Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G Hands-on

The Redmi Note 12 series is about to be released in the Philippines this April 13. On top of the tier is the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G with its massive 200MP Samsung ISOCELL sensor (similar to the one used by the Xiaomi 12T Pro).

Compared to the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G, the Note 12 Pro+ is actually a little thicker at 9mm (vs. 8.34mm) and a teeny bit heavier. It has more or less the same design profile although the latter has a slightly more tapered edges at the back.

In some sense, the Note 12 Pro+ looks a bit like the Xiaomi 13 (at least it is giving the same vibes) especially with the glossy back panel in Polar White color.

Up at the front, you get a large 6.67-inch full HD+ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate. The bezels though are a little bit too thick for our taste. It also comes with an under-display fingerprint sensor.

You have the volume control on the right side, along with the power button; a USB Type-C charging port, speaker grill and primary mic at the bottom; secondary speaker up top along with the noise-canceling mic, and IR blaster.

Over-all, the design and build quality of the Note 12 Pro+ looks and feels premium and can pass off as a more affordable alternative to the flagship Xiaomi 13 series.

Headlining the triple camera setup on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is the 200-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL HPX sensor with an f/1.65 aperture and optical image stabilization. This is paired within 8MP ultrawide with f/1.9 sensor and a 2MP f/2.4 macro lens.

Video recording only goes up to 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 30/60fps while slow-motion video goes up to 720p at 960fps. The front-facing camera is 16MP with 1080p video recording at 30/60fps.

Here are some of the initial shots we took with the main camera (we’ll add more in our full review).

Powering the Note 12 Pro+ is a Mediatek Dimensity 1080 which is a mind-range chip that’s already good for gaming yet also power-efficient and has fast 5G capability. This is composed of an ARM Cortex-A78 2.6GHz and Mali-G68 MC4 GPU.

It also runs on MIUI 14 based on Android 12 OS.

Our review unit has an 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage but there’s an option for 12GB RAM as well.

What’s a little bummer is they used a slightly older UFS 2.2 storage here so read and write speeds are slightly slower compared to the newer UFS 3.1 or UFS 4.0 technology. You can see the results in our storage benchmark as shown above.

The 5,000mAh battery comes with a 120W HyperCharge that claims to charge from 0% to 100% in just 19 minutes. We will also post results of our battery test in our full review.

Xiaomi Philippines is set to launch/release the Redmi Note 12 series this April 13, 2023 so we’ll update you with the pricing and variants by then. As for the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G, it will come in Midnight Black, Sky Blue and Polar White.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5Gspecs:
6.67-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080) AMOLED display, 395ppi
120Hz refresh rate
MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC
Mali-G68 MC4 GPU
8GB, 12GB RAM LPDDR4X
256GB UFS 2.2
Triple-rear cameras:
• 200MP f/1.65 Samsung ISOCELL HPX main
• 8MP f/1.9 ultra-wide
• 2MP f/2.4 macro
16MP front camera
Dual-SIM
5G, 4G LTE
WiFi 6
Bluetooth 5.2
NFC
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS
IR Blaster
USB-C
3.5mm audio jack
Stereo speakers
Fingerprint scanner (in-display)
MIUI 14 (Android 12)
IP53 dust and water resistance
5,000mAh battery w/ 120W HyperCharge fast charging
162.9mm x 76mm x 8.98mm (dimensions)
210.5 grams (weight)