Redmi 12 5G Review with Pros and Cons

Finally, after years, Xiaomi is back on track with the launch of Redmi 12 5G which is powered by an all-new Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 and starts from Rs 11,999.

Redmi 12 5G Price in India

• 4GB Ram + 128GB Storage: Rs 11,999
• 6GB Ram + 128GB Storage: Rs 13,499
• 8GB Ram + 256GB Storage: Rs 15,499

It comes in Jade Black, Pastel Blue, and Moonlight Silver color options and it will go for sale on Amazon.

Redmi 12 5G Review

Yes, the Redmi 12 5G is worth buying because this is a 5G smartphone on top of that, the performance is smooth, the build quality is rock solid, has a 3.5mm audio jack, long-lasting battery life and the most important part is, this is Rs 11999 which is a fair price for what Redmi is offering.

Now, the phone does have its Pros and Cons but still at the price of Rs 11999, this is a solid 5G smartphone you can buy.

Related: 5 Best Smartphones Under Rs 20,000

However, if you want an AMOLED display then you will have to go with a 4G smartphone because you won’t get everything in a budget 5G smartphone.

Redmi 12 5G Pros and Cons

PROS	CONS
90Hz Smooth Display	Only Single Speaker
Long Lasting Battery Life	LCD Display
Solid Performance	Filled with Blotware
MIUI 14 Out of the Box	Ads in the UI
3.5mm Audio Jack
Charger in the Box
Glass Back
Value For Money
5G Enabled with 7 5G Bands

Display and Build

The phone comes with a 6.79-inch 90Hz FHD LCD display with a peak brightness of 550 nits and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

As the phone has an LCD panel, Redmi went with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor which is fast and as reliable as an in-display fingerprint sensor.

The display quality is solid too, I know, the AMOLED panel would have been great but then, the price would have gone up to 15k. 

The 550 nits brightness doesn’t feel that great on paper but you also have to keep in mind that this is a 15k smartphone.

So for the price of 12k, there is Nothing to complain about.

Also, the 90hz refresh rate works well without any sort of issue, it doesn’t freeze or lag while using social media apps or even system apps.

The glass on the back feels premium and refreshing as we usually don’t get this kind of build quality with 5G at Rs 11,999.

The frames are made from plastic which is okay while there is no mention of which glass-protected Redmi has used on the back and front but this is Gorilla glass, which version, no one knows except for Redmi.

Performance and Software

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 is a solid processor, it’s not made for heavy gaming but for casual gaming, this is the perfect processor for the Rs 11,999 price tag.

In short, this is not a gaming smartphone.

While the phone got 4,51,183 points on AnTuTu, the Geekbench multi-core test score exceeded 2,119 points. 

So yes, the processor is not that bad after all.

The phone has 7 5G Bands which include;

• SA: n1, n3, n5, n8, n28, n40, and n78
• NSA: n1, n3, n8, n40, and n78

The MIUI needs a little bit of improvement but it’s not like, it’s unusable from any angle.

The Redmi 12 5G runs on MIUI 14 based on Android 13. There is no word from Redmi about future OS updates but the phone will get Android 14 but when we have to wait and see.

Now, yes the phone comes with tons of third-party apps which you can uninstall but still, this is not a good user experience to have even after paying Rs 11,999.

The ads are there too which you can disable but not by 100%.

Overall, for the price of Rs 11999, the performance is not the issue while MIUI needs to get better with updates.

Cameras

What’s the catch here, everything about this phone seems to be perfect and that’s where the cameras come in.

It has a 50MP primary sensor and 2Mp depth sensor on the rear side while there is an 8MP selfie shooter on the front. Both the rear and front can shoot videos up to 1080p@30fps.

There is no OIS, it mainly relies on EIS.

The video quality is not perfect but it’s not bad either, under sunlight, you will get good videos but when it comes to low light, the cameras will struggle a little bit.

Nonetheless, the video quality is top-notch for the price it comes.

The photography is kind of okay and it needs lots of improvement in portrait mode and night photography. Somehow, the night photo comes too bright which doesn’t look great.

Related: Best Smartphones Under Rs 25,000

By default, the ISO for night photography is too high and I feel this can be easily fixed by the OTA updates.

Edge detection is not perfect either in portrait mode, most of the time, it misses the human subject.

Still, the images come out saturated which might be a key selling point because most of the users love these kinds of colors.

Overall, from the price to the cameras, Redmi 12 5G had decent cameras and it can get better, if Redmi improves with updates.

Check out the raw camera samples of Redmi 12 5G (I have added all the camera samples in google drive, so see it by yourself and see whether you like it or not.)

Audio Quality

Redmi 12 5G only has a single bottom speaker along with only a single microphone for calling while there is an IR blaster present.

This is the big problem, it would have been okay if Redmi skipped the IR Blaster and added the second mic on top but they didn’t.

They did add the 3.5mm audio jack, so if you have wired earphones then this is good news for you.

The single speaker is not perfect but it’s loud and clear and yes, the stereo speaker would have been great but again this is a 12k phone, so I won’t complain much.

Battery

The 5,000mAh battery will last for 2 days because this is not a gaming phone and I hoping that you won’t play games all day long but if that’s gonna be the case then expect to charge this phone twice a day.

Redmi has also added the 22.5W charger in the box but keep in mind, the Redmi 12 5G only support 18W charging which is not the fastest but it’s not bad either.

Verdict

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Redmi 12 5G Full Specifications

Price	4GB + 128GB: Rs 11,999 6GB + 128GB: Rs 13,499 8GB + 256GB: Rs 15,499
Display	6.79-inches FHD+ LCD Display Wide-Vine L1 Support 550 nits pick the brightness 1080 x 2460 pixels Resolution 90Hz Screen Refresh Rate
Dimensions	168.6 x 76.3 x 8.2 mm Weight: 199g
Build	Glass front (Gorilla Glass), Glass back (Gorilla Glass ), Plastic frame IP53 Rating
OS	MIUI 14 – Android 13 3 Years of OS Updates. 4 Years of Security Updates.
RAM and Storage Speed	LPDDR4x Ram UFS 2.2 Storage
Chipset	Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 (4 nm) CPU: Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A78 & 6x Cortex-A55) GPU: Adreno 613
SD-Card Slot	Hybrid
Rear Cameras	50MP Primary Sensor (EIS) 2MP Depth Video 1080p@30fps.
Front Camera	8MP Selfie Shooter. Video 1080p@30fps.
5G Bands	7 5G Bands. SA: n1, n3, n5, n8, n28, n40, and n78 NSA: n1, n3, n8, n40, and n78
3.5mm Jack	Yes.
Speakers	Single
Bluetooth Version	5.3 Version.
FM Radio	Yes.
NFC	No.
Sensors	Ambient Light Sensor, E Compass, Accelerometer, IR Blaster Side fingerprint sensor
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes, Side fingerprint sensor
Battery	5,000mAh (non-removable). 18W Charging Speed
Weight	199 Grams
Colors	Yes, the Side fingerprint sensor
In the Box	Redmi 12 5G Adapter USB Cable SIM Eject Tool Quick Start Guide Warranty Card

Images by Gogi Tech