Summary
- OnePlus 12 features the largest vapor chambers outside a laptop for efficient heat dissipation, a key factor in sustaining performance and combating heat generation.
- The phone’s split battery configuration allows for simultaneous recharging, regardless of using wireless or wired charging, and all the components benefit from the new cooling system.
- The dual-layer vapor chamber design cools the SoC, batteries, wireless charging system, and dissipates heat through the display, hopefully ensuring long-term durability.
OnePlus just announced its latest flagship phone, the OnePlus 12, and it is the first of the few flagships coming stateside this year. Well-known for their price-to-performance ratio and offering buyers fantastic value for money combined with reasonable support in the years to come. However, performance means nothing if it can’t be sustained and heat is its biggest enemy. OnePlus has thrown two of the largest vapor chambers outside a laptop into the OnePlus 12, and this teardown gives us our first look at it.
Zack Nelson of the JerryRigEverything YouTube channel is well-known for his Teardown skin designs created in collaboration with Dbrand (which were recently stolen), and the durability tests he performs on phones. The teardown of the OnePlus 12 reveals a few interesting tidbits as usual, such as the split battery configuration, allowing each half to recharge simultaneously, no matter if you’re using the 50W wireless charging or a 100W wired connection.
OnePlus also includes rubber rings and gaskets around the USB-C connector and a bunch of ribbon cable connectors to protect against water damage, but the star of the show is a massive two-layer vapor chamber in direct contact with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC and the display, for efficient heat dissipation. OnePlus’ name for the tech is quite a mouthful — Dual Cryo Velocity Vapor Chambers, but the design utilizes two vapor chambers stacked atop each other, providing a whopping 9,140 mm² area for heat dissipation.
When Nelson pulls it out of the phone, it resembles a sheet of copper. However, sandwiched between the layers is a thin gap with a small amount for fluid which recirculates through capillary action of a mesh, also installed in the chamber. The vanes and the recirculating fluid constantly in contact with the copper surfaces keep the temperatures in check.
In his video, Nelson explains that OnePlus’ design cools the SoC, batteries, and wireless charging system, while dissipating heat through the display. We wouldn’t worry if the OnePlus 12 got toasty to the touch, because it’s by design. Yes, we worry the heat could affect the OLED display after years of use, but OnePlus also makes repairs and service convenient with transparent pricing.
Vapor chambers themselves aren’t a novel concept for smartphone cooling, but OnePlus’ innovative dual-chamber design helps increase the surface area. Much like the radiator fins in your car, the increased surface area proportionately increases the heat dissipation by convection. It would be fun to see gaming phones and other performance-oriented hardware adopt this design if it proves to be efficient.
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