Xiaomi’s
Redmi 12 5G daylight (left), low-light (right) primary camera samples (tap to see full size)
Other than this primary camera, it also uses a 2-megapixel depth camera, and there is no ultra-wide which is a bummer. For selfies, the smartphone has an 8-megapixel camera which captures pretty detailed images in daylight.
Redmi 12 5G selfie camera samples (tap to see full size)
Redmi 12 5G can record videos at up to 1080p 30fps, which has good details. The front camera too can record videos at up to 1080p 30fps but captures slightly softer videos.
Redmi 12 5G: Battery & charging
This is one of the strongest points for this smartphone. The 5,000mAh battery is pretty good for all the day-to-day tasks and even content consumption. In our rigorous battery test, the smartphone performed well. If battery life matters to you the most, this might be a great option to go for. 18W charging does feel slow and you will have to sit around for a while until it charges to 100 percent. The phone ran for 17 hours, 49 minutes in our battery loop test, which is a good time.
Redmi 12 5G supports up to 18W of fast charging
Redmi 12 5G: Performance
The Redmi 12 5G uses a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 SoC, which is decently capable of running most apps without any lag, but competitive gaming is not one of its strong suits. I did edit a 30-second 1080p video on VN using this smartphone and it handled that just fine. When I tried playing games on it, Subway Surfers worked fine but other games like BGMI and Call of Duty did lag and could not deliver a pleasing gaming experience.
The smartphone returned average scores benchmark tests. 5G performance was decently good, I reached a pretty high downloading speed with a Jio connection in Delhi. The Redmi 12 5G comes loaded with MIUI 14 which is based on Android 13 and still has a couple of preinstalled apps which can be removed for the most part. This can be annoying for some people, but the user experience was surprisingly smooth.
Verdict
The Redmi 12 5G is a good budget offering from the brand that checks most of the basic boxes, including a large battery, 5G connectivity, a decent display, and a conventional design. Remember that this smartphone is priced starting at Rs. 11,999, and it does get the job done. People looking for an entry-level 5G smartphone can opt for this model but if display and cameras are very important to you, the Redmi Note 12 5G would make a lot more sense for a bit more money.
