OPPO K12x Indian Edition launches as Damage-Proof budget Android smartphone
The OPPO K12x freshly announced via Flipkart is not the smartphone sold in China under that name, and there is a good reason for that. The latter is in fact already available in India, albeit as the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite.
As if to add to the confusion, the 'new' K12x has been styled more like the higher-end CE4 instead, with an almost Samsung Galaxy S24-like camera hump, except the bottom ring is in fact an LED flash.
However, the K12x' cameras might as well have come from the past in comparison with the CE4 series, as the even the best rear shooter is 32MP rather than 50MP in resolution, with a mere 2MP back-up lens and an unprepossessing 1080p/30-60fps sensor for selfies - which is found behind a punch-hole, at least.
The K12x stays low-rent with an LCD screen of just 1604×720 in resolution - then again, it compensates somewhat with a Nord-esque 120Hz refresh rate and a max brightness value of 1,000 nits. It also diverges from its look-a-likes with a Dimensity 6300 SoC rather than one from the Snapdragon 6 series.
OPPO asserts that the K12x is worthwhile as a MIL-STD-810H-rated smartphone, even though it is also covered in proprietary Panda Glass and is just 7.68mm in width. On that note, it has a slightly above-standard battery at 5,100mAh of typical capacity, but uses the older 45W SuperVOOC charging standard for its USB-C port.
Its 360° Damage-Proof Armor Body also integrates a 3.5mm jack - and the potentially welcome audio Easter eggs don't even end there, as the K12x is graced with LDAC, aptX, and aptX HD support as well as the more predictable SBC and AAC codices for its Bluetooth 5.3 wireless connectivity.
The ColorOS 14.0.1-powered K12x is "Coming Soon" in new Midnight Violet or Breeze Blue colorways at prices starting from just INR 12,999 (~$155) as opposed to INR 19,999 (~$239) for the CE4 Lite and INR 24,998 (~$299) for the CE4 - although that is because the new handset's base model has a 6GB RAM/128GB internal storage configuration, whereas the other 2 phones start with 8GB of RAM.
