The Realme 11 Pro Plus was one of the best looking phones in its segment last year, and the Realme 12 Pro Plus takes it up a notch. People around me have mistaken it for a premium smartphone because of the striking design. The style quotient is combined with a dedicated telephoto lens, which isn’t the norm in the price range yet. These factors make it stand out but is that enough to compete with Redmi, iQOO and Poco?
The Realme 12 Pro Plus is one of the most stylish phones that you can buy right now. I liked the finish of the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus purple version but this one looks even better. When compared to the predecessor, it features a redesigned camera module. The gold trim around the cameras and on the back stays, which gives it a premium look. The phone is rated IP65 for dust and water resistance.
At 196 grams, the Realme 12 Pro Plus is light and comfortable to use for a big phone. The volume and power buttons are easy to each and the curved edges of the screen make it feel thinner than it is. It features a 6.7-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display that supports a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 950 nits peak brightness with a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut.
In harsh lighting, you’d want it to get brighter. The display supports 2160Hz PWM dimming, so it’s comfortable on the eyes. It’s a vivid panel with HDR 10 support and Hi-Res dual speakers with Dolby Atmos support. However, Netflix doesn’t support HDR on this phone. The display also brings ProXDR for a brighter viewing experience. But overall, I prefer the screen on the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus.
The Realme 12 Pro Plus is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset. In my five days with the phone, I haven’t experienced stutters or lags, which is what you’d expect from a device in this range. However, it isn’t meant for extensive gaming sessions. It is paired with 8GB/12GB of LPDD4X RAM and 128GB/256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The in-display fingerprint scanner is accurate and reliable.
The new Realme phone sports a triple rear camera setup that is led by a 50MP Sony IMX890 primary camera. It is accompanied by a 64MP OV64B periscope telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom support and an 8MP ultrawide-angle camera. On the front lies a 32MP selfie shooter.
The shots from the primary camera are detailed with good dynamic range. I focused more on the 3x and 6x zoom camera performance for this hands-on. While the former is optical, 6x is in-sensor zoom, which is better than digital zoom, which can go up to 120x. I liked the shots captured at 3x , especially the ones in portrait mode, which had nice bokeh and good edge detection. The portrait shots look great for the price. The ultrawide camera performance is decent but nothing extraordinary.
The Realme 12 Pro Plus runs Android 14-based Realme UI 5.0 that offers a cleaner look than before but you still get notifications from App Market and Theme Store – despite not being connected to the internet. The company is promising two years of major software and three years of security updates with the Realme 12 Pro Plus, so it should last you till 2027.
The Realme 12 Pro Plus packs a 5,000mAh battery that supports 67W fast charging, and you get the SuperVOOC charger in the box. While it’s a downgrade from 100W on the 11 Pro Plus, I prefer having 67W if that gives a brand the ability to add a telephoto camera. It can charge the device from 5% to 50% within 20 minutes, which remains superfast. This is not a full review, but in my time, the phone seemed to last a day with ease.
The Realme 12 Pro Plus starts at 29,999 for the 8GB + 128GB variant. Looking at the competition, the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus offers a better display and performance with IP68 rating at INR 31,999, which is the same as the 8GB and 256GB storage variant of the Realme phone. If you need a smartphone for extensive gaming sessions, look at the Poco X6 Pro. However, if you want a smartphone that looks stylish and offers 3x optical zoom that can capture amazing portrait shots, you should consider the Realme 12 Pro Plus.
