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Introduction
Four Redmi Note 12 models were given to the international markets. Three of them have 5G connectivity. Two of them bear the Pro moniker for premium features. One Note to rule them all - the most premium Redmi Note 12 Pro+.
There is a happy ending to this story; don't you worry. Unlike the Redmi Note 11 series, which brought mostly downgrades and disappointing performance, the Redmi Note 12 models will gladly fix this. And we are starting with the most beefed-up model - the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, which will go down in the history books for its 200MP camera, 120W fast charging, and all-around Dolby features.
Alright, no more teasing. The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ employs a 6.67-inch OLED with 120Hz refresh and Dolby Vision. A pair of Dolby Atmos speakers completes the Dolby package.
The new model is powered by the Dimensity 1080 platform, a boost of sorts over the Dimensity 920 inside the 11 Pro+. And the base version's RAM has been increased from 6GB to 8GB.
Even better, the battery capacity has been improved as well, and the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ can brag with a 5,000mAh battery, up from 4,500mAh. The phone offers one of the fastest charging solutions to date - 120W HyperCharge, which has already been proven to deliver jaw-dropping charging speed as part of the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ and other Xiaomi-made phones.
One of the most notable upgrades this year is in the camera department, the main camera specifically. Now, the best Redmi Note 12 model uses a 200MP Samsung sensor, so it can deliver unparalleled for this class photo and video quality. The 8MP ultrawide, the 2MP macro, and the 16MP selfie cameras remain the same as on the older models.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is an IP53-rated dual-glass smartphone. The curved shape and the catchy colors are surely a nice bonus, too. It also comes with the latest MIUI, and there are all sorts of connectivity features.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ specs at a glance:
- Body: 162.9x76.0x8.9mm, 208g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 5), glass back; IP53, dust and splash resistant.
- Display: 6.67" OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 500 nits (typ), 900 nits (HBM), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 395ppi.
- Chipset: Mediatek MT6877V Dimensity 1080 (6 nm): Octa-core (2x2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G68 MC4.
- Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 2.2.
- OS/Software: Android 12, MIUI 13.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 200 MP, f/1.7, 24mm, 1/1.4", 0.56µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 1/4", 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide), 1/3.06", 1.0µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, 720p@960fps; Front camera: 1080p@30/60fps.
- Battery: 5000mAh; 120W wired, PD3.0, 100% in 19 min (advertised).
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC; Infrared port; 3.5mm jack; stereo speakers.
We hate to break the news to the Redmi fans, but the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, as well as the regular Pro, don't support microSD expansion. These have to be among the first global Redmi Note models to lose it, and we believe some fans might be left frustrated. Sorry.
With that being said, everything else looks promising on this new Redmi Note 12 Pro+. Let's unbox it now.
Unboxing the Redmi Note 12 Pro+
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ arrives inside a thick white box. The bundle contains a 120W GaN charger, a USB-A-to-C cable, and a transparent soft case.
The Note 12 Pro+ also comes with a thin protective film for scratch resistance purposes. It's a smudge magnet, though, and we got rid of it but feel free to keep yours if you don't mind it.
Design, build quality, handling
The entire Redmi Note 12 lineup features 6.67-inch displays and similar camera housings - meaning they are lookalikes, and if they are facing you, it will be impossible to distinguish them.
The Redmi Note 12 phones also adopt the clean camera housing seen on the Xiaomi 12 flagships, which gives the phones a nice premium touch and a nice departure from the messy island we experienced on the Redmi Note 11 devices.
Redmi Note 12 Pro and Pro+
The guest of honor, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+, has one key difference from the standard Pro when it comes to design - it has a slightly curved glass back, unlike the perfectly flat back panel of the Note 12 Pro. And it has a matt finish instead of a glossy one as on the Pro.
Indeed, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is one of the two dual-glass models within the new series featuring flat Gorilla Glass 5 protection atop its screen and a slightly curved matt glass with polished finish on the back. The frame is made of plastic with a pleasant matt surface.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+, just like all Note 12 phones, is IP53-rated for dust and light splash resistance. It's not waterproof as the Galaxy A series, but it's still better than nothing.
The Note 12 Pro+ is available in Midnight Black, Polar White and Sky Blue (ours). The blue model slightly changes its hue towards dark/light blue depending on the available light. It's not flashy, on the contrary - quite subtly, and we liked it.
The centerpiece of the Note 12 Pro+ is the 6.67-inch Flow AMOLED screen of extended 1080p resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. It supports Dolby Vision, too.
The panel has reasonably thin bezels and a small perforation centered around the top of the screen - this is the spot of the 16MP selfie camera.
And there is a barely visible outlet above the screen, just above the frame - this is the earpiece slash speaker. Like on many other Redmi phones, this speaker also has a second sound outlet on the frame.
The beautiful back panel is slightly curved as we explained. There is a jutting-out flat metal housing, which accommodates the 200MP primary and the 8MP ultrawide camera, as well as the 2MP macro cam and the LED flash. The primary and UW shooters are surrounded by additional metal rings, which adds even more height to the camera island.
As you can imagine, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ wobbles a lot if used without a case because of its camera housing. Still, it's a stylish housing piece, like the one on the Xiaomi 12 flagships, and we appreciate the consistency and the new look.
Let's look around the sides now. There is nothing on the left.
The right side houses the volume and power/lock keys. The fingerprint scanner is on the power key as usual, and it's quite fast and reliable. You can adjust its trigger to be on Press instead of on Touch if you are waking it way too often.
The top accommodates the 3.5mm audio jack, another outlet for the top speaker, the IR blaster and a second microphone.
Finally, you can see the dual SIM tray, the primary mic, the USB-C port, and the second speaker at the bottom.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ measures 162.9 x 76 x 8.9 mm and weighs 208 grams - that's about a millimeter shorter than the Note 11 Pro+ and a hair thicker.
We found the grip the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ provides satisfying. It sure isn't the most secure, but it's not overly slippery, too. And the overall handling experience is good - the Redmi feels premium in hand because of its design and finish. And most of the time, we didn't feel a need for case. Luckily, if you don't agree with us, a case awaits you in the retail box.
Display
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ features a 6.67-inch Flow AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution (395ppi) and a small perforation for the selfie camera. The panel is protected with a Gorilla Glass 5 sheet.
While the display appears to be similar to the one on the Redmi Note 11 Pro+, it has been updated with 10-bit color depth, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision certifications. The rest of the specs include 240Hz touch response, wide color support, and 1920Hz PWM dimming to minimize eye strain in low-light conditions.
Xiaomi is promising 900nits of maximum brightness, and we can confirm that. In fact, the display can be as bright as 990 nits of maximum brightness via the Sunlight Boost, while the typical manual brightness achievable via the brightness scrubber is 535nits.
Finally, the minimum brightness at point white was 2.1nits, in line with most of the OLED panels nowadays.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 535 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 990 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 479 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 760 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 470 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 746 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 484 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 809 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 479 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 680 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 512 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 938 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 530 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 1003 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 496 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 690 | ∞ | |
Color accuracy
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ offers your typical MIUI color controls. The display color options have three different color models - Vivid (default, DCI-P3), Saturated (DCI-P3 with saturation boost), and Standard (sRGB). You can fine-tune the color temperature for each mode. There is also a custom mode, where you can select the color gamut and fine tune colors, saturation, hue, contrast, gamma.
The Vivid (default) option reproduces DCI-P3 mostly faithfully, excluding the slightly bluish white and gray hues (fixable by selecting Warm Color temperature). The Standard option corresponds to sRGB and offers accurate rendering, including the white and gray colors.
Color options
Refresh rate
Let's explore the refresh rate capabilities of the screen. The panel supports up to 120Hz refresh rate, and there are two modes in Settings - Custom (choose between 120Hz or 60Hz), and Default (automatic switching behavior).
Exploring the matter further, we found out that the screen supports four fixed refresh rates per its specifications - 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz.
Refresh rate options
Quite expectedly (from our experience with many other MIUI-powered phones), Custom 120Hz and Default (auto) do the same - the system uses 120Hz for the phone's UI and most apps (games included), at least while the user is interacting with the display or there is motion on screen. Then, once it sees a static picture for a couple of seconds, the system drops the refresh rate down to 60Hz to save power. 60Hz is always used for the camera app, video playback and streaming.
The screen is capable of using the 30Hz mode, too, but the only occasion we saw it in action was for the Always-on Display and the Notification Light.
Theoretically, the screen should be able to switch to 90Hz refresh rate, but we didn't find an app to trigger this particular refresh step.
Streaming and HDR
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ comes with Widevine L1 DRM support, and Full HD streaming with HDR10 and Dolby Vision support is available across popular platforms, Netflix included.
Netflix
Battery life
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is powered by a 5,000mAh battery - up from 4,500mAh on the Redmi Note 11 Pro+. The phone employs a newer Dimensity chipset and the next version of MIUI. And, just like the previous Plus model, this one supports 120W fast charging.
We've completed our battery life test, and for the first time in a long time, we have a Redmi Note to score a sub-100h endurance rating.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ scored a total endurance rating of 88 hours, 18 hours down from the Redmi Note 11 Pro+. Other than that, all other battery times - calls, web, video - are in line with the older model and quite satisfactory.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. More details can be found here.
The test that hurt the endurance rating the most is the standby performance, which turned out to be average on Note 12 Pro+ at about 250 hours, while the Note 11 Pro+ and the older models offered incredibly frugal consumption that led to 500-600 hours of standby.
Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test is done at the display's highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage patterns, check out our all-time battery test results chart, where you can also find all phones we've tested.
Charging speed
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ supports 120W HyperCharge for its 5,000mAh battery. The device comes bundled with that charger and an appropriate 6A-rated cable, which is nice considering the current eco-friendly trend.
Just like other 120W charging-capable Xiaomi phones, this one also has Boost Charge mode. This is the feature that allows the fastest possible charging at 120W, but there is a catch - it works only when the phone is with its screen turned off as an overheating prevention measure. The Boost option is turned off by default, but you can enable it from within the Battery settings.
Charging settings
We did our charging test with the Boost mode, as otherwise, the phone is limited to 60W-80W charging.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ with its 120W GaN charger is an incredible combo. We got 38% of charge in just 5 minutes, while 15 minutes replenished 81% of the battery.
A full charge took 23 minutes, while we clocked 95% on the 19min - the time Xiaomi advertises for a full charge. Factors like room temperature, SIM card, connected accounts, among others, do affect the charging time, so we think the slight difference of 4 minutes is easily explained by these.
During the 120W fast charging, the phone didn't get hot, just warm.
We also tested without the Boost mode, and quite expectedly, the charging process is a bit slower. In 5 minutes, we got 26%, 15 mins - 58%, and a full charge took 30 minutes.
Speakers
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ features a stereo speaker setup. One of the speakers is placed at the top of the phone and has two outlets - top-facing and front-facing for earpiece purposes. The other one is placed at the bottom of the Redmi.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ supports Dolby Atmos enhancement, and it's enabled by default. We tried listening to music with and without Dolby Atmos, and we found the experience better when we kept it on - the speakers are a bit louder, and the audio is somewhat crisper. Turning the Dolby Atmos enhancement will make for an arguably richer sound, but the bass and the volume are a bit lower.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ scored a Good mark on our loudness test, and Good is also what best suits the description of its audio quality - the vocals are good, there is bass, and the Dolby Atmos helps for better high frequencies.
We cannot but acknowledge the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ sounded louder and richer, though.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
A familiar combination - Android 12 with MIUI 14
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is running the company's latest MIUI 14 on top of the older Android 12. The team behind MIUI 14 updated the system architecture on the Android Kernel level with CPU, GPU and memory resource scheduling, lighter system firmware size and decreased memory usage.
Let's quickly go over the new things. Only eight system apps cannot be uninstalled, which is a major leap from past MIUI releases. Other neat optimizations include automatic compression for apps that are not actively used and a toggle to turn off permanent notifications.
Going over the list of expected new additions to MIUI 14 from its official release, we oddly found a lot is not yet present on our Redmi Note 12 Pro+ unit. Perhaps some of the new features will be delivered later with updates. Our unit lacks the new animated character widgets, for one, but it does have the new style of enlarged folders.
Enlarged folders
We also didn't find the duplicate file merger, Xiaomi wireless accessory cross-device switching controls, nor the new family account features. The improved text recognition and extraction from images in the gallery were not present, too.
Other than these few changes, MIUI hasn't morphed in any major way, and users will feel right at home.
The split between a notification shade and Control Center is enabled by default this time, and that's probably a good thing. We found it to be quite convenient, and it's a way to educate users about MIUI's unique approach to the UI. And in case you are not a fan, you can always revert back to the standard notification shade with quick toggles in one place.
Lockscreen • Home screen • notification shade • Control center
The home screen, recent apps and the general settings menu are business as usual. The app drawer is also enabled by default, and we like that Xiaomi has placed the search bar at the bottom of the screen for easier reach. There are custom and preset app categories for faster navigation.
Unlike the standard recent apps menu, the MIUI task switcher lists the apps vertically and provides several useful shortcuts. That's where you can open up apps in floating windows. However, you can have only one floating app open at a time. In case you want a faster shortcut to apps that support free-form windows, just enable the Sidebar.
Recent apps • Options • Floating window • Split screen • app drawer
Notably, the Sidebar is different depending on the scenario. In games, the Sidebar provides a couple of gaming-related features, while in video apps, the Sidebar becomes a Video toolbox. It lets you launch video apps in pop-up windows, Screenshot, Record screen, Cast, and Play Video with the screen off, including on YouTube without a Premium subscription. The only caveat is that the apps where you want the feature enabled need to be whitelisted in advance.
Sidebar and Video toolbox
Customization is, as always, a big part of MIUI. The system lets you choose the style of the Always-on display or the theme of the UI. Aside from the ones pre-installed on the device, there's a Themes store that gives you a wide selection. The themes themselves change not only the general appearance but also the ringtones and system icons.
Themes and Always-on display
Moving on to privacy and security, MIUI comes with a pre-installed system Security app. Aside from the additional malware protection layer it provides, the app holds many of the app settings and privacy features in one place. It can manage your blacklist, manage or restrict your data usage, configure battery behavior, and free up some RAM. It can also manage the permissions of your installed apps, define the battery behavior of selected apps, and apply restrictions only to certain apps.
MIUI 14 offers Memory Extension option that's active by default (you can disable it if you like). On our review unit, we could choose between 2GB, 3GB and 5GB of internal storage reserved to serve as RAM extension. Less important memory blocks should come here.
Security app • Security app • Memory extension
Speaking of security, the side-mounted fingerprint reader is fast and reliable. And you can choose between Touch and Press for scanning trigger.
Fingerprint settings
MIUI comes with its proprietary multimedia apps - there's Gallery, and Music and Mi Video (both with local and streaming options). A MIUI File manager is also on board. And, of course, there is a Mi Remote app that uses the integrated IR blaster.
Gallery • Music • Video • File manager • Mi Remote
All in all, MIUI 14 changed a little over the 13th iteration. At least on our Redmi Note 12 Pro+ unit, that is. It's just as snappy and customizable as ever. Xiaomi has paid special attention to the haptics on this unit, and we found the motor to be crisp, strong and accurate. There's even haptic feedback intensity adjustment if you find it obtrusive or not strong enough.
Some MIUI ROMs include ads in the default apps, it is a well-known thing. And the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ does come with baked-in ad "recommendations".
You can disable those even if it's a bit tedious to do it because you have to do it for every system app that has them. For example, if you are annoyed by the app scanner's ads, just hit the settings gear, and disable recommendations. Ads in the File Manager - Settings->About should do it. Themes - go to Settings and disable Recommendations. It's not ideal, sure, but at least you can get rid of them all. Note that some of the opt-outs are for a 30-day period and after that you will need to disable it again. And again.
Opt-out of ads
Performance and benchmarks
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is powered by the Dimensity 1080 chipset by MediaTek. It's an improved version of the Dimensity 920 inside the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ with slightly better performance, better efficiency, and beefed-up camera support.
The most significant changes here are the chip's camera capabilities. The new Dimensity 1080 can handle image data from sensors up to 200MP (previously 108MP) with the Imagiq ISP. There's mention of hardware-accelerated HDR video at up to 4K resolution, but this isn't a new feature.
This new Dimensity 1080 5G chipset gets slightly updated performance with two Cortex-A78 performance cores clocked at 2.6GHz (up from 2.5GHz), while the six Cortex-A55 remain clocked at 2.0GHz.
The GPU is the same Mali-G68, and the chipset is still built on the 6nm process. From the performance aspect, benchmark scores may not see a significant jump compared to devices running the preceding chip.
The global Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is available in just one memory option - 8GB LPDDR4X RAM + 256GB UFS 2.2 storage. This year the Pro models have no microSD expansion.
First, we ran the usual CPU benchmarks. As you can see there is no difference in the CPU performance between the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ (DM920) and the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ (DM1080). The processor is not the fastest in the price bracket either but will surely not disappoint.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 13 Lite
2936 - Poco X5 Pro
2930 - Samsung Galaxy A54
2703 - Realme 10 Pro+
2371 - Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
2225 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+
2208 - Poco X5
2088 - Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
2063 - Realme 10 Pro
2021 - Galaxy A33 5G
1900 - Motorola Moto G72
1842
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Realme 10 Pro+
842 - Xiaomi 13 Lite
795 - Poco X5 Pro
781 - Samsung Galaxy A54
770 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+
767 - Galaxy A33 5G
742 - Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
736 - Realme 10 Pro
698 - Poco X5
693 - Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
688 - Motorola Moto G72
546
GeekBench 6 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy A54
2797 - Xiaomi 13 Lite
2434 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+
2372
GeekBench 6 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy A54
1008 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+
960 - Xiaomi 13 Lite
938
The GPU performance of the Mali-G68 MC4 is identical on the new and previous Redmi model. As far as competition goes, it is among the best scoring, bested by the most recent Snapdragon 7 Gen 1's GPU.
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 13 Lite
33 - Poco X5 Pro
28 - Samsung Galaxy A54
25 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+
22 - Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
22 - Realme 10 Pro+
21 - Galaxy A33 5G
20 - Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
17 - Realme 10 Pro
16 - Motorola Moto G72
13
GFX Manhattan ES 3.0 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 13 Lite
80 - Samsung Galaxy A54
69 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+
58 - Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
57 - Realme 10 Pro+
56 - Galaxy A33 5G
56 - Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
41 - Realme 10 Pro
41 - Motorola Moto G72
37
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 13 Lite
2969 - Samsung Galaxy A54
2818 - Galaxy A33 5G
2260 - Realme 10 Pro+
2252 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+
2248 - Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
2014 - Motorola Moto G72
1255 - Realme 10 Pro
1218 - Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
1204
Finally, the compound AnTuTu test puts the new Redmi Note 12 Pro+ among the top-scoring phones in this class.
AnTuTu 9
Higher is better
- Xiaomi 13 Lite
534143 - Poco X5 Pro
531398 - Realme 10 Pro+
522376 - Samsung Galaxy A54
506678 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+
498710 - Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G
437872 - Realme 10 Pro
401860 - Poco X5
400895 - Galaxy A33 5G
394918 - Motorola Moto G72
383317 - Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G
382902
And, before we draw some conclusions, let's explore the stability and the sustained performance on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+.
The CPU Throttle test returned 72% stability, but you can see that most of the time the phone actually kept 90% stability and for that we give it an excellent mark.
The GPU stress test returned 99.6% stability, another excellent mark.
CPU test • GPU test
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ has adequate hardware and provides satisfying performance for its class. Gaming was nice and so was multi-tasking. It sure isn't the best scoring smartphone on the market, nor in its class, but we didn't experience any real-life moments to leave us wanting more.
The thermals and the stability were also great across the board - the sustained performance is great and the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ never became hot, just warm.
An improved triple camera with a 200MP Samsung primary
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ has three cameras on its back and one at the front, matching the Redmi Note 11 Pro+. The rear setup contains a 200MP OIS primary (up from 108MP), an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro shooters. The selfie camera relies on a 16MP imager.
The main camera has seen a major overhaul since the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ and, in fact, it appears to be the only one to get an update. The primary on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ now uses a 200MP Samsung HPX 1/1.4" sensor with 0.56µm pixels and a Tetra2Pixel color filter, making it the smallest 200MP sensor Samsung has made so far. The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra uses the HP1 (200MP, 1/1.22", 0.64µm), while the Galaxy S23 Ultra relies on the HP2 (200MP, 1/1.3", 0.6µm).
The sensor is coupled with a 24mm f/1.6 stabilized (OIS) lens. And the Tetra2pixel RGB Bayer Pattern color filter means the sensor
The ultrawide camera uses an 8MP Samsung S5K4H7 ISOCELL Slim sensor with 1.12µm pixels behind a 16mm f/2.2 lens. The focus is fixed at infinity.
The macro camera uses a 2MP OmniVision OV02B1 sensor behind a 24mm f/2.4 lens and a fixed focus at 4cm away.
Finally, the front camera utilizes a 16MP Sony IMX 471 1/3" sensor with 1.0µm pixels and f/2.4 lens. The focus is fixed, too.
The camera app on the Redmi 12 Pro+ is more or less the same as on other Xiaomis. The basic operation for changing modes works with side swipes as expected, and you can also tap on the modes that you can see to switch to those directly. You can add, remove, and rearrange modes in the main rolodex by going to the More tab and navigating to the edit button, and you can access that from the settings menu as well.
At the far end of the viewfinder, you have a flash mode switch, an HDR switch, and the AI toggle. There's also the hamburger menu which contains additional options like aspect ratio, self-timer and grid lines, the Macro switch is here, plus the shortcut to the settings. You won't find an option to set the output resolution for any of the cameras (not that we particularly care), besides the High-res 50MP/200MP mode that outputs at full res.
On the near end, you have the camera zoom switch that operates in one of two fashions. The first one is simply tapping on one of the four dots that represent the ultra-wide (0.6x), primary (1x), primary (2x digital zoom) options. Or you can tap on the active magnification and reveal even more zoom modes.
There's a nicely capable Pro mode, where you can tweak the shooting parameters yourself. You get to pick one of 4 white balance presets or dial in the light temperature with a slider; there's a manual focusing slider (with peaking as an option), and shutter speed and ISO control with ranges depending on which camera you're using - primary or ultrawide.
Night Mode is available on main and ultrawide cameras.
Camera app
Daylight photo quality
The main camera saves 12MP images when using the default Photo mode, and those are really good. The resolved detail is plenty. Foliage and other small details come through well-developed. There is some oversharpening, but it's reasonable.
All photos are free of noise. The dynamic range is good, but not over the top, and the photos don't have this artificial HDR-y look. In fact, you could say the contrast is a bit too much, which leaves the shadows dark and inky with not many details.
Finally, the color rendition is faithful to reality, even if with a whiff of a saturation boost.
Main camera, 12MP
You might expect that such a high-resolution sensor should offer some high-quality digital zoom, and in the case of the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, it has a 2x mode.
The 2x zoomed photos are alright, but they are not as sharp as we would have liked them to be. They are a notch more detailed than what a regular crop and upscaled would have done, but that's about it. This could have been much better if cropped from the 50MP or 200MP output, but they are obviously not.
Long story short, the 2x zoom offers far less detailed images than the 1x mode, but still of good quality and usable if you don't need them in full resolution.
2x zoom, 12MP
And speaking of the high-res mode, it's called Ultra HD on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ and saves 50MP photos by default. There is also a 200MP toggle.
The 50MP high-res photos offer more detail and definition and will allow you to capture previously impossible to see stuff like wall texts, car plates, better faces. All 50MP samples we took are sharp and detailed and don't have the over-sharpened and over-contrasty look of the regular images, thus lending a more natural output.
You can crop the center of these photos, and you will get much more detailed 2x zoomed photos than what the camera app saves by default.
Main camera, 50MP
The 200MP option saves upscaled 50MP photos, and the only thing you get is more wasted megabytes - one photo is about 40MB.
Main camera, 200MP
As we said you can use the 50MP (or 200MP) option to get more detail. Here is a comparison between the default mode and the 50MP-resized-to-12MP.
The 8MP ultrawide photos turned out surprisingly good, with a lot of fine detail for an ultrawide-angle camera. The noise is incredibly low, the contrast is high, the dynamic range is alright, and the colors are mostly accurate.
While the dynamic range could use a minor boost here, our impressions remain positive as this camera saves natural-looking photos, sharp and detailed. And the automatic distortion correction does an excellent job of straightening the corners.
Ultrawide camera, 8MP
The 2MP macro photos are nice - they have a good level of detail and are nicely saturated. The noise is low across the photos, provided they were taken in good light conditions and the dynamic range is enough.
Since the focus is fixed at 4cm away, it will take some time and a bunch of out of focus photos in order to get the distance right.
Macro camera, 2MP
There is no depth sensor on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, though Portrait mode is still present. The portraits are shot on the main camera, and algorithms calculate the depth of field. And the samples we took with the Note 12 Pro+ are quite alright - the subject separation is proficient; the blur is convincing. The photo quality is somewhat average, with low dynamic range and average detail.
Portraits, 12MP
The 16MP selfie camera appears to use a Quad-Bayer filter as on many other Xiaomi phones before this one. It takes good selfies with a well-developed subject, lively colors and high contrast. The detail is okay, though far from high - as we said, this is a Quad-Bayer imager, which is supposed to save 4MP photos and not 16MP as it does.
The dynamic range is low, but you can trigger the HDR mode, and you will get a properly developed background.
We are happy with the selfies we took, even if they are just average.
Selfies, 16MP
Low-light photo quality
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G supports Auto Night Mode - it is enabled by default in the Advanced camera settings. This means that, theoretically, the camera app will decide when and where to use Night Mode and its exposure time.
That is not exactly the case, though. For starters, this mode works only on the main camera. And then, it's not a full-blown Night Mode, but more like an HDR improvement over the regular output.
And here are the Auto Night photos we took with the main camera - they require less than a second to capture. They offer more than enough detail for low-light photos, excellent exposure, outstanding dynamic range and lovely color saturation. The noise is low even on the darkest of these photos, and we'd say these are some solid night photos, rivaling even flagship ones.
Our only criticism is that the shadows are again too dark to the point where you can't see any detail in there.
Main camera, Auto Night
If you opt for the dedicated Night Mode, it will take about one or two seconds to shoot and save a photo, and it will turn slightly brighter than the Auto one with a minor boost in the shadows. It's a positive change, that's for sure, but the difference is minor.
Main camera, Night Mode
Finally, opting out of the Auto night mode yields noticeably more detailed and sharper photos with realistic exposure and color saturation. The dynamic range is low as there are plenty of blown highlights, but if the detail in the shadows and overall sharpness is a priority, the Photo mode without Auto Night Mode will give you flagship-level photos.
Main camera, Auto Night OFF
The Auto Night Mode doesn't seem to engage when shooting in 2x zoom. The photos are quite nice, bright and colorful, with minimal noise, though the detail is not as impressive.
Main cam 2x zoom, Auto
Using the Night Mode in 2x is not preferable, as it saves incredibly poorly detailed photos, even if with improved dynamic range and exposure.
Main cam 2x zoom, Night Mode
The Auto (read no Night Mode) ultrawide photos are usable - the detail is average, and the colors are good, but they are dark and a bit noisy. The dynamic range is poor.
Ultrawide camera, Auto
The Night Mode improves the dynamic range and the exposure, but the detail takes a noticeable hit and becomes incredibly low.
Ultrawide camera, Night Mode
Here are photos of our usual posters, taken with the Redmi Note 12 Pro+. You can see how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ against the Galaxy A54 and the Realme 10 Pro+ in our Photo compare tool
Video recording
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ supports 4K@30fps video capturing on its primary camera. The ultrawide camera maxes out at 1080p@30fps, while the 2MP macro supports 720p@30fps. Finally, 1080p at 60fps is available on the main and selfie cameras.
There is an always-on electronic stabilization working across all cameras but the macro. The only unsupported mode is 1080p@60fps.
Audio is always captured stereo with a 256Kbps bitrate.
The 4K videos from the main camera are easily class-leading with an exceptional level of resolved detail, a natural balanced look, and accurate colors. They are free of noise, with good dynamic range and great contrast.
The zoomed 2x daylight videos at 4K are good, too, even if their detail is halved. The 2x video zoom will do a fine job on most occasions, too.
The low-light 4K videos from the main camera offer a lot of fine detail and are clean of noise. Their color saturation is excellent, the dynamic range is enough for the purposes, and the contrast is high. While the footage may not be the best we've seen from a smartphone, it's quite good for a mid-ranger.
Even better, the 2x zoomed videos at night are surprisingly good, too, and we'd once again recommend using the 2x zoom when necessary.
The ultrawide camera saves excellent 1080p videos with top-notch detail, accurate colors and outstanding dynamic range. The clip we took is free of noise. There is just one thing - it's not that wider from the main camera's 4K videos.
Finally, the 1080p videos from the selfie camera are solid, too. The video has enough detail, low noise, high contrast, and likable colors. The subject is well-exposed, even if the background is often clipped because of the low dynamic range.
We also shot a couple of videos to test the always-on EIS. It works like a charm on the ultrawide camera, though it's not as ideal on the main one, probably because there is also OIS involved, and it may lead to conflicts.
Finally, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ in our video comparison database.
2160p: Redmi Note 12 Pro+ against the Galaxy A54 and the Realme 10 Pro+ in our Video compare tool
The competition
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ does bring a few meaningful updates over the Note 11 Pro+ model - an improved Dolby Vision display, a refined design, doubled storage, and a new 200MP primary camera. And while these are hardly features that will make 11 Pro+ owners jump ship, they would surely intrigue people who are using the regular Note 11 or Note 10 models.
Another thing that also got an update this year is the price. The global Redmi Note 12 Pro+ now costs €500 - that's €100 more than the launch price of the 6/128 Redmi Note 11 Pro+ last year. There is a silver lining though - €500 costs the 8GB+256GB Redmi Note 12 Pro+, which is in line with the pricing of the 8/256 Redmi Note 11 Pro+ last year.
There are a lot of phones in the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ price bracket. If you are eyeing the most expensive Redmi Note 12 model, it would be safe to assume you want the best midranger for your money, and that's why we won't discuss the regular Note 12 models. Still, if you don't mind a bit slower charging, a glossy design, and slightly less detailed photos from the main camera, you can save €100 and opt for the Redmi Note 12 Pro.
The €500 Xiaomi 13 Lite is another cool offer from the maker with a pill-shaped notch on its Dolby Vision display, one that contains a 32MP selfie and an 8MP depth sensor. The 13 Lite uses the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset, which offers even faster CPU and GPU performance. The 13 Lite is also a more compact smartphone, so if you fancy performance and selfie quality over 120W charging, you should probably get this one instead.
Finally, if you are prepared to spend a bit more, the Poco F4 GT can be found for as low as €550. It has a similar screen but features the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and physical magnetic pop-up gaming triggers. It's a gaming-oriented smartphone with four speakers and fast 120W charging, while its camera performance is about average. It's an intriguing offer worth considering if you prefer gaming over photography.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro • Xiaomi 13 Lite • Xiaomi Poco F4 GT
The most recent Galaxy A54 costs about €500, too, and it's probably the only IP67-rated smartphone in this price range. It has a similar 120Hz Super AMOLED screen and should offer similar performance with its Exynos chipset. While the Galaxy's primary camera is not a 200MP one, it still impressed us with its photo quality. Plus, the ultrawide and the macro shooters are of higher resolution. The A54 is slower to charge, but a lot of people won't mind that.
The OnePlus Nord 2T is worth considering, too. It packs a more powerful Dimensity 1300 chipset under its 90Hz OLED, and its camera performance is as satisfying as the Redmi Note 12 Pro+. The Nord 2T's price has dropped down to about €300, which is quite nice.
And, if you live in India, the Realme 10 Pro+ could be a great alternative for its lower price. The Realme 10 Pro+ is basically the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ with slower charging, a 108MP primary camera and a different UI.
Samsung Galaxy A54 • OnePlus Nord 2T • Realme 10 Pro+
Verdict
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is a great midrange smartphone with a catchy IP53-rated glass body and one excellent Dolby Vision display with 120Hz refresh rate and 10-bit color depth. We do appreciate the good sustained performance across the board, too.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ impressed us with photo and video quality from its 200MP primary, and even its basic 8MP ultrawide camera turned out to be one solid performer. The selfies aren't bad either. All of these mean the Note 12 Pro+ can be considered as a good cameraphone on a budget.
And let's not forget the loud enough Dolby Atmos speakers and the impressively fast 120W wired charging.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ has a couple of weak points, of course. Xiaomi has retired the microSD expansion for this generation, and the chipset of choice could have been, say, the faster Dimensity 1300 instead of the 1080 model. We didn't like the dip in standby performance and the speaker quality since the Redmi Note 11 Pro+.
All things considered, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ offers a lot of bang for its buck, inflation adjusted obviously, and any Redmi fan would be happy with this smartphone. We are past the times when the Redmi Note had no competition on the market, though, so before making it your daily driver, as always, we suggest you consider what else the market offers.
Pros
- Dual-glass design, IP53-rated.
- Excellent OLED, Dolby Vision, 10-bit color, top-notch brightness.
- Impressible fast charging, 120W charger is bundled.
- Good performance, excellent stability.
- Class-leading photo and video quality.
- IR blaster, 5G, dual-SIM, NFC, Dolby Atmos speakers.
Cons
- No microSD expansion.
- Average standby hence lowered battery life.
- We've experienced better speakers from the maker.
- Launches on Android 12.
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