Xiaomi rounds out its recently launched smartphone line, the Redmi Note 12 series, with the introduction of the Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G.
The new midrange model features an improved camera system and processing power, an updated display and design, and a longer battery life with faster charging speeds.
We took a closer look at the Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G to see if it lives up to the brand’s tradition of delivering value-for-money offerings. Read on.
Design & construction
Our Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G review unit comes in a Graphite Gray colorway, which looks elegant and professional (other available colors are Star Blue, Glacier Blue, and Polar White). The boxy form factor adds to the phone’s tough, no-nonsense vibe.
Speaking of tough, we love that this Redmi phone feels solid in our hands. It has a bit of heft, giving it that premium overall feel. It’s not the thinnest phone out there at 8.12mm but handling is easy and a great experience overall. Oh, and this phone has IP53 splash-proofing, too.
The buttons and ports are well-placed. The volume rocker and power key are on the right side. The power button also doubles as the fingerprint scanner, which for the most part is accurate and fast.
You’ll find an audio jack and a loudspeaker at the top. At the bottom are the USB-C port, another speaker, and the dual-sim card tray.
Display & multimedia
One of the highlight features of the Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G is its 6.67-inch AMOLED DotDisplay with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 front. It comes with a 2400 x 1080 FHD+ resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate, which is a nice feature for a phone at this price range.
With the AMOLED panel in place, you get deep blacks and great colors in photos and videos. By default, the colors are not too saturated, but you can enhance the colors in Settings under Color Scheme. The display also comes with DCI-P3 wide color gamut and 1100 nits maximum brightness.
Other cool functions are Sunlight Display—which allows you to better see the content of the screen even under harsh lighting conditions—and Reading Mode 3.0, which lets you adjust the color temperature so reading can be easier on the eyes.
Meanwhile, the 120Hz refresh rate lets you play games and stream content lag-free.
The dual speakers with Dolby Atmos at the top and bottom of the device produce decent sound. This placement allows for a better sound experience when watching in landscape mode. We particularly love that the Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G still has the 3.5mm audio jack for wired connections—and that it’s placed at the top so it doesn’t get in the way when you’re holding or charging the phone.
Camera
Xiaomi equipped the Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G with powerful cameras. The main star of the show is the 108MP Samsung HM2 lens with f/1.9 aperture. Meanwhile, the 8MP f/2.2 shooter takes care of up to 120-degree ultra-wide shots. There’s also a 2MP f/2.4 macro camera and a 2MP f/2.4 depth lens.
The camera produces great images, especially under good lighting conditions. They are sharp for the most part. Pictures taken under low-light settings are a mixed bag, however. For more natural-looking photos, we suggest turning the AI enhancement feature off.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro is capable of recording videos of up to 4K resolution at 30fps. It comes with a filmCamera and a ProCut feature if you want to level up the creativity on your footage. Like in photos, videos come out great in well-lit scenarios, while low-lit clips have some noise and fewer details.
For selfies and video calls, the 16MP f/2.4 front snapper delivers bright and detailed images.
Performance
Under the hood, the Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G boasts a 2.2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 732G processor paired with a Qualcomm Adreno 618 GPU. It’s also equipped with 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage, which is still expandable up to 1TB via microSD.
Surprisingly, this phone runs on Android 11 with MIUI 13. We would have liked it if it had Android 12 out of the box.
Gamers and power users will appreciate the 5000mAh battery with 67W turbo charging capabilities on the Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G. It lasted us almost a day of use that includes playing games, streaming movies, and lots of browsing and social media use. Thankfully, the fast charger lets you top up in less than an hour.
For connectivity, this phone has Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 802.11/b/g/n/ac, NFC, and up to 4G LTE. The SIM tray has two slots—one for the main SIM and another for either a second SIM card or a microSD.
Pricing & availability
The Redmi Note 12 Pro is available in 8GB+256GB configuration for P14,999.
Early birds who purchase the phone from June 9 to June 18 will get a free Xiaomi Powerbank.
Speed says
Redmi continues to deliver its promise of bang-for-the-buck devices with the Redmi Note 12 Pro 4G. For its price, this smartphone already comes with a vivid display and a sleek design. Add to that the overall satisfying mobile experience thanks to the snappy processor, fast-charging batteries, and powerful cameras. Surely there’s room for improvement, but this is already a great choice without compromising the budget.
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