Xiaomi has announced the new devices in its Redmi lineup in Kenya. The company launched the Redmi Note 12 series in the country which comprises of the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G, Redmi Note 12 Pro, Redmi Note 12S and Redmi Note 12.
UNBOXING
The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G comes in a white box and inside it, you get the phone, a protective case, a SIM ejector tool, a USB-C cable, a 120W charger, and the usual documentation inside the box.
DESIGN
The Note 12 Pro Plus has a 6.67″ Full HD Plus Pro AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate and peak brightness of 900 nits.
The display and the back are protected by Gorilla Glass 5.
A punch-hole cutout houses the 16MP selfie camera.
To the left side are the side-mounted fingerprint reader and volume rockers. The scanner is really fast for quick unlocking. You can also double-tap it to launch the camera, turn on the torch, and other functions.
At the bottom, we have a type-c port, primary microphone, dual sim card slot and a speaker grille.
At the top are the headphone jack, IR blaster, secondary microphone, and top-facing speaker.
Coming to the back is the camera island with three lenses which we’ll talk about later and an led flash. Having glass at the back gives the phone a premium look but it gets covered in fingerprint smudges if it’s not covered by the case.
It has a curved back for easier handling.
The screen is one of the best in a midrange smartphone. It is a 10bit screen and supports WideVine L1 and HDR10+. You also get Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
The AMOLED screen is lovely, sharp, bright and colourful. The stereo speaker setup plus the Dolby Atmos sound enrich the whole media consumption experience.
Having a high refresh rate gives you a more fluid experience and makes the phone feel more responsive.
Rounding off its premium design is its IP53 rating which means the phone will be fine against dust and rain.
PERFORMANCE
Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G ships with MediaTek Dimensity 1080 processor paired with Mali-G68 MC4 GPU. You get 8GB of RAM with an additional 5GB of virtual RAM and 256GB onboard storage. The phone comes running MIUI 13 and Android 12 out of the box. Our unit recently got updated to MIUI 14.
The combination plus the 120Hz refresh rate gave the phone a class-leading performance. I could easily multitask with no worries. Games played with no hiccups as well. The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G is an impressively fast and responsive phone.
Xiaomi has promised up to four years of quarterly security patches and two years of software updates so we expect the phone to get Android 14.
BATTERY LIFE
The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus is one of the fastest charging phones in the country with its 120W wired charging. You can go from empty to 50% in under 10 minutes. You just need 24 minutes to fully charge when it’s at zero. Oh and the charger which uses GaN technology comes packed inside the box unlike most other phones these days.
Xiaomi’s 120W fast charging is safe as it has incorporated 34 charging and battery safety features, which cover the entire charging cycle from the charger to the circuit to the battery. 9 thermal sensors monitor the real-time temperature, ensuring charging is safe at all times. The charging structure also has dual charge pumps and dual-cell batteries for better thermal control with a larger current intake.
Superfast charging isn’t the only trick up in its sleeve. The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus has a 5000mAh battery that can pull a full day effortlessly with 5G on, Bluetooth and location-enabled and still have some charge left for late-night browsing. Moderate and light use can give you two days.
All in all, the battery life performance of the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G is pretty solid and I have never felt like I had to stick close to an outlet.
CAMERAS
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G has a powerful triple camera setup and a single punch-hole selfie camera. We have a 16MP front-facing camera housed at the cutout. The back cameras are led by a 200MP primary lens with OIS backed by an 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro.
The image quality was outstanding and the phone took incredibly sharp images while offering high-resolution photos that are well detailed and colourful. Lowlight images are also bright.
The phone takes really pleasant-looking photos. It’s worth noting that you can capture 10 bit RAW images with this phone.
Selfie videos are capped at 1080p 60fps while videos from the main camera are capped at 4K 30fps and 1080p 60fps.
Other modes to play around with include Time-Lapse, Long Exposure, Vlog mode, Slow Motion and switching between 50M mode and 200MP mode.
Overall, the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus has more than reliable cameras.
VERDICT
Ultra fast charging. Solid battery life. Bright smooth scrolling screen. Great cameras. Premium build quality and Speedy performance. The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus is a pretty darn good midrange smartphone for anyone in the market looking to upgrade.
Pricing and Availability
Redmi Note 12
- 4GB + 128GB: Ksh 21,999
- 6GB + 128GB : Ksh 24,999
- 8GB + 128GB: Ksh 26,999
Redmi Note 12S
- 8GB + 256GB – Ksh 31,999
Redmi Note 12 Pro
- 8GB + 128GB – Ksh 31,999
- 8GB + 256GB – Ksh 36,999
Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G
- 8GB + 256GB – Ksh 49,999
