realme 12+ 5G Unboxing, First Impressions, Camera Samples - Sony LYTIA sensor ready

realme has teased the arrival of the realme 12+ 5G for the PH market and we got our hands on it. Below are our initial thoughts and first camera samples.

realme 12+ 5G's rear design with gold trim

The new realme 12+ 5G comes with a 120Hz 6.67-inch Super AMOLED FHD+ screen, reinforced tempered glass, 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 7050 5G octa-core processor, 8GB/12GB RAM, 256GB of internal storage, a 5,000mAh battery with 67W SUPERVOOC fast wired charging.

At the back of the phone are the 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide angle camera, and a 2MP macro camera with an LED flash. In front is the 16MP selfie camera.

Its main selling points include the 50MP Sony LYT600 sensor with OIS, 120Hz Super AMOLED screen, IP54 water and dust resistance rating, stereo speakers, and the Dimensity 7050 chipset with vapor chamber cooling and all are inside a luxury watch-inspired design.

As of this article's writing, there is no official pricing yet for the Philippine market. We expect it to be priced in between the original SRP of the realme 11 Pro and vanilla realme 11.

Let's dive in.

Unboxing/Accessories

realme 12+ 5G's yellow box

It comes in a bright yellow box with minimal realme branding. Around the box are the key specs, features, and regulatory information.

realme 12+ 5G's box inclusions

Inside the box is the realme 12+ 5G with a plastic screen protector, documentation, bumper case, SIM ejector tool, USB-A to USB Type-C cable, and the 67W SUPERVOOC wall charger.

There are no included earphones inside the box.

Build Quality/Design

realme 12+ 5G's luxury watch-inspired design

The frame of the realme 12+ 5G is made of polycarbonate with a reflective glossy finish. The front is made of glass while the back is made of a combination of faux leather, polycarbonate gold colored trip, and a glass panel on the camera module.

Nice faux leather back design, luxury watch gold trim

What immediately drew us to the phone were the flat sides with the luxury watch gold trim that contrasts well with the green faux leather back.

The flat sides make it sharp too while the vegan leather makes it easier to grip. It is lightweight at 190 grams and it measures 162.95 x 75.45 x 7.87mm.

realme 12+ 5G's Super AMOLED screen

In front is the large 6.67-inch Samsung E4 Super AMOLED screen with a 0.68mm secondary tempered high-strength glass, a 2,400 x 1080 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, a 2,000 nits peak brightness, and a 240Hz touch sampling rate. The panel comes with 0.68mm reinforced tempered glass and has a 92.65 percent screen-to-body ratio.

Around the panel are slim side bezels with thicker top and bottom bezels. The chin bezels are noticeably thicker while the top bezel is thick enough to contain the super slim earpiece.

On the upper part of the screen is the punch hole that houses the selfie camera.

realme 12+ 5G's top and bottom sides

On top of the phone are the microphone port, 1st speaker, and the 3.5mm audio jack while at the bottom are the microphone port, SIM tray, USB-C port, and the second speaker grill.

realme 12+ 5G's left and right side

On the left outer frame is a smooth glossy surface while on the right side are the polycarbonate volume rocker and power button. Both buttons have a satisfying give when pressed but it makes a plastic-y sound whenever they are pushed.

realme 12+ 5G's SIM tray

The SIM tray can carry up to two nano-SIM cards. It has a gray rubber gasket that is consistent with its IP54 water and dust resistance rating.

realme 12+ 5G's rear camera module

At the back of the phone are the 50MP f/1.88 main camera with OIS and SonyLYT 600 sensor, an 8MP f/2.2 112-degree ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP  f/2.4 Macro camera and an LED flash.

The stock camera app's modes include Photo, Video, Portrait, Pro, Night, Street (16mm, 26mm, 52mm), Pano, Hi-Res, Macro, Movie, Slo-Mo, Time-lapse, Long Exposure, Dual-View Video, Text Scanner, Group Portrait and Tilt-shift.

The Pro mode allows for controls of ISO (100-6400), Shutter Speed (30-1/8,000 sec), EV (+-3), Focus, and White Balance. Users can also switch between 0.6x, 1x, and 2x.

First Camera Samples

realme 12+ 5G's main camera daylight 1x

realme 12+ 5G's rear main camera daylight 2x crop

realme 12+ 5G's rear ultra-wide camera daylight

The 1x and 2x are sharp and detailed but the exposure between them is inconsistent which makes the 2x scene brighter and less vibrant. The ultra-wide exposure is the same as the 1x but is noticeably less sharp. All images have minimal noise and are pleasing to look at too.

realme 12+ 5G's Portrait mode

The rear camera's portrait mode can shoot with 1x, and 2x. We prefer the 1x for the environmental portraits while 2x for the more intimate shots. The edge detection was good as it was able to detect the subject well. It did struggle with fine fibres but the transition between the in-focus and the out-of-focus is smooth enough.

Daylight selfie with the realme 12+ 5G

On the punch hole is the 16MP f/2.45 selfie camera. It has the usual modes like photo, video, portrait, and group portraits.

The selfies produced are sharp, detailed, and with deep contrast. The colors are vibrant and skin tones are surprisingly close to real life.

As of now, the cameras take good images but the rear cameras could be tweaked to have consistent exposures across the different cameras.

Note: The shots we posted here were before the major software update. We are updating the device now and will share more samples soon.

It is equipped with the 6nm Dimensity 7050 5G octa-core processor with a massive 4,356.62 square millimeter stainless steel vapor chamber that the company claims can disperse heat quickly and reduce temperatures even when running demanding games.

Depending on the configuration of the phone, the phone can get up to 24GB of RAM with up to 12GB of total hardware RAM that can be boosted with 12GB more of Dynamic RAM (which pulls from the internal storage when needed.)

Inside is the 5,000mAh with an included 67W SUPERVOOC wall charger.

Other key features of the phone include an in-display fingerprint scanner, face unlock, Dual SIM, WiFi, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, 3.5mm Audio Jack, stereo speakers, Antenna Array Matrix System, and IP54 water and dust resistance.

Running the show is realme UI 5.0-based Android 14. Like recent versions of realme UI, it is one of the most polished and snappy Android skins in the market. It does have some preinstalled apps that can be uninstalled and disabled after the initial setup.

However, if you never enjoyed realme UI before, we doubt this will change your mind.

As of the moment

realme 12+ 5G's web surfing experience

Out of the box, we have to commend realme for a feature-packed smartphone with appealing specs like a 120Hz FHD+ AMOLED screen, stereo speakers, 3.5mm Audio Jack, 67W fast charging, 6nm Dimensity 7050 SoC with Vapor Chamber and more.

We also enjoyed the initial shots taken with the 50MP main camera, 8MP ultra-wide, and 16MP selfie cameras. We are skeptical about the addition of a macro camera but we will have to test it out.

The flat-sided frames make it sharper to hold but it does modernize the look and make it sleek at 7.87mm and it is lightweight at 190 grams.

We are excited to test this phone out. At the time of this article's writing, the price of the phone has yet to be revealed. So depending on the price, this could be a competitive contender given its extensive list of features.

What do you guys think?

Stay tuned.