Realme 12 Pro review: The good-looking budget smartphone

Rating: 3.5/4

The number series in Realme’s smartphone lineup aims to offer a balanced proposition between price, features, design, and performance. Realme has consistently aimed to provide the best at this price point, and the latest addition, the Realme 12 Pro, may not deviate much from the overall company’s approach.

That said, the Realme 12 Pro starts at Rs 25,999. For the price, the phone offers a decent set of features and specifications. For instance, it boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, 67W fast charging, an updated camera setup, and introduces a new chipset.

Having used this phone for a while, here’s our full review:

Design and displayIf you are searching for the best-looking smartphone in the price bracket of around Rs 30,000, the Realme 12 Pro stands out with its recently adopted vegan leather design and centrally placed circular camera. The design language, which started with the Realme 11 Pro series, has been retained with the Realme 12 Pro as well. The Submarine Blue colour looks stunning, and the golden highlight around the camera housing adds to its appeal, giving the phone an impressive yet balanced overall appearance. The design is elegant and pleasing, earning us compliments.

The overall fit and finish, as well as the build quality, are on par with the competition. The rounded corners and curved display and back make it a handy device, allowing for single-handed use.

Buttons are aptly placed, and we faced no issues reaching them during usage. The click feedback is also satisfactory.

At the bottom of the phone, you'll find a primary speaker, a USB Type-C port, a microphone, and the SIM tray, while the right side houses the volume and power buttons. On top, there's an additional speaker and a secondary microphone.

The Realme 11 Pro boasts a 6.7-inch OLED display with FHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The display impresses with its quality, exhibiting deep black levels and accurate colours, attributed to its 100% DCI-P3 rating. The phone's brightness performs well, ensuring clear visibility even in direct sunlight. Notably, the display's ability to dim adds comfort for usage in low-light conditions. In summary, the Realme 11 Pro combines a distinctive design with a functional display, making it an appealing choice for users seeking both aesthetic appeal and practical features.

Performance, Software, and Battery
The Realme 12 Pro is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chip. It’s a mid-range chipset sitting above the 4 Gen and below the 7 Gen and 8 Gen series. That said, the performance falls into the mid-range category.

You won’t find any stutter or lag. The app opening and multitasking performance are also comparable to the competition. However, we did notice some occasional slowdowns when pushing the limits, but that’s acceptable considering the price point.

In day-to-day usage, we did not encounter any issues while using the phone as our daily driver. The phone managed to run every app available on the Play Store, including Photoshop and Premiere Pro. The rendering and editing speeds were good, and most importantly, the phone remained functional while these resource-hungry apps ran in the background.

Gaming performance isn’t a problem either. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is powerful enough to run most games with high graphics settings. We played Genshin Impact, Shadow Fight 4: Arena, Call of Duty Mobile, Subway Surfer, Candy Crush, BGMI, Asphalt 9, and a couple of other random titles. Except for Genshin Impact, all the games ran smoothly at high graphics quality. Genshin Impact did make the chipset break a sweat at the highest settings but ran well and without any issues at medium graphics settings.

The thermal management of the phone is also impressive. Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is already a relatively calm and composed chipset, and Realme’s cooling solutions add to that. The thermals of the phone are well in check even under heavy load.

Realme 12 Pro runs Realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14 operating system. It’s a feature-packed custom UI and offers an array of customization options and features that are important to people, enhancing the overall experience. The user interface feels polished and well-designed too.

However, the phone comes pre-loaded with a lot of apps and software, which can be a problem for some users. The good part is that most of these apps can be uninstalled for a clutter-free experience.

Realme has equipped the smartphone with a 5000mAh battery with 67W SuperVOOC fast charging. The phone’s 5000mAh battery is good enough for 1 day of heavy usage, including calls, messages, social media scrolls, and even taking and editing photos and videos. Under normal circumstances, the phone can last for almost a day and a half.

The 67W SuperVOOC charging with the included charger manages to charge the phone from 0 to 100 per cent in around 50 minutes and 50 per cent charge in just 20 minutes.

Camera

Realme has updated the camera setup of the Realme 12 Pro compared to the Realme 11 Pro. The handset comes equipped with three cameras at the back, comprising a 50-megapixel Sony IMX 882 primary sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS), a 32-megapixel Sony IMX 709 telephoto sensor with 2x optical zoom, and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor.

Daylight performance of the primary 50MP sensor is good, and the images show good dynamic range and details. Colours are well-pronounced, and the overall image processing is good enough. The only thing is that the post-processing of the phone seems to be a little aggressive with the colors, often rendering into a little oversaturated output.


The 32MP 2x telephoto sensor is also good; the colour science is somewhat similar to the primary 50MP sensor. It’s just that we felt that the 32MP sensor offers a tiny bit more detail and contrast in bright conditions. The ultra-wide sensor is also good and holds its ground well.

Low light conditions are where the Realme 12 Pro struggles a bit. The performance isn’t as impressive as the daylight shots. That said, the primary sensor captures shots in low light with a decent amount of detail and sharpness, and noise levels are decent too.

However, the 2x telephoto and ultra-wide switch to slightly softer details and struggle to capture ample details while capturing a wider landscape.

The phone also comes with Portrait Mode, which relies on the main sensor and the telephoto sensor. The background separation is good, and the edge detection is also decent. The bokeh quality is impressive, and the option to adjust the bokeh level after taking the photo comes in handy. In portrait shots, the facial details and colours were on point, along with the sharpness and shadows.

The front 16MP sensor is decent too. It gets the job done with a good amount of detail and sharpness.

In terms of video quality, the phone can capture 4K videos at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps. The video quality is somewhat similar to the photo. Good in daylight conditions and decent enough in low-light conditions. There’s also an Ultra Steady Mode that works really well at keeping the video footage shake-free and smooth overall.

Overall, the Realme 12 Pro’s camera setup is a mixed bag with impressive results in daylight conditions and good enough output in low-light conditions. For people who want to capture photos to keep the memories or post on social media, the Realme 12 Pro’s camera will be good enough for them.

Realme 12 Pro: Verdict
The Realme 12 Pro stands as a commendable mid-range smartphone offering a well-balanced blend of design, performance, and features. Its elegant vegan leather design, vibrant Submarine Blue colour, and thoughtful placement of the circular camera housing make it visually appealing. The 6.7-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate adds a functional touch.

Powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, the phone delivers smooth day-to-day performance and handles gaming admirably. The Realme UI 5.0, based on Android 14, provides a feature-rich and customisable user interface. The 5000mAh battery with 67W SuperVOOC charging ensures impressive battery life and quick recharges. The camera setup, while excelling in daylight conditions, delivers satisfactory results in low light. Overall, the Realme 12 Pro offers a compelling package at Rs 25,000 price point, catering to users seeking a well-rounded smartphone experience