The handset sports a curved back, with frosty polycarbonate glass on top that offers a good in-hand feel. The glass is not fingerprint-resistant, but it does a good job of hiding it. Furthermore, the glossy camera island adds a good contrasty look to the phone.
The Redmi Note 12 5G ships with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display that bears FHD+ (1080p) resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 1200 nits brightness. The colour science is spot-on and viewing angles are impressive. The display lacks HDR support but does have Widevine L1 certification.
The Redmi Note 12 5G features a 48MP + 8MP + 2MP triple camera setup. Daylight shots have reasonable details, while the colours look mostly accurate. The corner detailing from the ultra-wide-angle sensor could have been better. The 2MP macro sensor is average at best.
For selfies and video calling, the Redmi Note 12 5G relies on a 13MP snapper in the punch-hole setup. The selfies have accurate skin tones and good facial detailing. Both front and rear cameras can click some excellent portrait images with clear contours of the subject in focus and natural depth of field effect.
The Redmi Note 12 5G is powered by the mid-range Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC paired with 4GB / 6GB of RAM and 128GB user-expandable storage. The handset has no trouble multitasking with a bunch of apps running in the background. However, gaming is not its strong suit.
The handset runs Android 12-based MIUI 13 out of the box. It is disappointing not to see the latest Android 13 on the smartphone. Also, the device is running on November's security patch. While it is a good custom Android skin, we wish MIUI 13 also had blur effects and more app launch animations.
The Redmi Note 12 houses a 5,000mAh battery which can a full day on a single charge. The handset returned an impressive score of 16 hours and 21 minutes on the PCMark battery test. The battery life is likely to take a hit if the 120Hz refresh rate and 5G are used together.
The Redmi smartphone comes with a 33W fast charging solution, which takes a little more than an hour to juice up the device from 0-100 percent
-> IR Blaster.
-> IP53 for minor splashes and dust.
-> Seven 5G Bands.
All said and done, the Redmi Note 12 5G is as good a smartphone as it can get for the price. Barring a few shortcomings in low-light photography and software, there is little to complain about here. The handset delivers on almost every front, be it design, display, performance, or battery life.
Cons
> Comes with Android 12 and dated security patch
> Bloatware
> Lowlight photography could have been better
> Lovely screen
> Good performance and battery life
> Excellent design and build quality
> Good daylight photography
Pros