nord N20 also has a luscious display, so while it clearly doesn’t match up to other devices in most ways, there are still aspects that make it a bargain grab.

We finally got our hands on the OnePlus Keqing-themed phone and it doesn’t disappoint. This brand partnership doesn’t sacrifice quality either – the 12R is the slimmed-down version of the company’s latest flagship model, squeezing the beefy battery and chipset needed for quality mobile gaming time into a pocket-friendly model.

With an incredible 4500 nits peak brightness, you’ll never struggle to see your screen, while the OnePlus 12R’s 2160 Hz PWM dimming ensures that you’re taking care of your eyesight. Plus, there’s no fear of your phone turning to molten lava in your hands thanks to the next-gen vapor chamber cooling system.

Of course, as a new flagship model, the OnePlus 12R is pretty pricey. Despite being cheaper than the standard OnePlus 12, it’s still roughly $50 more than the non-Keqing model, thanks to the waifu tax. That being said, you can see in our full OnePlus 12R Genshin Impact edition review just how many exclusive extras you get alongside the phone itself.