For a number of years, Realme has been producing high-quality smartphones in the midrange. At debut, the Realme 12 Pro+ certainly left a lasting impression. We were given a smartphone that appeared to be in the mid-range market, had strong technology that could handle moderate performance, and an intriguing set of cameras that are unheard of for this price range.
The appealing price is another factor that strengthens the argument for this mid-range Realme gadget. But in the last year, the mid-range has changed significantly.
These days, smartphones come equipped with 200-megapixel cameras, IP68 dust and water protection, and lightning-fast (up to 120W) charging. Unexpectedly, some smartphones in this market offer precisely this, although their implementation is flawed or their camera performance is inconsistent. And for that reason, it’s difficult to suggest these specifically.
Additionally, purchasers will encounter high-end smartphones that provide similarly remarkable value yet have just undergone price reductions, such as Google’s exceptional Pixel 7a.
The Realme 12 Pro+ appears to be a worthy advance over its predecessor thanks to its luxury design and premium telephoto camera, but will it be able to compete with the fierce competitors? After using the Realme 12 Pro+ for a few weeks, these are my thoughts.
Realme 12 Pro+ price in India
Three finishes—Submarine Blue, Explorer Red, and Navigator Beige—are offered for the Realme 12 Pro+. There are also three options available. There are three different price points for this variant: Rs. 29,999 for 8GB RAM + 128GB storage, Rs. 31,999 for 8GB RAM + 256GB storage, and Rs. 33,999 for the top-of-the-line variant with 12GB RAM + 256GB storage. For review, we were given the 12GB + 256GB version in Submarine Blue.
Considering the slight price variations among the variations, I would advise you to slightly extend your budget in order to purchase the top-tier model.
Realme 12 Pro+ Design
Unlike the preceding Realme 11 Pro+, the Realme 12 Pro+ isn’t precisely bringing a whole new design language or altering the game. However, I think there have been some small design tweaks that make it feel less tacky than the prior model.
I enjoy the watch-inspired style that BBK umbrella brands seem to be popularizing these days. A lovely golden fluted bezel is added to encircle the circular rear camera module. This, along with the split rear panel covered in vegan leather, gives the phones an opulent yet more grounded conventional vibe that will immediately recall people of pricey handbags or luxury timepieces. It weighs 196 grams, which is rather substantial given the big camera module and metal accents.
The Realme 11 Pro+’s sticky stitching are gone, but I don’t like the gold insert with the diamond pattern running over the back, which is meant to resemble a metal watch strap.
Whether you like it or not, the smartphone’s overall design is striking, and its vegan leather back adds a nice grip. My review device held up well against a variety of surfaces, including wooden tables, rocks, and stone—pretty much the exact opposite of Apple’s Finewoven cases.
Not only does the elegant design have a legitimate IP65 grade for dust and water resistance, but it’s not just show. This one is better at withstanding water splashes than the Redmi Note 13 Pro+, which has an appropriate IP68 classification that allows it to survive immersion in water.
The camera ring’s delicate champagne gold finish carries over to the plastic frame. It’s not composed of metal, but it’s finely crafted and without any obvious cutouts or sharp edges. I particularly appreciate how Realme maintained the polished side of the frame for more grip while keeping the matte top and bottom edges flattened. The 6.7-inch curved-edge display with a thin bezel complements the curved shape and enhances the feeling of luxury.
Realme 12 Pro+ Features and software
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SoC, which was constructed utilizing the 4nm fabrication technique and has a maximum clockspeed of 2.4GHz, powers the Realme 12 Pro+. This indicates that while this processor is not as quick as a top-tier premium (less than Rs. 50,000) smartphone, it is still as power-efficient as a SoC in a premium smartphone.
Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, a Type-C port, and a SIM card tray that can hold two nano SIM cards are among the communication protocols. In addition to dual 5G-standby, the phone supports a small number of 5G bands (n1/3/5/8/28B/40/41/77/78). The 5,000mAh battery that powers everything may be recharged with the included 67W charger.
It’s good that Realme comes pre-installed with the most recent version of Android 14, which is 12 Pro+. A few new features from Oppo’s ColorOS have made their way into Realme UI 5.0. One such feature is Flash Capsule, which is known as Fluid Cloud on OnePlus’ OxygenOS and Aqua Dynamics on Oppo handsets. They all work exactly the same way, communicating alerts in a way that is reminiscent of a dynamic island.
When you use the clock app to start a timer, you’ll notice that it minimizes into a capsule that remains on the left side of your status bar when you go between apps or the home screen. The capsule will animate and emerge into a smaller card with extra buttons (pause, stop) visible when you push it for a long time. The capsule will extend into the clock app and fill the screen with a tap.
Also Read: Motorola teaser reveals upcoming smartphone with amazing features
Although I appreciate Flash Capsule’s practicality, just a few native apps and two third-party apps can use these easy-to-use interactions. Right now, Zomato and Swiggy are supported, and you can use the Smart Suggestions feature to monitor deliveries by having these applications provide real-time updates to the always-on display (AOD) on the phone’s lockscreen. As a result, you no longer have to pick up your phone, unlock it, and use the relevant delivery app to get the most recent information.
Other new software features, which I go into detail about in my Oppo Reno 11 Pro review, are also very useful and practical. These include File Dock, which allows you to access recently used files via a pop-out console, Smart Touch, which allows you to pick up text from screenshots, and Smart Image Matting, which allows you to pick up cutouts of people or objects from images.
Bloatware and preloaded third-party apps are two aspects of the software experience that I did not enjoy. There are a lot of apps on the phone, and although I was able to remove the most of them, some remain unremovable. The multiple doppelgänger apps, which can be perplexing for someone using a smartphone for the first time or even for someone used to a simple near-stock Android software experience, was another aspect of the app that I did not enjoy.
Two web browsers, two file browsers, two SMS apps, two photo galleries, two app stores, and two game management apps (Games + Game Center) are all available. Once more, you are stuck with these apps even if you never use them because none of them can be removed.
Realme 12 Pro+ Performance
You won’t have to worry about software performance with this mid-ranger, even with the bloatware and double-apps. I experienced no lag or stuttering with my review unit, which had 12GB of RAM. With few app restarts, multitasking and accessing previously used apps from memory also proved to be trouble-free.
With a global brightness of 800 nits, the display is fairly bright and suitable for use outdoors in bright or direct sunlight. You might need to switch to the Natural color option if you want more subdued, realistic-looking colors because the Vivid color style by default provides brilliant colors. When showing text and photos, the full-HD+ display resolution looks to be sufficiently sharp.
Although the phone has the “ProXDR” moniker (helpful for viewing Ultra HDR images), streaming apps do not support Dolby Vision or HDR10+. However, Netflix’s full-HD playback is supported by the phone, so streaming content looks sharp.
Battery savings from this display technology are minimal because the 120Hz refresh rate is dynamic when utilizing the Auto-select setting, but it merely alternates between 30, 60, 90, and 120Hz based on the application displayed on the display.
Overall, the gaming experience was enjoyable. The phone can play demanding games with some difficulty, but it can also handle casual games quite well. Oddly, titles like Call of Duty: Mobile did not allow settings beyond High visuals and Max Frame rate, even with 12GB of RAM onboard (which again limits gaming to 60fps).
During the first-person shooter game, I also noticed that the 240Hz touch sampling rate was a little sluggish. Both when utilizing the camera and when playing games with high graphics quality, the sizable VC cooling system performs admirably.
Getting to the point of benchmarking. In AnTuTu, the Realme 12 Pro+ scored 6,43,951; in Geekbench, it scored 929 in the single-core test and 2,792 in the multi-core test. While these are essentially comparable to the competition, AnTuTu scores of 7,21,512 and Geekbench single and multi-core scores of 1,122 and 2,598 points, respectively, indicate that Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 13 Pro+ outperformed the others overall.
The majority of games did not provide improved graphics and framerate options, which makes sense given that graphics performance appears to be half that of the Redmi Note 13 Pro+.
The Realme 12 Pro+ has a decent amount of battery life; with an hour of gaming and 30 minutes of photo use in addition to the standard social media and office apps, the phone can run for up to a day and a half on a single charge. In our typical video loop battery test, the phone lasted a strong 26 hours and 46 minutes, which is remarkable for a mid-ranger with a design-focused focus but also something we have become accustomed to seeing from a Realme device at this price range.
There won’t be any concerns regarding charging either. The phone’s 67W charger takes 30 minutes to fully charge the battery to 72% capacity, and it takes precisely one hour to finish the process.
Realme 12 Pro+ Cameras
Three rear-facing cameras are included with the Realme 12 Pro+: an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, an Omni Vision OV64B 64-megapixel periscope telephoto camera, and a Sony IMX890 50-megapixel primary camera with OIS. A 32-megapixel, non-autofocus camera is used for taking selfies.
The main camera records images with natural color tones and good dynamic range, which means that there are plenty of details in the shadows as well. The camera also manages to capture a lot of detail so most images end up looking quite sharp. This means you can go pixel peeping and still not run out of resolution when cropping images. The OIS system performs an amazing job of maintaining excellent detail and sharpness in low-light shooting situations. The camera can capture fine details from a distance, which speaks volumes about its hardware and software optimization. Remarkably, the cropped output from the primary camera at 2X magnification isn’t great and looks a bit washed out. Fortunately, you won’t need to use it much.
