Redmi 12 Review: Price in India and Variants
The Xiaomi Redmi 12 has been launched in India in two variants. The 4GB RAM + 128GB Storage variant costs Rs. 9999, while the 6GB RAM + 128GB Storage variant costs Rs. 11,499.
The phone is available in three colour options: Jade Black, Pastel Blue and Moonstone Silver. You can buy the phone directly from the official website of Mi and other platforms like Flipkart.
Redmi 12 Box Contents
The Redmi 12 packs the following items inside the box:
- Phone
- 22.5W Adaptor
- Type-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Case
- Documentation
Redmi 12 Specs at a glance
Before we talk in detail about the Redmi 12 review, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:
- Display: 6.79 inches IPS LCD
- Chipset: MediaTek Helio G88
- RAM & ROM: 4GB 128GB, 6GB 128GB
- Software: Android v13
- Rear camera: 50MP + 8MP + 2MP
- Selfie camera: 8MP
- Battery: 5000 mAh
- Weight: 198.5 grams
- Dimensions: 168.6 x 76.2 x 8.1 mm
Redmi 12 Design and Build
I can tell that Redmi 12 features a premium build quality just by holding it in my hands for the first time. The flat metallic finish on the edges, the frosted finish on the glass back and the curved corners, everything punches way above its price tag.
Even though the edges are made of plastic, the finish is so good that you won’t be able to tell it’s plastic just by looking. Moreover, it sits comfortably in my hands and doesn’t bite my palms. I have the Moonstone Silver colour variant and it looks really stunning from the back.
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The best part about the frosted finish is that it doesn’t attract fingerprints. You will see a triple camera setup on the back with no camera module, giving it a cleaner look. A sublet Redmi branding sits on the bottom left of the back panel.
It’s a big phone, no doubt, and Redmi has made sure that it weighs less, just about 198 grams. Even the power button placement is perfect! Talking about that the right side has the power button, which doubles as the fingerprint scanner, along with volume rockers.
The left side has the SIM card slot, while the top side has the 3.5mm audio jack and IR blaster. Lastly, the bottom side has the Type-C port, loudspeaker and mic.
Redmi 12 Camera
Redmi 12 features a 50MP triple camera setup on the back that captures some really nice shots for its price point. The other two lenses include an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 2MP macro lens. The front side has an 8MP lens for capturing selfies.
The 50MP main camera takes decent shots in broad daylight conditions. The images came out to be detailed and pleasant to the eye. The colour also looked nice and vibrant. On the other hand, the dynamic range was not good.
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Ultra-wide shots were also decent, given there was plenty of natural light. While the details were lacking, the colours looked just fine. Dynamic range was just the same. The 2MP macro lens is nothing special to talk about.
The 8MP front camera took some good selfies in proper lighting conditions. The skin tone looked pretty close to natural. However, the details were missing, and the images were on the software side. Portrait selfies did not do a good job of separating my face from the background.
Redmi 12 Battery and Charging
Redmi 12 packs a big 5000 mAh battery inside which delivers a superb battery life. A light user can expect more than a full day of battery backup from it. You can get about 6 hours of screen on time from it.
However, a heavy user like me who was playing games and taking pictures all day would need to plug in the charger by the evening.
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Talking about charging, it comes with a 22.5W adaptor in the box. But don’t be mistaken as the phone only supports 18W fast charging. It takes about 2 hours to fully charge the phone from 0 to 100 per cent.
Redmi 12 Display
Redmi 12 features a big FHD 6.79 inches IPS LCD display that delivers a nice viewing experience. It comes with a 90Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 550 units. The display gets bright enough for indoor use and outdoor use on a cloudy day.
However, I had to struggle a lot while making a call outdoors under direct sunlight. Talking about quality, the FHD display offers good details and crispy text. The colours look vibrant and punchy.
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Of course, it’s not as good as an AMOLED display, but it’s more than good enough for a budget phone. Moreover, you get a punch hole cut-out on the front, which looks way better than the water-drop notch seen at this price range.
I watched a couple of videos on YuoTube, and my experience was really good. The 90Hz refresh rate does enhance the scrolling and gaming experience.
Redmi 12 Performance and Software
Redmi 12 is powered by a MediaTek Helio G88 chipset which is paired with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. I really like that even the base model comes with 128G of internal storage, so you don’t have to worry about downloading a bunch of games of capturing tonnes of photos and videos.
You also get a RAM expansion feature that lets to add another 5GB of RAM for a total of 11GB of RAM (on the 6GB variant). Other than that, the phone handles day to day tasks with ease. The apps open fairly quick. I won’t say it’s the best for multitasking.
While it’s pretty obvious it’s not a gaming phone, you can play light games on it like Free Fire or Mortal Combat or even Asphalt 9 on low settings.
I even tried playing BGMI and CoD Mobile but that wasn’t a really good experience. You can turn the lowest setting for a playable experience but you’ll still see some lags and frame drops.
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The Redmi 12 runs on MIUI 14 skin which is based on the latest Android 13. You see a typical MIUI theme which brings a bunch of customisation and personalisation options.
It also packs features like RAM expansion, Quick ball, Dual apps, Screen recorder, Floating windows and more. At the same time, it’s loaded with bloatware like Netflix, Opera Browser, GetApps, PhonePe, Mi Store, Facebook, Snapchat and many more.
Redmi 12 is definitely a promising budget phone with all-rounder specs under 10K. It might lack behind in terms of gaming but performs well in every other scenario. The simple yet modern design, the good big display, and the 5000mAh battery do a good job.
The camera quality is also good for the price. On the other hand, the charging speed could have been better, and the bloatware can be reduced. All in all, I’m quite impressed with the Redmi 12 and it gets a big thumbs up from me.
