Everything you need to know about Xiaomi Redmi Note 12

31/10/2022

The Redmi Note line is now in its 12th iteration and it arrives in four tiers – a vanilla 12, a 12 Pro, a 12 Pro+ and the 12 Explorer Edition.

We’ll cover the first three phones here while the Explorer Edition and its 210W charging will be covered in a separate post. All three Pro models are equipped with MediaTek’s Dimensity 1080 chipset while the Redmi Note 12 5G gets Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC instead.

Redmi Note 12 Pro+ and 12 Pro
The Redmi Note 12 Pro and Redmi Note 12 Pro+ models share a nearly identical specs sheet with 6.67-inch OLED displays of FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rates. Both phones are equipped with the Dimensity 1080 chipset and up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage which is not expandable.

The Pro+ has an advantage in the camera department – it’s the first Redmi phone with a 200MP camera utilizing Samsung's ISOCELL HPX sensor. This is a 1/1.4-inch sensor with 16-to-1 pixel binning and QPD autofocus. You can take 12.5MP resolution photos in the default mode with a 2.24μm pitch, 50MP shots with 1.12μm pixels and even full 200MP images with 0.56μm pixels. The big sensor is also capable of staggered HDR, 14-bit color depth as well as 8K video recording at 30fps and 4K at 120 fps. Sadly, the Dimensity 1080 chipset has capped its performance to 4K video recording only.

Redmi Note 12 Pro gets a 50MP main camera with Sony IMX766 sensor and OIS. The remaining two sensors on both phones are an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP depth helper. The selfie shooters upfront are of 16MP resolution.

Elsewhere, both Redmi 12 Pro and Pro+ get 5,000 mAh batteries with the standard Pro charging at up to 67W speeds while the Pro+ is upgraded to 120W fast charging. Both phones boot MIUI 13 based on Android 12 and retain the headphone jack.

Redmi Note 12 Pro+ comes in white, black, blue and a special Yibo Edition with green and black dual tone back. Pricing for starts at CNY 2,199 (~S$426.18) for the 8/256GB model. The 12/256GB trim will sell for CNY 2,399 (~S$464.94). Open sales in China start on November 1.

Redmi Note 12 Pro is available in the same color options minus the Yibo Edition which is replaced with a pink gradient shade. Pricing starts at CNY 1,699 (~S$329.27) for the 6/128GB trim. There are 8/128 GB for CNY 1,799 (~S$348.66) and 8/256 GB for CNY 1,999 (~S$387.42) models as well as a top of the line 12/256 GB model for CNY 2,199 (~S$426.18). Open sales in China start on November 1. Local availability is unknown yet.

Redmi Note 12
The standard Redmi Note 12 brings a 6.67-inch OLED display with FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate just like its Pro siblings and you also get a 5,000 mAh battery with 33W fast charging.

The main camera is 48MP and you only get a 2MP depth module in addition. The selfie shooter is capped at 8MP. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chipset sits at the helm aided by up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.

Redmi Note 12 comes in black, white and blue colors and retails for CNY 1,199 (~S$232.37) in its base 4/128GB trim and goes up to CNY 1,699 (~S$329.27) for the 8/256GB model. Open sales in China begin on November 1. Local availability is unknown yet.