In Pics | Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus Review in five minutes

Xiaomi has officially unveiled the Redmi Note 12 series in India. The line-up included the Redmi Note 12 5G, Redmi Note 12 Pro, and Redmi Note 12 Pro+. Of the three phones, the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus standouts for its hard-hitting specifications. And that is indeed the phone we’re going to be looking at today. The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus price in India starts from Rs 29,999 for the 8GB/256GB model, while the 12GB/256B variant will set you back Rs 32,999. So without any further delays, here’s our Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus review in five minutes.

The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ opts for a flat frame that gives it a less conventional look as opposed to the rounded frames we’re used to. However, the frame isn’t sharp on all sides with rounded edges that make it easy to grip. The rear panel of the phone comes in colours, although our white model does look the classiest of the bunch. The shiny matte finish doesn’t attract fingerprints, allowing the phone to retain that elegant look.

The handset has a glass back and glass protection (Gorilla Glass 5) on the front as well. The frame is made of plastic, but the overall build quality feels solid, more reminiscent of a premium mid-range phone. The handset has the usual power and volume buttons on the right and the SIM tray and charging port on the bottom. There are dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support that deliver quality audio, but the highlight here is the return of the headphone jack.

Moving on to the display and the top-tier Redmi Note 12 phone is equipped with a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. The panel boasts a 120Hz refresh rate that can be set to ‘Default’, dynamically adjusting the refresh rate, or switched between 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz. The panel also boasts a touch sampling rate of up to 240Hz.

The screen reaches a maximum brightness of 900 nits and gets plenty bright to view under direct sunlight. Additionally, the panel also supports HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, making excellent for consuming content. The screen also supports 1920Hz high-frequency PWM dimming and DCI-P3 colour gamut. For a sub 30K smartphone, the display here is top-notch and one of the best in the segment.

For performance, the Redmi 12 Pro+ boasts a MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. The MediaTek chipset offers decent performance and only slightly edges out last year’s Dimensity 920 in the benchmarking tests, scoring 750 points in the single-core test and 2225 points in the multi-core test. The phone also ran Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9: Legends on high graphics smoothly. Additionally, we also didn’t experience any heating issues after a good 40 minutes of gaming.

On the camera front, the Note 12 Pro+ opts for a 200 MP Samsung HPX primary sensor paired with an 8 MP ultrawide unit and a 2 MP macro camera. On the front, the 16 MP selfie camera has an f/2.45 aperture. The Note 12 Pro+ can record 4K video at 30fps and supports OIS. Here’s a look at some samples.

The main camera takes detailed photos in daylight, although dynamic range could use some work.

Moving on to the ultra and we see a clear dip in quality with washed out colours.

Night mode brings in a ton of light in the scene, while improving details, while ultrawide shots are not usable for the most part at night.

There are ton of different camera features, like the ability to take a full 200 MP shot, a Long Exposure mode, a Short Video feature, and more. Additionally, the selfie camera takes decent selfies in daylight with accurate skin tones but visibly less detail.

We'll dig deep into the full potential and features of this camera setup in our full Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus review.

The handset packs a 4,980 mAh battery that delivers well over a day of battery life on a single charge. Moreover, when the battery does die, you have the benefit of charging it with the 120W power brick in the box. Xiaomi says that the phone can be powered from 0 to 100 percent in under 20 minutes, which is pretty much accurate.

The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ runs Android 12 based MIUI 13 out of the box, which is a real shame considering Android 13 has been out for a while now. Additionally, the Realme 10 Pro+ also debuted with Android 13. On the flip side, Xiaomi is promising two years of major OS updates and four years of security updates with the Redmi Note 12 Pro+. MIUI does have its fair share of bloatware but thankfully a lot of unwanted apps can be removed. Additionally, MIUI offers a host of customizations that we will dive into during our full review.

My first impressions of the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ are quite positive. There are very few things to complaint about here, Xiaomi has done an excellent job with the hardware as usual, punching above its price. The phone has one of the best displays, cameras, battery, and charging in the segment. Not to mention that the phone is pretty well design with a robust build. The software could be cleaner but offers a ton of customisations.

Lastly, the Note 12 Pro+ also delivers an excellent audio experience, particularly with the addition of that headphone jack. Our initial impressions of the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G were generally positive and it is safe to say that this is the right direction for the Redmi Note series. Stick around for our full Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus review to find out if this is indeed the best smartphone under Rs 30,000 and for more details about the phone’s software, performance, and camera system.