The Realme 11 Pro Plus was one of the best looking phones in its category last year and the Realme 12 Pro Plus takes it to a higher level. People around it considered it a premium smartphone due to its stunning design. The beam pattern ratio is combined with a dedicated telephoto lens, which is still not standard in this price range. These factors make it stand out, but is it enough to compete with Redmi, iQOO and Poco?
The Realme 12 Pro Plus is one of the most stylish phones you can buy right now. I liked the purple version of the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus, but this one looks better. Compared to its predecessor, it has a redesigned camera module. The gold color around the cameras and on the back gives it a premium look. The phone has an IP65 rating for protection against dust and water.
The Realme 12 Pro Plus weighs 196 grams, making it lightweight and easy to use with a larger phone. The volume and power buttons are easy to use, and the curved edges of the screen make it look thinner than it actually is. It features a 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 950 nits peak brightness, and 100% DCI-P3 color gamut.
You want it to be brighter in bright conditions. The screen supports 2160Hz PWM dimming, making it easier on the eyes. It's a bright panel with two high-resolution speakers with support for HDR 10 and Dolby Atmos. However, Netflix does not support HDR on this phone. The display also supports ProXDR for a brighter viewing experience. But overall, I prefer the screen of the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus.
The Realme 12 Pro Plus is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset. In the five days I spent with the phone, I didn't notice any stutters or lags, which is expected from a device in this range. However, it is not designed for long gaming sessions. It is paired with 8/12 GB LPDD4X RAM and 128/256 GB UFS 3.1 storage. The in-display fingerprint scanner is accurate and reliable.
The new Realme phone features a triple rear camera setup led by a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 primary camera. It is accompanied by a 64MP OV64B periscope telephoto lens with support for 3x optical zoom and an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera. There is a 32-megapixel selfie camera on the front.
Pictures from the main camera are detailed and have good dynamic range. In this tutorial I focused more on the performance of the 3x and 6x zoom camera. While the former is optical, 6x zoom is an in-sensor zoom that is better than digital zoom, which can reach up to 120x. I liked the photos taken at 3x zoom, especially the portrait mode with its beautiful bokeh effect and good edge detection. The pictures look good for the price. The ultra-wide-angle camera is good, but nothing special.
The Realme 12 Pro Plus runs Realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14, which looks cleaner than before, but you still get notifications from the App Market and Theme Store even when you're not connected to the internet. The company promises two years of basic software and three years of security updates for the Realme 12 Pro Plus until 2027.
The Realme 12 Pro Plus packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging and comes with a SuperVOOC charger in the box. While that's less than the 11 Pro Plus' 100W, I'd prefer 67W if the brand allowed the phone to add a camera. You can charge the device from 5% to 50% in 20 minutes, which is very fast. This is not a full review, but in my time the phone easily lasted a day.
Realme 12 Pro Plus starts at $29,999 for the 8GB + 128GB variant. Entering the competition, the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus offers better display and performance with an IP68 rating for INR 31,999, which is the same as the 8GB + 256GB storage variant of the Realme phone. If you need a smartphone for long gaming sessions, check out the Poco X6 Pro. However, if you want a smartphone that looks stylish and offers 3x optical zoom to take great photos, you should consider the Realme 12 Pro Plus.
