Redmi India recently introduced the Redmi Note 12 Series smartphones in India and the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G is the top-of-the-line smartphone in its series above the two smartphones – Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G and Redmi Note 12 5G. The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G flaunts its massive 200 MP OIS primary camera with additional highlights such as 120W super-fast charging, 12 GB RAM, and Dimensity 1080 5G. The smartphone debuts the 200 MP camera with an HPX sensor for the first time in India. Here’s more about the phone in our Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G review.
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G Specifications
- Display & Design: 6.67-inch Pro-AMOLED 10-bit display, Full HD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels), adaptive refresh rate (30/60/90/120Hz), 1B colors, 900 nits (HBM) brightness, 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Widevine L1 certified, DCI-P3 color gamut, IP53 Certified, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (front)
- Software: MIUI 13 interface, Android 12 operating system
- CPU: 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 1080 5G octa-core SoC clocked up to 2.6 GHz (2x Cortex-A78 + 6x Cortex-A55 processors)
- GPU: Mali-G68 MC4 Graphics (Up to 950 MHz)
- Memory: 8 GB OR 12 GB LPDDR4X RAM, +5 GB extended RAM feature
- Storage: 256 GB UFS 2.2 internal storage
- Main Camera: Triple cameras (200 MP Samsung ISOCELL HPX camera + 8 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera + 2 MP f/2.4 macro camera), Super OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 16 MP f/2.45
- Others: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner, IR Blaster, Face Unlock, Dual Stereo Speakers, Dolby Atmos support, Hi-Res Audio (Wired & Wireless) certification
- Cellular: 5G network (10 5G bands), dual SIM dual 5G, VoLTE support
- Battery & Charging: 4,980 mAh battery, Surge P1 Chipset, Mi-FC Technology, 120W fast charging, 100% in 19 minutes
- Price: ₹29,999 (8 GB + 256 GB), ₹32,999 (12 GB + 256 GB)
- Availability: 11th January 2023 at 12 PM on Mi.com, Mi Home stores, Flipkart, and retail outlets
- Offers: Flat ₹3,000 off on ICICI bank cards and EMI, ₹3,000 off on exchange, and an additional bonus of ₹1,000 on the exchange of Redmi/Xiaomi/Mi smartphones.
Design, Display, & Build Quality
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is quite similar to the Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G, the Dimensity 1080 5G CPU and 120 Hz Pro AMOLED display are the same in both phones, what the main differences here are the 200 MP camera and 120W fast charging capabilities found on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G. In addition, the battery and higher amount of RAM are other minor differences.
On the design front, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G offers a sleek and premium design with a glass back and 3D Arc curved design, we got the Arctic White color variant. The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G comes in three color variants – Arctic White, Iceberg Blue, and Obsidian Black. The design feels premium with its glass back, and even though the frames are polycarbonate, it does feel solid. The phone is 8.9 mm thick and weighs around 208.4 grams.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G flaunts a 6.67-inch Pro-AMOLED display with 10-bit depth (1B colors), a Full HD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels), and a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate (30/60/90/120Hz). Other features of the display include a 900 nits (HBM) brightness, a contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Widevine L1 certified, DCI-P3 color gamut and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
The backside has a triple camera setup and compared to the predecessor Redmi Note 11 Pro+, the primary camera is bumped up with a larger 200 MP. The fingerprint scanner isn’t under the display, but rather on the outside embedded on the power button like its two siblings – Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G and Redmi Note 12 5G.
Moving to the sides, the right side has a power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner, and volume controls while the left side is empty. The top has a microphone, a loudspeaker (stereo), IR Blaster, and a 3.5 mm audio jack. The bottom side offers another loudspeaker making dual speakers, a USB Type-C, a microphone, and a dual SIM tray that supports dual 5G SIMs, however, no microSD slot.
Software, User Interface, & Features
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G runs on the Android 12 operating system with MIUI 13 on top. We assume Redmi India should bring the Android 13-based MIUI soon in the coming OTA updates. The company has promised 2 years of Android OS upgrades and 4 years of Android security updates for Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G. The security patch available on the phone is dated 1/11/2022.
The MIUI 13 offers all the native features of Android 12 in addition to the features of the MIUI. About the MIUI 13 interface, you will see a bunch of new features which include upgrades in design, better background efficiency, faster processing, as well as longer battery life. Some features you see are added live wallpapers, themes, a new sidebar, and more.
The UI performance is smooth, we didn’t notice any lags in the interface. The 120 Hz display offers a smoother UI experience and UI responsiveness. Please note that the display supports an adaptive refresh rate which can switch automatically from 30 Hz to 120 Hz (30 Hz/60 Hz/90 Hz/120 Hz) depending on the scenario such as low battery life. Change the refresh rate in the display settings and set it to a custom refresh rate and choose 120 Hz for a throughout smoother experience.
Some pre-installed apps are found on the phone, the bloatware can be removed if not required. Apps like Amazon, Facebook, Zili, Spotify, Prime Video, LinkedIn, Bubble Shooter Relaxing, Snapchat, Netflix, and some apps from Xiaomi are the ones that you get on the phone.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
Speaking of the specifications and the performance of the smartphone, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G is powered by the new MediaTek Dimensity 1080 5G octa-core SoC clocked up to 2.6 GHz. This a fast midrange SoC with 5G capabilities and consists of 8x Cortex CPUs (2x Cortex-A78 and 6x Cortex-A55 processors) and a Mali-G68 MC4 GPU (up to 950 MHz) for gaming and graphics-related tasks.
The CPU is manufactured in a 6nm TSMC process consisting of 2+6 Cortex core configurations, two performance ARM Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.6 GHz, and six power-efficient ARM Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz. The cores are probably faster than Snapdragon 695 and close to Snapdragon 778G in terms of performance. The CPU is more or less slightly in the upper midrange category and offers a seamless performance. We have performed the benchmarks using the Geekbench 5 CPU and GPU benchmark and we can say it’s quite of a good performer.
The smartphone comes in two variants i.e. 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage as the base variant and 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage as the top variant with +3 GB extended RAM feature and no microSD card support. The RAM is an LPDDR4X type and the storage is a UFS 2.2 type.
The price for the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G starts at ₹29,999 for its base variant 8 GB + 256 GB variant and ₹32,999 for its top-variant 12 GB + 256 GB variant. The smartphone is available on 11th January 2023 at 12 PM on Mi.com, Mi Home stores, Flipkart, and retail outlets. You can grab the smartphone with its launch offers which include a flat ₹3,000 off on ICICI bank cards and EMI, ₹3,000 exchange bonus, and an additional bonus of ₹1,000 on the exchange of Redmi/Xiaomi/Mi smartphones.
Cameras
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G equips a triple camera setup on the rear side with its massive 200 MP primary camera utilizing Samsung’s ISOCELL HPX sensor. The MediaTek Dimensity 1080 can support one 200 MP camera sensor and that’s where the Redmi took advantage of it bringing in a huge 200 MP camera. This is the first 200 MP camera in India with an HPX sensor onboard.
The 200 MP camera, furthermore comes with an f/1.65 aperture and 1/1.4 large sensor size. The camera also supports Super OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) for the first time in the whole Redmi Note lineup for stable photography and videography. The 200 MP camera on the Redmi Note Pro+ 5G features ALD ultra-low reflection optical coating, 7P lenses, and a large aperture of f/1.65. The combination helps capture more light eventually delivering clearer images.
Moreover, the two secondary cameras are 8 MP f/2.2 for taking ultra-wide shots and 2 MP f/2.4 for macro photography. The front side has a 16 MP selfie camera for video calling and selfies. The main camera allows users to record 4K videos at 30 fps, as well as, wide-angle videos (8 MP) and macro videos (2 MP). Slow motion on the camera is available up to 960 fps at 720p, while you can record 120 fps at 1080p resolution.
You get a bunch of camera modes and features that you can use – UltraHD which snaps 50 MP and 200 MP shots, Night, Portrait, Macro, Pro, HDR, AI, VLOG, Long exposure, Movie frame, Voice shutter, Time-lapse, Short video, Tilt-shift, Time burst, Panorama, AI watermark, Document, Exposure verification, Focus peaking, and more.
Regarding the quality of the cameras, the main 200 MP camera does a great job with bright, crisp, and detailed shots in the daylight. You must use the UltraHD 200 MP mode to snap the higher resolution images (16,320 x 12,240 pixels) letting you zoom in deep. The photos that we captured in the UltraHD 200 MP were sized as much as over 40 MB with a resolution of 16,320 x 12,240 pixels. The 200 MP camera is impressive and you can expect a great performance out of it. You can use the regular Photo mode to fall back to the standard image size. You also get good portraits and wide-angle shots.
Take a look at these images we captured from the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G camera.
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Charging
On the battery side, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G packs a 4,980 mAh battery which is very close to a typical 5,000 mAh battery that we saw on the predecessor Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G. The major change we can see is the charging speed, the charging speed is bumped up to 120W on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G from the 67W on the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G has Surge P1 Chipset and Mi-FC Technology which helps achieve faster and more reliable charging. The phone with its 120W fast charging can charge the battery up to 100% in 19 minutes which is surprisingly good. The 120W HyperCharge Adapter Combo was first introduced alongside the Xiaomi 11i series smartphones, and it comes bundled with Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G.
Verdict – Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G is a great performer, the MediaTek Dimensity 1080 5G with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage offers a great deal of performance at this price. On top of it, the 200 MP captures detailed shots with a bunch of features inside. Another impressive thing is its display, the 10-bit Pro-AMOLED screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate gives you a better viewing experience paired with the stereo speakers, and features like Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos add to the overall multimedia experience. You also get a bunch of camera perks and customizations from the latest MIUI 13 interface. The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is overall a good value for money and a great performer for users who are looking for a smartphone under ₹30,000 budget.
