Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G: Is the price hike worth it?
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G was launched on Thursday as the company’s latest mid-range smartphone in its Redmi Note 12 series. Launched as a successor to the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G, the handset is powered by a 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC. Much like the Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G also brings the 120W fast charging that was present on the Xiaomi handset, while coming with a slightly bigger battery. But does the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ offer a value for money like its predecessor?
In this week’s episode of the Gadgets 360 podcast Orbital, guest host Siddharth Suvarna speaks to reviewer Pranav Hegde and senior reviewer Sheldon Pinto to find out more about the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G and whether it offers enough features to take on the competition.
Unlike the previous phones in the Redmi Note series, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G carries a higher price tag and comes with several upgrades on the hardware front. Most importantly, the phone features a 200-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL HPX sensor and it is the first phone in this price segment to feature such a sensor. It is also the first phone in the Redmi Note series to come with 120W fast charging.
The phone is powered by a 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC, the successor to the Dimensity 920 chipset, and the phone runs Android 12 out of the box, with MIUI 13 on top. Hegde says that it would have been nice if the phone had launched with Android 13, which makes sense considering it’s been a few months since the latest version of Android was released.
According to Hegde, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G’s camera performance was generally impressive, even in low-light environments. Like most phones, the “industry-favorite” 2-megapixel macro camera on the handset is a disappointment, he points out. He suggests that users instead enable the 200-megapixel resolution mode in the camera app and then crop for better image quality.
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G First Impressions: A Step Up
The AMOLED display on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ offers good color reproduction and viewing content looks great, Hegde tells Sheldon, who asks if the display is tuned well. When it comes to gaming, the phone lags behind the Realme 10 Pro+ 5G, which has the same chipset. However, there’s no difference between the two phones in terms of day-to-day performance.
According to Hegde, the phone doesn’t get warm while playing games or recording videos. He says that after a gaming session, he accidentally kept the phone in his pocket while recording a video, and it didn’t get a little warm until about 12 minutes in, he adds.
While the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ has a 4,980mAh battery, it offers 120W fast charging, just like last year’s Xiaomi 11i HyperCharge that came with a smaller battery. When asked about the phone’s battery performance, Pinto says that the phone is capable of lasting all day.
Realme 10 Pro+ 5G review: if looks were everything
Is it worth upgrading to the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G? The phone features a 200-megapixel camera and comes with 120W fast charging support. The phone ships with Android 12 out-of-the-box and gets two OS upgrades and four years of security updates. However, the Redmi Note series has now crossed the Rs. 25,000 mark. We discuss whether it makes sense to buy the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G in India.
You can listen to all of this in detail in our episode by clicking the play button on the Spotify player above.
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