realme 12+ It is the first 'Plus' smartphone in the company's Numeric-series lineup. The handset fills the void between vanilla realme 12 And realme 12 pro ,Review) smartphones. Realme 12+ price in India starts from Rs 20,999. Key features of the 12+ include an AMOLED display, MediaTek Dimensity 7050 SoC, 50MP triple rear cameras, and a 5,000mAh battery. Read this Realme 12+ review to know the real-world performance, camera prowess, battery life and more.
Decision
If you are looking for a smartphone under Rs 25k with attractive looks, good performance, excellent battery life and respectable viewing experience then Realme 12+ will suit you. It even comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack – so, go ahead and jack it up with your wired headphones/earphones.
Design and performance
The Realme 12+ has the same vegan leather back design as the Pro model. However, there are some noticeable changes. The curved screen has been removed and made flat and so have the edges. Additionally, there is no fluted bezel around the circular camera module at the back. Despite this, the phone still looks gorgeous. The handset comes in two colours: Navigator Beige and Pioneer Green.
If you intend to use the smartphone without a case, we highly recommend choosing the green color, as it is less prone to stains. Additionally, the silver seam running vertically on the back panel complements the shade beautifully. The handset also offers a comfortable grip despite the shiny edges. However, it would have been better if the back corners were slightly curved to prevent them from digging into your palm while holding the device.
The Realme 12+ is equipped with an in-display fingerprint scanner, which may not be perfectly placed but is decent in its accuracy. As far as ports are concerned, the phone has a USB Type-C port on the bottom edge for charging and data transfer, while its top edge is equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack. The handset offers a stereo experience with its dual speakers.
There is a 6.67 inch display of OLED type on the front. It has FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 100 percent P3 color gamut. Although the bezels may not be as thin as its bigger brother the 12 Pro, the Realme 12+ supports a higher peak brightness of 2,000 nits, as opposed to 950 nits on the former. It provides easy readability under the sun. The color and contrast ratio also looks good, and deep blacks ensure clear picture quality. The handset is Widevine L1-certified for streaming FHD content from Netflix and other streaming platforms.
camera
Except for the telephoto lens, the Realme 12+ comes with the same camera setup as the Pro model. Instead, the smartphone has a 2MP macro sensor for close-up shots. It is accompanied by a 50MP Sony LYT-600 main sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide lens. On the front, the handset sports a 16MP snapper in a punch-hole setup for selfies and video calling.
Cameras work well in favorable lighting conditions. Images taken with the 50MP OIS primary camera default to 12.5MP resolution due to pixel binning. This shouldn't be a problem if you're viewing images on a small screen like your smartphone. There is a 50MP mode that lets you click maximum resolution images, which appear less grainy on devices with larger screens like your laptop. However, there is a slight drop in quality. Colors and dynamic range don't look as natural as when clicked in the default 12.5MP mode. The sensor comes with 2x digital zoom, which gives similar results to 1x zoom in well-lit environments.
The 8MP ultra-wide camera offers a 112-degree field of view (FoV) and captures acceptable shots. Details and colors seem a bit weak. Talking about 2MP macro sensor, it is average. To obtain satisfactory results, it is necessary to avoid shadows falling on the subject and maintain a steady hand when capturing close-up shots. Otherwise, you may get slightly blurry and grainy images.
The 16MP selfie camera could have done with better facial detailing, but skin tones look accurate. Both front and rear cameras use calculation skills to capture portrait shots with good exposure and details. However, edge detection needs improvement. For low-light shots, the Realme 12+ has a Night Mode that effectively reduces grain at the cost of some finer details. Whatever the case, you'll probably be satisfied with the overall results.
Additionally, the smartphone offers some special movie filters curated by Oscar winner Claudio Miranda for Best Cinematography to add some fun to your photos.
Display and Software
The Realme 12+ is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 SoC, which can be found in several other smartphones, including last year's Realme 11 Pro. Not much has changed with the chipset since its launch; It provides smooth performance without any crashes or app freeze issues. Additionally, the handset hardly stutters under heavy load and doesn't stutter while running graphically demanding games like Call of Duty. There is a noticeable increase in temperature, which isn't really worrisome since this is not a gaming-centric smartphone. The handset features vapor cooling technology to keep thermals under control.
Moving on, the phone is available in a few RAM and storage variants: 8GB + 128GB and 12GB + 256GB. Storage can be expanded using a microSD card in the secondary hybrid SIM slot. Check out the Realme 12+ AnTuTu and Geekbench scores compared to its competitors.
Moving forward, the Realme 12+ boots Realme UI 5.0 on Android 14 out of the box. The experience is definitely similar to Realme 12 Pro, so you may move towards it Review To read about it in detail. In short, the software is relatively clean with a few third-party apps pre-installed that can be removed if desired. Additionally, there are no ads and plenty of customization options, allowing you to customize the device to your liking. The handset is expected to get two years of major software updates.
Battery and Charging
The Realme 12+ packs a 5,000mAh battery, which offers impressive backup. On the PC Mark battery test, it demonstrated a run time of 17 hours and 24 minutes. Additionally, streaming a 30-minute 4K video with 50 percent brightness and volume levels saw only a 2 percent drop in the phone's battery level. This suggests that the handset should comfortably last a day with moderate to heavy usage.
When it comes to charging, the handset takes around 45-50 minutes to bring the nearly drained battery to 100 percent using its bundled 67W fast charger.
final call
Realme 12+ can be got for less than Rs 19,000 with bank offers as part of the early bird deal. Otherwise, the 128GB storage variant of the handset is priced at Rs 20,999, while the 256GB variant is priced at Rs 21,999. This is quite close to the asking price of the Realme 12 Pro, which comes with a curved-edge display and a 2x telephoto lens that offers better close-up shots without the need to look closely at the subject. That said, the performance and display brightness of the device is somewhat lackluster in comparison.
Other competitors of the phone include Nothing Phone (2A) ,Review, motorola edge 40 neo ,Review), And Samsung Galaxy F54 5G ,Review, Still, the Realme 12+ manages to set itself apart with its attractive design, which includes a vegan leather back and a camera module inspired by luxury watches. Furthermore, the display offers clear views, and the performance remains smooth even during tough tasks and gaming sessions. The large 5,000mAh battery provides excellent endurance with fast charging capabilities. Overall, the new Realme smartphone offers an attractive package for its price range, making it a worthy consideration for those who are not just prioritizing the camera, but instead a well-rounded mid-range smartphone. Looking for.
Editor's Rating: 8/10
reason to buy
- The vegan leather back looks attractive.
- Vibrant AMOLED display with 2,000 nits peak brightness.
- Provides smooth performance without any crashes or app freezes.
- The handset gives impressive backup.
reason not to buy
- The ultra-wide and macro cameras could have been better.
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The software experience may include some pre-installed bloatware.
