Realme 12 Pro Review: Great Design, Good Hardware

January 2024 has been Jan-packed with new smartphone launches and certainly one of them was the brand new Realme 12 Pro 5G collection. The newest quantity collection from Realme contains the Realme 12 Pro 5G and the Realme 12 Pro+ 5G. While each telephones look much like the Realme 11 Pro lineup from the entrance, there are some modifications internally, and on the rear panel. I’ve been utilizing the Realme 12 Pro 5G for greater than per week testing out numerous points of the Realme 12 Pro. Here’s what I consider the cellphone.

Realme 12 Pro worth in India

The Realme 12 Pro is out there in India at a beginning worth of Rs. 25,999 for the bottom 8GB RAM + 128GB variant. There’s additionally an 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant, which is priced at Rs. 26,999. Realme affords the brand new cellphone in two color choices or finishes. There’s the Navigator Beige possibility, and there is the Submarine Blue. We obtained the 256GB variant in Submarine Blue for evaluate.

You get a 67W quick charger in-the-box

The unboxing expertise of the Realme 12 Pro 5G is much like different telephones within the worth section. You get all of the issues that you just’d anticipate. There’s a 67W charging brick, a USB Type-A to Type-C cable, a case to guard the cellphone, SIM ejector instrument, and the same old paperwork.

Realme 12 Pro Review: Design

There are just a few smartphones on the market that make individuals go ‘what cellphone is that’. The Realme 12 Pro 5G is certain to get comparable feedback. Almost each different smartphone, other than foldables, is a slab today, however Realme has tried and succeeded to make its slab look totally different and classy.

I obtained the Submarine Blue variant and it appears sensible. The rear panel on the Realme 12 Pro has a vegan leather-based end and a digital camera module that appears much like a luxurious watch dial. Realme has partnered with French luxurious watchmaker Ollivier Savéo who’s labored with widespread manufacturers corresponding to Rolex, Breitling, and extra.

The cellphone will get a vegan leather-based end rear panel

The principal attraction right here is the digital camera module with gold accents on the skin and a sunburst dial inside. The cellphone has good weight to it (196g) and feels good to carry in hand. Both the show and the rear panel are curved, making the cellphone appear and feel slimmer than it’s (8.75mm). The Realme 12 Pro feels nice in hand, and you will not have any fingerprints or smudges on the again because of the vegan leather-based end.

On the entrance, the cellphone has uniform bezels on the alternative sides which can be skinny. The entrance appears similar to the Realme 11 Pro, which additionally had a curved show of the identical dimension. The Realme 12 Pro 5G comes with an IP65 ranking as nicely.

Realme 12 Pro Review: Specifications and software program

The Realme 12 Pro is provided with a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor coupled with the Adreno 710 GPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage. It comes with a Dynamic RAM characteristic that may add as much as 8GB of extra VRAM borrowed from the inner storage. Talking about storage, it is not expandable. The cellphone comes with a USB Type-C port on the backside accompanied by a speaker, microphone, and a SIM card tray, which helps twin 5G SIM. The prime of the cellphone homes one other speaker grille and a microphone. On the left edge, you may discover the facility and quantity buttons.

Realme 12 Pro 5G has a twin speaker setup

For connectivity, you get Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6 dual-band, and help for all the key GPS satellites. Realme may’ve included Wi-Fi 6E right here and maybe a more moderen Bluetooth customary as different telephones in the same worth vary do get newer connectivity requirements.

Realme has included an in-display fingerprint scanner on the handset. It’s positioned on the backside of the show, and whereas it might’ve been nicer to have it somewhat increased, the scanner works nicely. I had no points unlocking the cellphone within the time I’ve been utilizing it.

The Realme 12 Pro comes with a 5,000mAh battery with a 67W quick charger within the field, similar as its predecessor. Nothing new to see right here.

Realme 12 Pro affords 2 years of software program updates

Now, let’s discuss software program. You’ll get the most recent Android 14-based Realme UI 5.0 on the Realme 12 Pro. And throughout my time with the cellphone, I obtained two minor updates to enhance the digital camera efficiency. Realme UI 5.0 is easy and likewise loaded with bloatware. You get the same old Hot Apps and Hot Games folder, Glance lock display screen, and several other pre-installed apps. While you may disable some, you may’t actually eliminate them. The cellphone will get some helpful options with Realme UI 5.0 corresponding to File Dock, Smart picture matting, and Phonelink. Realme says that it will present 2 years of software program and three years of safety updates for the cellphone.

The Smart picture matting characteristic helps you to separate a topic from the background on a photograph. With File Dock you may simply share recordsdata utilizing drag-and-drop, and Phonelink helps you to hook up with a Windows pc and share recordsdata, messages, notifications, and even display screen cellphone calls.

Realme 12 Pro Review: Performance

Now, let’s discuss efficiency. While the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chip is sweet sufficient for every day duties and even gaming, it is not closely efficiency oriented. Realme has focussed extra on the digital camera and design with the Realme 12 Pro 5G. Benchmark outcomes of the cellphone are bleak in comparison with another choices in the identical worth vary. In AnTuTu, with efficiency mode enabled, the cellphone managed 5,90,047 factors. With the mode disabled, it obtained a rating of 5,61,099. With Geekbench 6, the cellphone obtained a rating of 882 in Single-core and 2693 in Multi-core with efficiency mode disabled. The scores weren’t very totally different with the mode turned on. Like I stated, not a giant performer, however on the similar time, I didn’t face any main lag with daily duties. Opening/closing apps, opening a background app, launching video games, and such issues labored fairly easily. When the 8GB RAM was limiting efficiency, the cellphone would rapidly use the Dynamic RAM characteristic to make up for the dearth of bodily RAM.

The cellphone will get a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh fee

Moving to the show, the Realme 12 Pro has a curved 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with full-HD+ decision, 120Hz refresh fee, 240Hz contact sampling fee, and a most brightness of 800 nits. The show has good colors and will get lots brilliant for indoor use. When utilizing the cellphone outdoor and below direct daylight, the show is readable. As for show color choices, you may select between Vivid, Natural, Cinematic, or Brilliant. You may also manually select the display screen color temperature. Realme has additionally included the O1 Video Colour Boost engine that converts SDR to HDR. However, this characteristic is simply supported on sure apps. The viewing angles on the cellphone are additionally fairly nice and I didn’t observe any washing out.

The Realme 12 Pro 5G comes with a twin speaker setup that may get very loud. There’s some bass as nicely, and good separation because of the audio system being positioned on the prime and backside. The audio high quality can also be good throughout calls and the earpiece will get fairly loud. No points right here, however nothing distinctive both.(*12*)

Can you sport on the Realme 12 Pro? Yes, you undoubtedly can. You will not get the very best graphics or body charges, however you may absolutely sport on the cellphone. I performed COD and BGMI on the cellphone and it carried out nicely. The cellphone didn’t get too sizzling both, however I did discover some contact misses at instances. I did not discover any main body fee drops or lag in multiplayer video games, however my gaming periods solely lasted about half-hour max. The rear panel does get heat, however not a lot that you will have to attend for it to chill down. I additionally did not discover any main heating when utilizing the digital camera or in day-to-day duties. The vegan leather-based end additionally helps disguise the warmth nicely.

Now, for some battery utilization and efficiency outcomes. The Realme 12 Pro 5G’s 5,000mAh battery can simply final you a day with some heavy gaming, digital camera utilization, watching YouTube and different streaming companies, some doom scrolling, and different daily duties. Remove heavy gaming from the record and the cellphone can final over a day. If you do not devour numerous content material, you may even push the cellphone to final 2 days with out a cost. Talking about cost, you may prime up the battery very quickly. Realme claims that the supplied 67W charger can cost the cellphone to one hundred pc in 48 minutes. In my exams, the cellphone took 43 minutes to cost from 10 to one hundred pc. I’m certain the 48 minute quantity is attainable even should you cost from 0 p.c.

Realme 12 Pro Review: Cameras

Finally, the primary main promoting level of the Realme 12 Pro, the brand new cameras. The handset comes with a triple rear digital camera setup, however you could be fooled into believing that there are 4 cameras on the again. The fourth one is a dummy sadly. Coming to the actual cameras, you get a major 50-megapixel Sony IMX 882 sensor with OIS, PDAF help, 26mm focal size, and f/1.8 aperture. This is accompanied by a brand new 32-megapixel Sony IMX 709 telephoto sensor with 2x optical zoom, and 4x lossless in-sensor zoom. Lastly, there’s an 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor. This is a giant enchancment over final 12 months’s dual-camera setup that included a 100-megapixel principal sensor and a 2-megapixel depth unit.

The cellphone comes with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX 882 principal sensor

The digital camera interface on the cellphone is much like what you may discover on most Android smartphones. All the modes are positioned individually above the shutter button, and also you get a More possibility that hides the Pro mode, Panorama, Hi-Res mode, Timelapse, Long Exposure, dual-view, Starry Mode, and extra. The customary modes embody Photo, Video, Portrait, Night, and Street.

In Photo mode, you get 0.6x, 1x, 2x, and 4x choices. The picture high quality from the primary rear digital camera is kind of good in daylight circumstances. The 2x optical zoom additionally produces good outcomes. However, the colors could be saturated at instances and I did discover some artifacting in some photos very not often. The 4x picture appears somewhat washed out and loses out on particulars. The ultra-wide digital camera additionally takes good pictures in daylight, however you may discover the distinction in colors, particulars, and HDR between the primary and the ultrawide sensor.

Top: Daylight pictures; Bottom: Lowlight with auto Night Mode

When the solar goes down, the cameras say bye to particulars, however footage taken in lowlight utilizing the primary sensor remains to be usable. The principal digital camera can take good footage with respectable particulars if there’s some lighting round. Taking footage of the night time sky or panorama will end in pictures with not numerous particulars. The excessive dynamic vary and hues are additionally off in lowlight eventualities. The 2x zoom is not nice in lowlight and the pictures principally have washed particulars and noise. It’s the identical with the ultrawide digital camera, which additionally shoots pictures with numerous noise and washed out particulars. Portrait photographs in lowlight have unhealthy edge detection, however you do get some particulars if there’s some mild.

1x Portrait mode photographs are taken with the primary digital camera, 2x makes use of the telephoto sensor

Selfie pictures taken from the Realme 12 Pro 5G are good. The cellphone will get a 16-megapixel entrance digital camera that may take 1080p movies at 30fps. You get ok usable selfies which have good particulars in daylight, however issues get washed out in lowlight.

Coming to movies, the cellphone can take 4K decision movies at 30fps, however you can even take full benefit of the OIS stabilisation in movies shot in 1080p at 60fps. Realme calls the stabilisation mode Ultra Steady and the outcomes usually are not unhealthy. There is a few fringing, however you may completely use the movies on social media. Videos shot in 4K decision do have loads of particulars in daylight, however there’s noticeable noise and bizarre artifacts in lowlight.

Realme 12 Pro Review: Verdict

With a beginning worth of Rs. 25,999, the Realme 12 Pro 5G has loads of telephones to compete with. Some of the just lately launched telephones that come to thoughts are the Redmi Note 13 Pro and the Poco X6 Pro (Review).

The Realme 12 Pro 5G is an efficient trying smartphone with a number of issues going for it. You get a novel design with vegan leather-based end, good show with 120Hz refresh fee, the efficiency is sweet sufficient for every day use and a few gaming, the battery lasts lengthy and you may prime it up rapidly, and the cameras provide excellent leads to daylight. There’s not loads you are lacking out on. It’s an amazing cellphone for the worth, however the one query is, would I like to recommend it over telephones just like the Poco X6 Pro? If cameras and design are extra essential for you, then you can purchase the Realme 12 Pro, if efficiency is extra essential, then I’d say go for the Poco.