Xiaomi first introduced its Redmi line-up back in the year 2014.
From its inception, the Redmi series maintained its strong position in offering amazing value for the money spent, and its latest addition, the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus, is no different.
Xiaomi has always tried to put some top-of-the-line features among all of its Redmi devices, even though the phones mostly stood in the budget range.
In line with that, Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus comes with the latest 200MP camera sensor from Samsung, in addition to up to 120 Watts charging speed.
The phone launched in November last year. However, it still did not officially arrive in Bangladesh yet.
If you want to get a hold of this device, your best bet would be to visit trusted stores that sell unofficial smartphones. The 8GB RAM and 256GB storage version of Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus currently costs Tk40,500.
Design
Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus cannot be considered a lightweight or a heavy phone. It sits in the middle with 208 grams of weight. But it may feel a little heavier if you are a regular budget Android user. The same applies when it comes to thickness.
The device's exterior is unremarkable in appearance. Both sides are protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and the camera module extends slightly from the back. The 3.5mm headphone jack and IR blaster are located on top of the phone.
The IR blaster on top is great. But this placement of the headphone jack always makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.
A USB Type-C port and speaker grille are located on the bottom, and a fingerprint sensor is built into the power button on the side. The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus can easily be described as an attractive smartphone.
Display
The display of the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus has also been adjusted for an exceptional visual experience.
The panel is AMOLED, refreshes at 120Hz and has an FHD+ resolution. The top of the panel has a small punch-hole cutout for the front camera and the bezels around it are incredibly thin.
The screen becomes extremely bright for use in bright outdoor conditions at 900nits.
The screen is capable of displaying 1 billion colours. For watching OTT content, it supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision.
The colour accuracy of the display is on point and the higher refresh rate makes everything buttery smooth as long as you are using an app that supports a higher refresh rate.
Performance
The performance on the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus won't be an issue thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 1080 chipset inside.
Despite not being the fastest in its class, the device will work just fine. Any task requiring a lot of processing power could be run on the device, whether it be a demanding game, a social media app or just basic Chrome browsing.
5G is a big part of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus and it supports 10 5G bands.
On the software end, the smartphone comes with MIUI 13 based on Android 12. This is kind of a bummer since Android 13 is out for a while now and Xiaomi should have shipped the phone with the latest Android version.
That being said, Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus users are expected to get an update notification to MIUI 14 sometime in March.
Camera
The megapixel count is one of the key selling points of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus. Just to make it clear, a bigger megapixel count does not always mean better photos. It can, however, enhance some aspects of the photos it captures.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus has three cameras: a 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HPX sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide camera and a 2MP macro camera.
The camera's best qualities remained sharpness and detail capture, along with the ability to experiment with dynamic range.
However, when the sensor was directly facing the clear morning sky, there was a slight drop in colour temperature.
Close-up photography and indoor shooting situations solve this issue, but it is still something to be aware of. Although exposure levels are kept to varying degrees, the result is always pleasing.
The 200MP main camera automatically captures images in 12.5 megapixels. You will also get options to capture images in 50MP and 200MP sizes. Just keep in mind that capturing such large images will consume a lot of storage.
The daylight camera performance was something I would expect to get from a smartphone that costs 40k. The nighttime experience, on the other hand, was kind of mixed.
The camera can capture decent images without using its Night Mode as long as there are some lights. But as things get darker, the Night Mode kicks in.
Now, I personally do not like when the smartphone turns a nighttime image into a daytime image with all its processing. If you are into that, you will definitely like it.
The 8MP ultra-wide camera also performed as expected within this price range. But the 2MP macro sensor seemed completely unnecessary.
The front-facing 16MP selfie shooter can capture nice images with accurate skin tone.
Overall, you cannot expect a flagship-level camera performance from a phone at this price range, even if it has a 200MP camera sensor. But if you are willing to spend some time editing the photos you capture, you will surely get something that looks like it came out of a flagship phone.
Battery
The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus comes with a sizable 5,000mAh battery that should easily last more than a day with a screen-on time of six to seven hours.
The phone's ability to charge at a lightning-fast 120W rate gives it another competitive edge. This charger, which charges the phone from 0 to 100 in less than 20 minutes, was included in the box.
Verdict
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus is hard to ignore with all the features it offers at this price range.
I do not think that giving a 200MP sensor was necessary, though. Not many people will even go into the settings to turn on the 50MP or 200MP photo modes.
What I liked about this phone is its 256 storage. There are not many 256GB phones available in the budget segment.
