I may sound like a broken record but Xiaomi has done it again. With the just-launched Redmi (Xiaomi’s sub-brand) Note 12 series, the company is helping to usher in a new revolution, namely 5G. For 2023, they’re making sure that no one in India has to buy a 4G smartphone. With the flip switched on by telecom players Airtel and Reliance Jio and with Vodafone Idea to follow suit shortly, 2023 is the year of 5G in India. 5G promises breathtaking download speeds along with a plethora of other direct and indirect benefits.
The Redmi Note 12 series, which consists of three—Redmi Note 12, Redmi Note 12 Pro and Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus—smartphones all come with support for 5G. It’s a new year and 2023 is off with a bang. The trio of Redmi Note 12 smartphones are a far cry from the series of the past. The last Redmi Note series had a plethora of devices and no one, not even us reviewers, could distinguish between them and make concrete recommendations to our network. The company has promised a more streamlined series along with far fewer of those pesky ads. The latter means that the company can’t provide as competitive prices for their smartphones as they have in the past. Will the trade-off be worth it for a series that has sold over 72 million devices in India?
The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G, the king of the series, is here and I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now. The design is reminiscent of the Redmi K50i that came a few months ago, and the software is miles ahead of where it was just a few short years ago. The only problem is that it runs on Android 12 out of the box and not the latest Android 13. With a steep pricing of Rs 29,999 for the 8GB+256GB, can Xiaomi deliver with the Note 12 Pro Plus 5G in 2023?
Here’s a deep dive into just what you can expect with the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G.
Design: Neat And Clean
The moment you pick up the Note 12 Pro Plus (how I’ll refer to it henceforth) you’ll notice an upmarket look akin to its pricing. Xiaomi has toyed with the design with every subsequent Note release and the Note 12 Pro Plus is no different. It’s got a clean, polished and premium-looking design. The Note 12 Pro Plus comes in three models—Arctic White, Obsidian Black and Iceberg Blue. I got the Iceberg Blue for review and I like how sharp it looks. There’s a side-mounted fingerprint reader that works just as intended. Personally, side-mounted fingerprint readers are the best as they’re conveniently located (within the power button), easy to reach, and fast. Props to the Redmi team here.
The 6.67" AMOLED display (it’s nice and tall) comes with punchy colours and a fast 120Hz refresh rate (great for doomscrolling through social media or playing video games). The smartphone has an IP53 rating, which is dust and splash resistant. One would have hoped for a higher rating, but maybe all the budget was spent on that camera island!
The mid-frame is made out of plastic, instead of metal, and this again detracts from the upmarket look that Xiaomi is going for. The back panel of the Note 12 Pro Plus is covered with glass. The slender curves around the edges make the smartphone a pleasure to hold. I didn’t notice many smudges (the glossy finish is prone to smudges) during my time with the smartphone but I do remember having to clean it a few times.
The USP of the Note 12 Pro Plus is the triple camera setup which includes a 200MP primary (with OIS for photos and videos), 8MP ultrawide (with a 120* field-of-view) and a 2MP macro sensor. The downside to this camera setup is the island itself. The camera island itself has a clean look but a noticeable bump. This means the smartphone cannot lay flat on a table (unless there is a case).
The Display: Bright And Colourful
The one thing I liked about the Note 12 Pro Plus is its display. For consuming media, I found this to be better than the Redmi K50i. The 120Hz Pro AMOLED display (protected by Gorilla Glass 5) has a peak brightness of 900 nits and can produce 1.07 billion colours. With support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, I was lost amidst episodes of University Challenge and Sherlock Holmes on the Delhi Metro. So much so that I almost missed my stop. The main upgrade to the display vis-a-vis last year's Note model is the inclusion of a dynamic refresh rate. The screen can switch between 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz depending upon the content one are consuming.
The display has a punch hole in the centre to house the 16MP selfie camera. I, and a lot of people I’ve talked to, have become accustomed to one these days and it doesn’t bother us while consuming media or playing video games.
The dual stereo speakers are loud and crisp and one of the best in the segment. At over 85 per cent volume, one can hear a shriek and there is a slight crack in the voice, but it isn’t recommended to listen at that volume in any case.
The icing on the cake is that the Note 12 Pro Plus houses a 3.5mm headphone jack (something that most other smartphones in the market have omitted).
Performance And Software: It’s All About That 5G
Thanks to Airtel and Reliance Jio flipping on the 5G switch, the team at Redmi was able to take full advantage and it shows. I managed to download Asphalt 9 (a 2.50GB file) in about 90 seconds and start playing it. The problem is that the device struggles when playing high-intensity games. As the Indian market is huge, they’re plenty of other options for gaming in this price range, including Xiaomi’s very own Redmi K50i.
The smartphone is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 1080 SoC (almost identical to the Dimensity 920 SoC on last year’s Note device). It comes with 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage (up to 256GB). The smartphone runs MIUI 13 (based on Android 12) out of the box. In 2023, it’s unjustifiable to be launching a phone with Android 12. Xiaomi isn’t the fastest with updates, and though the company has promised two years of guaranteed major OS and four years of security updates, there’s nothing to support this move. The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus will only be updated to Android 14, at best, and who knows when. Finally, there is a 4,980 mAh battery with utterly impressive 120W HyperCharge support.
The star of the show here is the support for 5G. Xiaomi is making sure that every Indian has an affordable entry into the world of 5G. As I already stated above, I was able to download a 2.5GB game and play it within minutes. That’s something one couldn’t have dreamt of just a couple of years ago.
While watching videos, playing games, or switching between dozens of Google Chrome tabs, I noticed no stuttering or lag on the Note 12 Pro Plus. The smartphone did occasionally heat up but that was only when pushing it to the limits. Xiaomi has done a good job of cleaning up MIUI (its custom Android skin) and the company has promised far fewer of those pesky ads, which is a good thing. Overall, the package is good, but I just wish it ran Android 13 out of the box.
Battery Life: It’s All About That 120W Charger
We’ve seen the 120W fast charging tech before on previous Xiaomi phones and the Redmi Note 12 Plus is no different. One has to go into the device settings, and toggle Boost Mode, to be able to make full use of it. With the Boost Mode enabled, a full charge from 0-100 per cent will take just under 22 minutes.
As for battery life, you may ask? I routinely got over a day of usage out of the 4,980mAh battery. With a beefy battery and a Bugatti Veyron-Esque charger, one needn’t worry about their phone dying at all.
Camera: Is the 200MP Main Sensor Worth The Hype?
The simple answer is no. But it is more complicated than that. During my time extensively testing the camera, I noticed one major difference. Whilst the 200MP main sensor looks good on paper, translating that to real-world results isn’t easy. That is to say that the triple camera setup is more suited to ‘pro’ photographers than ‘amateur’ photographers.
The smartphone can take some stunning photos in good daylight, but certain settings (and Xiaomi gives you a lot with the Pro mode) have to be tweaked to get the perfect capture. That’s a far cry from the Google Pixel line of smartphones where one can just point and shoot and get a stellar shot. The difference is that for the Note 12 Pro Plus, most of the heavy lifting is done by the hardware, and not the software. It’s the exact opposite of Pixel smartphones.
The daylight photos have good dynamic range and sharper contrast, which means they’ll tend to have that ‘pop’ when scrolling through a feed full of Note 12 Pro Plus photos. Night time photography has come a long way since the early days of the Note series and I quite liked the photos I captured at Safdarjung Tomb and elsewhere during the twilight hours.
The company introduced ProCut and ProFocus with the Xiaomi 12T series and it has carried over to the Note 12 Pro Plus. “200MP Xiaomi ProCut intelligently crops your shots automatically, harnessing 200MP resolution to tell different stories with incredible clarity,” the description reads on the company’s website.
ProFocus on the other hand has this description: “By integrating machine learning, subject auto-retrack, human ReID and objective self-learning technologies, you can now capture subjects in motion effortlessly”.
Verdict: Is It Worth The Price Tag?
Xiaomi has done a fantastic job concerning the Note series over the years. The series has grown up to conquer the segment time and time again. In 2023, thanks to making 5G access affordable, Xiaomi has slayed the competition (at least for now) once again.
That is until you hear about what it’ll cost you to get the Note 12 Pro Plus in your hands. While the standard Note 12 is priced under Rs 20,000, the Note 12 Pro Plus starts at Rs 29,999 for the 8GB and 25GB variant. There’s also a 12GB and 256GB model for Rs 32,999. In the sub-Rs 40,000 segment, the Note 12 Pro Plus can’t be considered a value-for-money smartphone anymore. There’s the Pixel 6a, with its utterly fantastic cameras and the Nothing Phone (1) with its innovative design. The Redmi K50i is cheaper and better for gaming and it’s a smartphone one should consider as well.
The Note 12 Pro Plus does have quite a bit going for it. There are the bragging rights of that 200MP camera, a vibrant 120Hz AMOLED display, an extremely good battery (with superfast charging capabilities) and fewer of those pesky ads (here’s looking at you Realme).
The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus is a great smartphone but isn’t class-leading like in the past. It should have been launched with Android 13 out of the box and the company should be promising three years of Android updates (like a lot of other manufacturers) instead of just two.
Xiaomi is going gung-ho over its 200MP camera and 5G capabilities. The 200MP camera may be worth highlighting, but what I think is more important, is that Indians now have access to a 5G smartphone under Rs 20,000 and that’s with the standard Redmi Note 12. That is a device that is an easy recommendation, not the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus.
