Since 2014, the Redmi Note family has built a solid reputation on the entry and mid-range. To the point of becoming an absolute benchmark in its segments. It’s simple, if you are looking for a versatile smartphone for 200, 300, 400 or 500 euros, there is bound to be a Redmi Note.
This is also a strategy fully assumed by Xiaomi, flooding the entry and mid-range to brew wide and suit all types of budgets.
As proof, in Asia the Redmi Note 12 range consists of six models. In France, we do not have all these variants but “only” a Note 12, a Note 12 5G, a Note Pro and our challenger of the day.
Beyond the price, the great strength of Xiaomi is to have year after year democratized in the entry and early mid-range sector characteristics previously reserved for more expensive smartphones. AMOLED display, super-fast charging, 120Hz refresh rate, versatile camera…
So now the competition has no choice. Either she lines up or she will struggle to emerge. Let’s give this credit to the Chinese manufacturer, certainly it floods the entry and mid-range markets, but it also pulls them up.
With the Redmi Note 12 Pro + we are dealing with the most expensive model in the range. Is it the most successful?
Price and availability
Available since March 23, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G goes on sale at a price of 499 euros in a single version (8/256 GB) and it comes in three colors: white, black and blue.
Xiaomi takes care of the design
Tested for several weeks, Xiaomi’s technological flagship, the 13 Pro, had somewhat disappointed us for its lack of ambition in terms of design. The Redmi Note 12 Pro + will not leave us with this impression at all.
When a smartphone costs more than 1,000 euros, we are entitled to expect audacity and originality. For a smartphone at 500 euros, the master standard is above all the overall robustness and the quality of manufacture.
Here we have both. With its polished glass back and rounded edges, our laron du jour has airs of a premium smartphone. To our surprise, the rear catches a little, but not too much, fingerprints. Which is rare, even on more expensive smartphones.
The three photo sensors fit harmoniously into a gray frame, while the screen edges are more than reasonable. Even the chin does not exceed 3 mm.
Despite its weight of 210 grams, the smartphone is pleasant in the hand and well proportioned (162.9 x 76 x 8.98 mm). Even with one hand, the grip is good and we never have the impression that the smartphone will escape us.
This is due in particular to an excellent weight distribution. On the lower edge, we unsurprisingly find a USB-C port and a dual SIM slot. On the right, the volume and power buttons which are well positioned and on the upper edge a 3.5 mm jack.
It is really significant and it will delight music lovers. In the end, the Redmi Note 12 Pro + is not the most extravagant in its appearance, but it is solid and efficient in its design.
Can we hope for a better screen for this price?
When it comes to screens, the Redmi Note family has been setting the bar high for a while. This year again, there is not much to complain about. IThe Redmi Note 12 Pro + offers a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with FHD + resolution (2400 x 1080) and an adaptive refresh rate of 120 Hz. Note that it is possible to set the latter to 60 Hz by default.
This display is reinforced by Dolby Vision technology and HDR10+. Frankly, it’s hard to see what he could miss.
In fact, the multimedia experience is small onions. The maximum brightness is indecent for this price and the colorimetry offers a wide choice of options.
As such, our preference will go to the standard mode which displays softer colors without any particular drift, especially on blues and reds. What struck us the most during the films and the series was this feeling of immersion.
Certainly, such a screen diagonal will not please all consumers, but for those who don’t mind having such a beautiful baby in their hands, they will be won over by the overall quality and fluidity.
Good performance but…
On the pure entry level, Xiaomi trusts Qualcomm. On the entry-level mid-range, the Chinese manufacturer generally relies more on MediaTek. More precisely on the SoC Dimensity 1080 formalized at the end of 2022 by the Taiwanese manufacturer. This is a first in France for this chip, which will become more popular in this price segment over the coming months.
Without being a thunderbolt of war, the Dimensity 1080 proved particularly effective in multitasking and for everyday activities such as video streaming, social networks and the use of the Gmail suite. Even with a good dozen applications in the background, the smartphone remains fluid and we did not notice any particular latency when it came to switching to the camera.
Too bad that this new chip incorporates the same graphics processor, the Mali-G68 MC4, as the previous generation, the Dimensity 920. Without being catastrophic, this graphics chip shows some shortcomings as soon as you launch applications requiring a lot of GPU resources. This is the case with photo and video editing applications and powerful 3D games.
For the latter, it will be necessary as usual to make a choice between the graphic quality and the overall fluidity.
Which is not extremely shocking for the mid-range, but you might as well know it beforehand if you are looking for a smartphone cut out for video games. If you are not part of this category of person, the Redmi Note 12 Pro + will easily meet your needs.
Lack of photo versatility
After having had the chance to test the successful collaboration between Leica and Xiaomi on the 13 Pro, we fell out of the cabinet a bit when evaluating the photo experience of the Redmi Note 12 Pro +. So certainly, we must compare what is comparable, but all the same with such artillery, we would have hoped for better.
Equipped with a decent 200MP main sensor (f/1.65 wide-angle lens), the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ also offers a snuggly 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor and a 2MP macro lens almost there just to make it pretty.
In good light conditions, the main sensor does well. The colorimetry is quite fair and the level of detail satisfactory. In addition, relief management is also well controlled on shots of buildings or vegetation.
On the other hand, as soon as the sky is gray, we feel that the software processing has more difficulty in managing the very light tones and the very dark tones, especially on complex scenes. Indoors, the sensor is doing well, the contrasts are satisfactory.
Without surprise, the ultra-wide-angle sensor struggles to capture a lot of light, it shows pictures darker than reality. On the good news side, however, let’s admit that the tunnel effect is rather contained and that the vignetting is not the most exacerbated.
“Portrait” mode offers a decent experience without doing miracles. The bokeh sometimes lacks consistency in its overall texture.
On his side, the 16 MP front sensor does the job wellit will however be necessary to make a small turn in the settings in order to adjust the smoothing of the faces which is too aggressive base.
Where the Redmi Note 12 Pro + disappointed us the most was at night. It’s not so much that photos naturally lose detail and digital noise appears. No, shockingly, it is his clumsy management of the luminous flux.
In urban areas, if a street lamp is present, it is impossible to take a suitable shot. Even careful focus won’t help.
Thank goodness we don’t find this problem on bar and restaurant lighting. In town, we also advise you to use the main sensor if the scene is lit.
The “Night” mode tends to burn out certain colors too much and to give an overly accentuated impression of an “artificial day”. Fortunately, Xiaomi does not automatically switch its sensor to “Night” mode as soon as it gets dark.
Xiaomi master of autonomy (and charging)
With its comfortable 5000 mAh battery, the Redmi Note 12 Pro + does not disappoint us here. With moderate use, the smartphone easily lasts a day and a half with an adaptive refresh rate. If we add a little video streaming, a few lives on Twitch and more intensive use of the camera, the smartphone easily lasts a day all the same. In this matter, the Redmi Note 12 Pro + is therefore at the top of the basket.
Regarding its load, it even climbs into the very closed radius of smartphones capable of responding to forces in about twenty minutes. To go from 0 to 95%, our thief of the day took exactly 18 minutes.
To achieve such a feat, the Redmi Note 12 Pro + comes with a 120W block. Even on smaller loads, the smartphone remains amazing. With 5 minutes of charge, you can last a whole evening.
And I cut the sound…
The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ offers two good quality speakers. The sound is powerful and fairly well balanced. The high-mids are present, which magnifies listening to a podcast, and the bass is not too intrusive, which avoids becoming muffled during an action movie.
On the other hand, what a shame to have them positioned on the upper and lower edges. In landscape mode, without earphones, our hands obstruct the exits which is rather annoying. Granted, this listening situation is rather rare, but still, it’s a bit of a rookie mistake.
Our opinion after this test of the Redmi Note 12 Pro +
From a design, screen and performance point of view, it’s hard to ask for more from this Redmi Note 12 Pro+. The multimedia experience is neat and it is a real pleasure to use the smartphone on a daily basis, whether for work or entertainment. Add to that excellent autonomy and ultra-fast charging. The crime was almost perfect.
It is in the photographic department that the Redmi Note 12 Pro + leaves us unsatisfied. After having proven to us brilliantly on the Xiaomi 13 Pro that software processing was the guarantee of a successful photo experience, the Chinese manufacturer falls back somewhat into its faults. The pixel race at all costs.
Too bad, because the main sensor rather does the job, but for the rest, the Redmi Note 12 Pro + lacks versatility. Especially when you know that a Google Pixel 6a is now worth less than 350 euros and that a Pixel 7a is on the horizon and that the Samsung Galaxy A53 is also a tenor in this price segment.
With its Redmi Note 12 Pro +, Xiaomi may prove to us that it is not necessarily the most upscale of a range that offers the best value for money.
