Xiaomi has just lifted the veil on three new affordable smartphones: the Redmi Note 12 Pro, 12 Pro+ and 12 Discovery Edition. These offer some features never before seen on the market.
After unveiling the Redmi Note 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro+ almost a year ago now, Xiaomi was expected to launch new mid-range devices. This time around, no classic Redmi Note 12 has been announced, with Xiaomi only unveiling Pro models, and a new “Discovery Edition” model that promises to push the limits of fast charging.
With its Redmi Note 12 Pro+ and Discovery Edition, Xiaomi retains the flat edge design that was adopted by the entire previous series. There are also always three photo sensors on the back. However, unlike previous generations, all of these new devices promise to make almost no compromises.
| Redmi Note 11 Pro | Redmi Note 11 Pro+ | Redmi Note 11 Extreme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SoCs | MediaTek Dimensity 1080 | MediaTek Dimensity 1080 | MediaTek Dimensity 1080 |
| Screen | 6.67 inches OLED FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) 120Hz 900nits Dolby Vision, HDR10+ | 6.67 inches OLED FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) 120Hz 900nits Dolby Vision, HDR10+ | 6.67 inches OLED FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) 120Hz 900nits Dolby Vision, HDR10+ |
| RAM | 6, 8, 12 GB LPDDR4X | 8.12GB LPDDR4X | 8GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 128, 256 GB UFS 2.2 | 256 GB UFS 2.2 | 256 GB UFS 2.2 |
| Back picture | Wide-angle 50 MP IMX766 OIS 6P f/1.88 8MP Ultra Wide Angle Macro 2MP | Wide-angle 200 MP Samsung HMX OIS 7P f/1.65 8MP Ultra Wide Angle Macro 2 MP | Wide-angle 200 MP Samsung HMX OIS 7P f/1.65 8MP Ultra Wide Angle Macro 2MP |
| Before picture | 16MP | 16MP | 16MP |
| Battery | 5000mAh | 5000mAh | 4300mAh |
| Quick charge | 67W 0 to 100% in 46 minutes | 120W 0 to 100% in 19 minutes | 210W 0 to 100% in 9 minutes |
| 5G | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Jack plug | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dimensions | 162.9 x 76 x 7.9mm 187g | 162.9 x 76.03 x 8.98mm 208.4g | 162.9 x 76.03 x 8.98mm 207.5g |
| BONE | MIUI 13 | MIUI 13 | MIUI 13 |
The Redmi Note 12 all use the same chip
On this generation, Xiaomi has chosen to equip all new models with the same processor: the new MediaTek Dimensity 1080. Engraved in 6 nm, by TSMC, this new chipset directly succeeds the Dimensity 920 of the previous year, and is announced as powerful as a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+.
The CPU part has two Cortex-A78 CPU cores that can reach 2.6 GHz and six Cortex-A55 CPU cores that can reach 2 GHz. On the GPU side, there is a Mali-G68 MC4 GPU, and everything is accompanied by 6 to 12 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128 to 256 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. The Pro+ and Discovery Edition models feature a massive 3000mm² of cooling, compared to 2000mm² for the Pro version. The two most expensive models should therefore be more interesting for gaming.
At the screen level, Xiaomi uses the same formula as previous smartphones. On all models there is a 6.67-inch 10bit OLED FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) flat screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz. The screen is Dolby Vision and HDR10+ certified, and offers a brightness of 900 nits.
The Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition recharges in just 9 minutes
The Redmi Note 11 Pro+ caused a stir last year by bringing 120W fast charging to affordable smartphones for the first time, but the Redmi Note 12 want to go even further. The Redmi Note 12 Pro and Pro+ both come with a 5000mAh battery and fast charging fixed at 67W and 120Wrespectively.
However, the Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition is the first smartphone on the market to take advantage of the 210W Hypercharge technology that the company unveiled last year. Thanks to it, Xiaomi promises fast charging of 0 to 100% in just 9 minutes for the 4300 mAh battery, which would be a record. It therefore does better than the iQOO 10 Pro, already capable of being recharged at 200 W.
Despite this power never before seen on a smartphone, Xiaomi promises to have taken all the precautions to ensure that the battery holds up. The time when fast charging was dangerous for batteries is over for several years now thanks to the multiple protections put in place by manufacturers, but especially by theadoption of batteries with a higher number of recharge cycles.
The Redmi Note 12 should finally shine in photos
This year, Xiaomi has paid particular attention to the photo part of its smartphones. Indeed, although we still find a 16 MP selfie camera, a ultra wide-angle sensor of only 8 MP as well as a macro sensor of 2 MP which we would have done well without, the Redmi Note 12 Pro uses this year a high-end 50 MP main camera. This is’an IMX766 sensor (with OIS), which can be found in premium smartphones such as the Xiaomi 12, the Oppo Find X5 Pro, or the Huawei P50 Pro. We should therefore be entitled to a real leap forward for the quality of the shots, especially in low light.
For their part, the Redmi Note 12 Pro + and 12 Discovery Edition continue the tradition of the manufacturer’s smartphones consisting of use sensors with ever more megapixels. As a reminder, Redmi was the first to use a 48 MP sensor on its Redmi Note 7, then a 64 MP sensor on its Redmi Note 8 Pro, before democratizing the 108 MP cameras from the Redmi Note 9 Pro. This year, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ and 12 Discovery Edition are equipped with a 200 MP main sensor (with OIS), a first in this segment.
This is not the Samsung HP1 sensor of the Xiaomi 12T Pro, but aa smaller Samsung HPX sensor. It still offers a 1/1.4 inch format with individual pixels of only 0.56 µm. It allows to capture 200 MP snapshots (16320 x 12240 pixels), but also to use pixel-binning for 12.5 MP or 50 MP photos. Finally, we can note the presence of a “cinema” type camera filter, which should make it possible to capture videos in several cinematic modes.
As for the rest of the technical sheet, we can note the presence of a 3.5 mm jack socket on all models, as well as stereo speakers. Smartphones are entitled to Wi-Fi 6 and 5G connectivity, and are intended to be relatively compact. It takes 187 grams for the Redmi Note 12 Pro, and 208 grams for the other two models.
Price and availability
Like every year, the new Redmi Note 12s are offered at extremely competitive prices, which makes them hard to beat for their price-performance ratio. Xiaomi offers the Redmi Note 12 Pro from 1699 yuan (234 euros) in its configuration with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. For its part, the Redmi Note 12 Pro + starts at 2099 yuan (289 euros) with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, and the Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition reaches 2399 yuan (330 euros) in its only configuration with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.
For now, the new Redmi Note 12s are only available in China. We had to wait until January to see the Redmi Note 11 arrive in France, then March for the Redmi Note 11 Pro and Pro +. We imagine that we will have to wait again for the first quarter of 2023 before Xiaomi launches its smartphones with us.