© Lemon squeezer
Since 2014, the Redmi Note family has built a solid reputation at the entry and mid-range levels. To the point of becoming an absolute reference in its segments. It's simple, if you're looking for a versatile smartphone for 200, 300, 400 or 500 euros, there's definitely a Redmi Note.
This is also a strategy fully embraced by Xiaomi, flooding the entry and mid-range to make a wide range 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, Xiaomi's great strength is to have year after year democratized features previously reserved for more expensive smartphones in the entry and early mid-range sector. AMOLED display, super-fast charging, 120Hz refresh rate, versatile camera…
So now the competition has no choice. Either it aligns or it will have difficulty emerging. Let's give this credit to the Chinese manufacturer, certainly it is flooding the entry and mid-range markets, but it is also pushing them upwards.
With the Redmi Note 12 Pro +, we are dealing with the most expensive model in the range. Is it nevertheless the most accomplished ?
Available since March 23, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G is on sale at the price of 499 eurosin a single version (8/256 GB) and it comes in three colors: white, black and blue.
Tested for several weeks, Xiaomi's technological flagship, the 13 Pro, disappointed us somewhat 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 have the right to expect boldness and originality. For a 500 euro smartphone, the master standard is above all overall robustness and manufacturing quality.
Here we have both. With its polished glass back and rounded edges, our laron of the day has a look of a premium smartphone. To our great surprise, the rear catches fingerprints a little, but not excessively. 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 is going to escape us.
This is mainly due to 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 are well positioned and on the upper edge there is a 3.5 mm jack socket.
It’s really nice and 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.
When it comes to screen, the Redmi Note family has been setting the bar high for a while now. This year again, there is not much to complain about. The Redmi Note 12 Pro + offers a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with FHD+ (2400 x 1080) resolution 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 enhanced by Dolby Vision technology and HDR10+. Frankly, it's hard to see what he could be missing.
In fact, the multimedia experience is excellent. 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, particularly on blues and reds. What struck us most during the films and series was this feeling of immersion.
Of course, 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 quality and the overall fluidity.
On the pure entry level, Xiaomi trusts Qualcomm. At the entry-mid range, the Chinese manufacturer generally relies more on MediaTek. More precisely on the Dimensity 1080 SoC made official at the end of 2022 by the Taiwanese manufacturer. This is a first in France for this chip which will become more widely available in this price segment over the coming months.
Without being a thunderbolt, the Dimensity 1080 proved to be particularly effective in multitaskingand for everyday activities such as video streaming, social networks and using the Gmail suite. Even with a 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 integrates 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 for photo and video editing applications and powerful 3D games.
For the latter, as usual, you will have to make a choice between graphic quality and overall fluidity.
Which is not extremely shocking for the mid-range, but you might as well know it in advance if you are looking for a smartphone designed for video games. If you are not part of this category of person, the Redmi Note 12 Pro + will easily satisfy your needs.
After having had the chance to test the successful collaboration between Leica and Xiaomi on the 13 Pro, we were a little taken aback by evaluating the photo experience of the Redmi Note 12 Pro +. So of course, we must compare what is comparable, but all the same with such artillery, we would have hoped for better.
Equipped with a decent 200 Mpxl main sensor (f/1.65 wide-angle lens), the Redmi Note 12 Pro + also offers a soft 8 Mpxl ultra-wide-angle sensor and a 2 Mpxl macro lens almost there just for make it pretty.
In good light conditions, the main sensor does well. The colorimetry is fairly accurate and the level of detail is satisfactory. In addition, the management of relief is also well mastered on photos of buildings or vegetation.
On the other hand, as soon as the sky is gray, we feel that the software processing has more difficulty managing very light tones and very dark tones, particularly on complex scenes. Indoors, the sensor does well, the contrasts are satisfactory.
Unsurprisingly, the ultra-wide-angle sensor struggles to capture a lot of light, resulting in photos that are darker than reality. In terms of good news, let us admit, however, that the tunnel effect is rather contained and that the vignetting is not the most exacerbated.
“Portrait” mode offers a decent experience without working miracles. The bokeh sometimes lacks consistency in its overall texture.
For its part, the 16 Mpx front sensor does the job well, you will however need to do a little tweaking in the settings in order to & #8217;adjust the smoothing of faces which is too aggressive by default.
Where the Redmi Note 12 Pro + disappointed us the most was at night. It's not so much the fact that photos naturally lose detail and digital noise appears. No, what is shocking is its clumsy management of light flows.
In an urban environment, if a street light is present, it is impossible to take a suitable shot. Even careful tuning won't help you.
Thank goodness we don't find this problem on bar and restaurant lighting. In town, we advise you to use the main sensor if the scene is lit.
The “Night” mode tends to burn certain colors too muchand 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 recharging)
With its comfortable 5 000 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 still easily lasts a day. In this matter,the Redmi Note 12 Pro + is therefore at the top of the basket.
As for its charge, it even climbs into the very closed range of smartphones capable of responding to forces in around 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 + is accompanied by a 120W power unit. Even on smaller charges, the smartphone remains amazing. With 5 minutes of charging, you can last an entire evening.
The Redmi Note 12 Pro + offers two good quality speakers. The sound is powerful and rather well balanced. The high-mids are very present, which enhances listening to a podcast, and the bass is not too intrusive, which avoids being deafening during an action film.
On the other hand, what a shame to have positioned them on the upper and lower edge. In landscape mode, without headphones, our hands obstruct the outputs which is rather annoying. Certainly, this listening situation is rather rare, but all the same, it's a bit of a beginner's mistake.
From a design, screen and performance point of view, it's difficult to ask for better from this Redmi Note 12 Pro+. The multimedia experience is meticulous and it is a real pleasure to use the smartphone on a daily basis, whether for work or entertainment. Add to this 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 wanting more. After brilliantly proving to us on the Xiaomi 13 Pro that software processing was the guarantor of a successful photo experience, the Chinese manufacturer is falling back somewhat into its ways. The race for pixels at all costs.
Too bad, because the main sensor does the job, but for the rest, the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ lacks versatility. Especially when we 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 leader in this price segment.
With its Redmi Note 12 Pro+, Xiaomi perhaps proves to us that it is not necessarily the most exclusive of a range that offers the best quality-price ratio.
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