
Strong performance at a reasonable price
Redmi started the proceedings earlier this year and released its Note series in the first week of January. While the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ grabbed all the headlines for its excellent 200MP primary camera, Redmi also launched a Pro and non-Pro version of the Note alongside it. The Note 12 Pro has specs that match the performance of its Pro+ counterpart and comes at a slightly more affordable price. We got our hands on the smartphone ahead of release and have been using it as our primary controller for over a week now. So, without further ado, here is our Redmi Note 12 Pro review.
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Redmi Note 12 Pro review: Design and display
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Inside the box, you’ll find the Note 12 Pro handset, a clear plastic case, a SIM eject tool, a quick start guide, a USB Type-C charging cable, and a 67W power adapter. The Note 12 Pro+ comes with a 120W charging cube. Three color variants are available for the Note 12 Pro – Stardust Purple, Glacier Blue and Onyx Black. We used the Glacier Blue version for this review.
In terms of design, Redmi has kept things pretty simple. The glossy glass back has a smooth texture but can be a bit of a fingerprint magnet. You may want to keep a microfiber cloth handy.
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The back panel and edges are completely flat, unlike the slightly curved back design of the Pro+. The camera island is made of the same material as the rest of the back panel. The materials used here give the smartphone a premium feel, something that will surely set it apart from its mid-range peers.
At the top of the frame, you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, a secondary speaker and microphone, and an IR blaster. At the bottom of the smartphone there is a SIM card slot, a USB port and a speaker grille. On the right side of the frame are the rocker keys for volume control and the power button, which also serves as a fingerprint sensor. There are no accessories on the left side of the frame.
The 6.67-inch OLED display has a screen-to-body ratio of 86.7%, a pixel density of 395 ppi and a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz. The bezels are thin but noticeable without rotating to be too distracting. The selfie camera is located in the cutout in the middle of the screen. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which is quite sufficient, but you will need a case for more protection on the back. The phone has IP53 protection, which is another advantage for smartphones in this range.
The 120Hz refresh rate creates a stellar touch response. The smartphone is set to adaptive refresh rate out of the box, but it can be switched to 120Hz later in the settings. There’s no option for a 90Hz refresh rate, so you’ll have to switch back to 60Hz if you want to save battery. The brightness was limited to 900 nits, which is optimal for using the smartphone outdoors in direct sunlight as well as indoors. The OLED display does a good job of presenting well-balanced images and colors when streaming HD content. Sound output is aided by stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos surround sound.
One thing we found quite useful was the video toolset, which can be accessed by swiping right from the edge of the screen. This toolbar gives you quick access to screen recording, screenshot, and screencast options. You can also choose to turn off the screen when a video is playing in the background, which will come in handy when listening to music on YouTube. You can also apply various video filters and toggle Dolby Atmos surround sound from this toolbar.
Redmi Note 12 Pro review: Performance and cameras
Redmi Note 12 Pro is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC with Mali -G86 MC4 graphics. The phone comes with three storage and RAM options – 128GB + 6GB, 128GB + 8GB and 256GB + 8GB, which we used for this review. Unlike its predecessor, there is no memory expansion option on the Redmi Note 12 Pro. Operating system duties are handled by Android 12 with MIUI 13 on top. The smartphone will soon receive an update to Android 13. Like all Redmi phones, there is a significant amount of bloatware on the Note 12 Pro. Before using the phone, we recommend that you delete all bloatware applications, as unnecessary notifications can interfere with your work with this device.
Bloatware aside, we were pretty happy with the performance the Note 12 Pro delivers. Apps took minimal time to load, even with multiple tasks running in the background. While Xiaomi loyalists may be used to the software, new users may take some time to adjust to the notification slider and quick toolbar. Xiaomi has promised two years of software updates along with four years of security patches for the Redmi Note 12 Pro.
We played Call of Duty and Garena Free Fire Max on the highest graphics and had no complaints about the performance of the smartphone. There were no lags or frame stutters and while the processor was firing on all cylinders, the phone didn’t heat up after 30-40 minutes of gaming. The “Game Turbo” toolbar offers useful functions when playing, such as voice changer, timer, screen recording, screen casting and more. You can also view performance metrics with a single quick swipe.
In the Geekbench 5 test, the Redmi Note 12 Pro achieved a single-core score of 757 and a multi-core score of 2258 points. This score puts it between the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, Xiaomi Poco F3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

The Redmi Note 12 Pro got a 5,000mAh battery, which is more than enough to last a whole day. With moderate to heavy daily use that included browsing social media, watching a few hours of content and playing games for about an hour, the smartphone lasted us all day with 25-30% charge. The 67W charger recharges the battery from 10-50% in less than 20 minutes, with a full charge taking up to 50 minutes.
Moving on to the camera, the Redmi Note 12 Pro (as mentioned earlier) may not boast a 200MP primary sensor like its Pro+ counterpart, but it certainly doesn’t deserve to be completely written off. In daylight, the 50MP primary sensor performed brilliantly. Image stabilization was spot on with OIS and the smartphone processed images nicely to produce well-balanced and vivid images. The colors were close to reality, without unnecessary reworking.
As you can see in the images below, the color tones when it comes to the daytime sky are very close to reality. The processor also makes sound decisions when handling objects based on the amount of natural light falling on them. Objects in shadow areas are balanced quite well. The overall contrast is pleasing to the eye and you won’t have to work too hard to find the ideal shot. We were also pleased with the minimal loss of color when shooting with an ultra-wide-angle lens.

Edge detection in portrait mode was satisfactory, but what we found really impressive was the extent of detail captured. The colors in this mode really “popped” and the resulting images were processed to near perfection. Night mode also delivered decent results with optimal lighting and noise reduction. The only minor gripe we have is the 16MP selfie camera, which continues Xiaomi’s tradition of lightening the subject’s skin tone. We also think it could have done better in low light conditions.



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Statement
Redmi Note 12 Pro continues Sale tomorrow with a price tag of Rs 24,999. While it may lack the 200MP primary sensor of the Pro+ variant, it’s still a great camera smartphone with a processor that can easily handle any task you throw at it. While the Note 12 Pro+ is priced at Rs 29,999, the Note 12 Pro would be a great value for money option in this lineup.
Professionals
Great display
Brilliant camera unit
Fast charging
Disadvantages
The back design looks too simple
It can attract a lot of fingerprints
Bloatware
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