The moment you hear the name Redmi Note, most people would know what it is and what it stands for. Xiaomi built its sub-brand purely because of its existence beyond the main company. Xiaomi has sold millions of Redmi Notes over the years, and still is a force to reckon with. But now with the market dynamics changing due to external factors, the Redmi Note 12 series marks the company’s push into the unknown, i.e. delivering a high-end Redmi Note 12 model that costs over Rs 30,000.
Signs have been there in the past few years, the moment Xiaomi introduced a Pro+ model to its lineup, and this year’s push looks to make up for the higher cost with continued promise of value with this offering. So, how well does the company manage to pull this out and do buyers have enough reasons to splurge big on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ this year? We give you the answer in this review.
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ Review: What’s Cool?
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ carries a bright and colour-rich AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh screen that offers Full HD+ resolution. Thanks to peak brightness of 900 nits, the display is easy to use under the sunlight, and the colours are punchy and don’t look washed out thanks to the AMOLED panel. You will enjoy watching YouTube videos or binge watching your favourite shows and we can recommend this device for such purposes.
The front of the phone gets Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection which is always a handy option to prevent scratches and cracks.
Design is likely to split opinions but the frost blue variant that we got to review has a layer of matte touch at the back, and further protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. It doesn’t catch smudges easily and definitely feels solid in your hand.
The performance of the phone won’t leave you wanting with the MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC on board with 8GB and 12GB RAM options. The phone’s hardware can easily handle day-to-day tasks and more with ease. The chipset is also renowned for better power efficiency which means the battery life also stays solid.
Speaking of which, you have a 4,980mAh battery packed inside the device which easily lasts for over a day’s usage at mid-level. Even pushing the device to the brim will give you screen-on-time of over 6 hours. Further sweetening the package is the bundled 120W charger in the box, which makes sure the big-size battery is fully juiced up in around 20 minutes.
Xiaomi brought a 108-megapixel camera to the Redmi Note 10 series, now it has doubled the count with a 200-megapixel shooter on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ this year. This sensor comes via Samsung and fair to say that we were eager to see its quality. During our tests, we quickly noticed the sharpness and details delivered in the images from the main camera. Even the ultra-wide sensor gave a decent shout for its addition.
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ Review: What’s Not So Cool?
Being a solid device means that the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is on the heavier side and having a 4,980mAh battery under the hood has a lot to do with its dimensions, especially with its thickness.
The hardware on the phone is reliable but not gaming-friendly by any means. Make no mistake, the Dimensity 1080 SoC will let you play games, but you will have to limit the graphics settings to low, which isn’t the best way to experience games such as Call of Duty Mobile or more.
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ has a 2-megapixel macro sensor and the third camera is a definite letdown and gives you the impression that it is there to make the numbers. We are hoping that phone makers ditch this sensor in 2023, because it doesn’t offer much value.
The other big glaring issue with a premium device tends to be the software experience, and giving the Android 12-based MIUI 13 version in 2023 is inexplicable. Xiaomi has already worked on the MIUI 14 version but we still don’t know when this device will be getting it, and even if it does, the OS update promise for multiple years is unlikely to be met at this rate.
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ Review: Should You Buy?
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is a new addition to the Redmi family and a peculiar one. It is priced well above the range of a so-called mid-level phone, and it looks to incentivise the package with better features.
The display, camera and battery charging speed come to mind, but Redmi Notes have been popular because of their value-for-money factor which endears Indian buyers, does the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ succeed in continuing this tradition, in some ways yes, but the challenge is now much bigger with competition fiercer. It is still a good all-round device which could become better with some fine tuning.
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