realme 12+ 5G Review - Design upgrade, refreshed internals
After using the realme 12+ 5G as our daily driver for a month, we share our thoughts and experiences with the eye-catching mid-ranger.
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| realme 12+ 5G's rear design with gold trim |
To recap, the realme 12+ 5G comes with a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 0.55mm double reinforced glass, a 6nm Dimensity 7050 octa-core processor, Adreno GPU, 8GB/12GB RAM, 128GB/256GB storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 67W SUPERVOOC charging via USB-C.
At the back are the 50MP main camera, 8MP ultra-wide, and 2MP macro camera with an LED flash while in front is the 16MP selfie camera.
Other features include realme UI 5.0, WiFi 6, 5G, Dual 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.3, NavIC, dual-SIM, Stereo speakers, and an in-display fingerprint scanner.
In the Philippines, the 8GB/256GB variant is priced at PHP 17,999.
Let's dive into the review!
For our review part 1: realme 12+ 5G Unboxing and First Impressions
Multimedia Experience
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| realme 12+ 5G's Super AMOLED screen |
In front is the aforementioned 6.7-inch curved Samsung E4 AMOLED screen with a 2,412 x 1,080 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, a 360Hz touch sampling rate, a 1,260Hz instantaneous sampling rate, and a 2,160Hz PWM dimming support. It supports HDR10+ and protected by 0.68mm High Strength Glass.
At 2,000 nits peak brightness, the screen is more than bright enough to be readable outdoors under direct sunlight. Images displayed are vibrant and contrasty while the text is crisp. The panel is more than bright enough for its price category. It is one of the brighter screens for its price too.
It supports 10-points of multi-touch which makes it good for multitasking or games that support multiple simultaneous touch inputs. It responds quickly and accurately to our taps and gestures.
Around the panel are slim top and side bezels with the chin bezel being noticeably thicker. On the top bezel is the hidden super slim earpiece that also serves as the second speaker.
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| realme 12+ 5G's top and bottom sides |
For audio, the phone is equipped with Super Linear stereo speakers and multiple microphones. It supports Hi-Res Audio, Dolby Atmos and dual-mic noise cancellation.
The sound from the earpiece speaker is slightly less powerful than the bottom-firing speaker but together create an immersive sound with decent power and clarity, loud maximum volume and minimal distortion. To get the best sound quality, settle at 90 percent volume as the maximum volume has some noticeable distortion.
The microphones do a good job of picking up sounds from a meter away while the noise-cancellation for calls is good too.
Cameras
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| realme 12+ 5G's rear camera module |
As mentioned earlier, the phone is equipped with a 50MP f/1.88 main camera with a Sony LYT 600 sensor with OIS, an 8MP f/2.2 112-degree ultra-wide angle camera, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro camera with 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.
Smartphone photography enthusiasts will be pleased to know that the app has long exposure modes like the light painting and starry mode. It even has tilt-shift mode that the brands say make smaller items seem bigger in real life.
It also has the street mode that allows users to quickly switch between 16mm/26mm/52mm equivalent focal lengths.
Rear Camera Samples
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| realme 12+ 5G's camera daylight 1x |
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| realme 12+ 5G's camera daylight 2x |
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| realme 12+ 5G's camera daylight ultra-wide |
All daylight images from the rear camera module produce surprisingly consistent results in terms of sharpness, detail, color and contrast. They are vibrant and deep.
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| realme 12+ 5G's rear camera Portrait mode |
The rear camera's Portrait mode was able to detect the edges of the subject well. It almost didn't miss any individual hair fibers on the subject's head. The bokeh is smooth but looks unnatural.
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| Rear camera indoors 1x |
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| Rear camera indoors 2x |
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| Rear camera indoors ultra-wide |
The above images were taken in a well-lit coffee shop. The resulting images from the 1x, 2x, and ultra-wide were consistent. All three have similar color and contrast with good sharpness and detail.
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| Rear camera low light 1x |
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| Rear camera low light 2x |
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| Rear camera low light ultra-wide |
For low light, the color has lost some accuracy and the light sources tend to be overexposed. Otherwise, there is minimal noise build-up and there is still detail in most areas.
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| Rear camera night mode 1x |
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| Rear camera night mode 2x |
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| Rear camera night mode ultra-wide |
The Night mode improves the sharpness, detail, and contrast while reducing noise and grain, especially in bright areas for 1x, 2x and ultra-wide. However, some light sources remain over exposed.
Overall, the rear camera produced good images that just need tweaking to get the best possible result.
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| realme 12+ 5G's selfie camera |
The 16MP f/2.45 selfie camera is on the punch hole on the display
Camera modes include Photo, Video, Portrait, Panorama and Night mode.
Selfie Camera Samples
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| Selfie camera day light |
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| Selfie camera portrait |
Daylight selfies from the realme 12+ 5G are good. You immediately notice the sharpness and detail. The colors of most elements in the frame are accurate except for the skin tones.
The portrait mode's edge detection worked the majority of the time but struggled with some fine fibers and the folds and creases of Neil's shirt.
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| Selfie camera indoors |
Indoors, the image is similar to daylight where the sharpness and detail is decent while the colors are mostly accurate except for skin tones.
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| Selfie camera lowlight |
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| Selfie camera night mode |
In low light, the selfie camera's images have more grain and noise in the shadow areas which affects the detail and color of them. What impressed us is that other parts of the image had minimal impact from the increase in shadow noise. The colors are mostly accurate except for the skin tone however the sharpness and detail are there.
The night mode reduced the amount of noise in the shadows. Otherwise, the colors are mostly accurate except for the skin tones. We recommend shooting with the night mode as long as the subject is not moving.
Overall, the front cameras produce images with very good color, contrast, sharpness, and detail but struggle with skin tones.
The rear camera can record up to 4K at 30fps. The footage is acceptable in sharpness but even in daylight, noise is apparent. The limitation of only having EIS is seen due to its shaky footage.
If you want more stabilized footage, use the Ultra Steady mode. It has a pretty large crop and is limited to 1080 at 60fps.
The selfie camera can record up to 1080 at 30fps which is a bummer because the similarly priced OPPO Reno 11F has 4K recording.
Performance
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| AnTuTu and GeekBench scores |
To recap, the realm 12+ 5G features the 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 7050 octa-core processor, Adreno GPU, 8GB/12GB LPDDR4X, and 256GB of storage.
During the AnTuTu test, the phone's temperature dropped by 1.3 degrees while the battery lost 5 percent power.
Dynamic RAM Expansion is only available for the 12GB variant. This is a bummer as it would have been more useful for the variant with less RAM capacity.
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| 3DMark and CPDT scores |
realme 12+ 5G benchmarks:
- AnTuTu - 604,347
- Geekbench 6 - 935 (single-core), 2,397 (multi-core)
- 3D Mark WildLife - 2,282 at 13.67 average fps
- CPDT - 519.60 MB/s sequential read speeds and 658.57 MB/s sequential write speeds
The realme 12+ 5G scores in AnTuTu, Geekbench, and 3DMark are in the range of what we expected from this combination of chipset and software.
We noticed that even though we got 604K in AnTuTu this was with the 3D benchmark lite.
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| Genshin Impact graphics settings |
While this phone is mostly designed for smartphone photographers and content creators, we would have preferred if it was a little better when running demanding games. (Some of those creators still play games in their free time)
On Genshin Impact, it is set on the low graphics settings as the default. Playing the game is mostly smooth when wandering around the world but when in combat with many animations, the phone stutters occasionally.
In our experience, the phone can handle the majority of tasks like navigating through the OS, opening apps, web surfing, and social media without struggling.
Fast In-Display fingerprint sensor
For security, the phone has an optical In-Display fingerprint sensor and face unlock. The initial setup and subsequent uses are quick and it detects our biometrics instantaneously. It works even if your finger is a little sweaty.
The face unlocks only struggles when the camera is dirty or when we are wearing a mask and sunglasses. The screen brightens up when used in the dark. It even has a super bright mode when using face unlock that can be set in the settings.
Regarding connectivity, we have the following: WiFi 6, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.2, OTG, GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, and dual nano SIM.
Connection is usually stable for WiFi and we get 4 to 5 bars of mobile data signal the majority of the time. Its antenna design probably has something to do with this.
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| PCMark Battery Benchmark and Battery usage |
Inside the phone is a large 5,000mAh battery. It lasted more than 9 hours on our usual PCMark Battery benchmark. In daily use we were consistently getting around 5 hours of on screen time even when constantly connected to 5G, WiFi and Bluetooth devices.
Decent battery despite its slim design!
The battery charges via USB-C with the 67W wall charger which charges the phone 100 percent in under 60 minutes.
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| realme 12+ 5G's web surfing experience |
It is running on realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14. It introduces the features included with Android 14 while adding realme's take on software features. It is one of the more aesthetic-looking skins with additional features like Smart Suggestions, Smart Sensing, Split View, Flexible Window, Quick Return, Quick Launch, Smart Sidebar, Kids Mode, and Simple Mode.
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| realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14 |
However, If you didn't like the recent realme UI versions, odds are you still won't like this one. But if you're a fan of it, you will more likely enjoy the experience.
Several pre-installed apps and services can be uninstalled or disabled. It adds to the initial setup.
Some of these apps have annoying push notifications. We recommend disabling or uninstalling these.
Pros - Luxury-watch-inspired design, Flat side with lightweight body, 120Hz AMOLED with double reinforced glass, Solid performing cameras, 67W fast charging, Audio Jack,
Cons - Graphics power for gaming is lacking, shaky video with only EIS, skin tones in photo and video can be improved via firmware, IP54 water and dust resistance rating,
realme 12+ 5G Specs
Display: 6.7-inch 0.68mm Secondary Tempered High Strength Glass protected curved AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling rate, 1260Hz instantaneous sampling rate, 2160Hz PWM dimming, HDR10+, FHD+ 2412 x 1080 resolution at 395 ppi
CPU: 2.4GHz 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 7050 octa-core processor
GPU: Adreno
RAM: 8GB/12GB
ROM: 128GB/256GB
Back Camera: 50MP f/1.88 Sony LYT600, OIS + 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle + 2MP f/2.4 macro + LED flash
Selfie Camera: 16MP f/2.5
Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 67W SUPERVOOC
OS: Android 14 w/ realme UI 5.0
Connectivity: WiFi 6 (2.4GHz/5GHz), 5G SA/NSA, Dual 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.3, OTG, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS, NavIC, dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: In-Display fingerprint sensor, Super Linear Dual Speakers, Hi-Res Audio, Dolby Atmos, Dual-mic Noise Cancellation, USB-C, Colors: Pioneer Green, Navigator Beige
Dimensions: 163 x 75.5 x 7.9 mm
Weight: 190 g
Price: PHP 17,999 (8GB/256GB), PHP 19,999 (12GB/256GB)
Verdict
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| realme 12+ 5G's slim bezels and punch hole camera |
realme has produced a solid refresh of its numbered line with incremental internal changes and massive design upgrades.
It has one of the most premium yet unique designs in its class. It's definitely an eye-catching phone.
The flat 120Hz AMOLED is vibrant and is surprisingly bright and readable under direct sunlight, and the overall speed is more than enough for most casual users.
The 5,000mAh battery paired with fast 67W SUPERVOOC charging allows it to last up to 5 hours of on-screen time after being connected to 5G and WiFi all day while also serving as our hotspot.
Its rear and selfie cameras produce good images, but as mentioned above, the firmware could be updated to improve skin tones.
We love the great-performing stereo speakers and it even has an audio jack for those who love wired audio.
We do have to call out the graphics performance for gaming and the like which was underwhelming.
We recommend it if you want a luxury-inspired smartphone with a great display, eye-catching design, good cameras, and a fast-charging battery.
If you are its target audience or market, go for it. If you are a mobile gamer, look elsewhere.
What do you think guys?
Build/Design - 4.5
Multimedia Experience - 4.25
Cameras - 4.25
Performance - 4.25
Average - 4.38/5
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