Redmi 12 5G review: Well-rounded budget smartphone

(Image: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)

The only giveaway of the phone’s affordability is the noticeable chin, but that is a minor trade-off for this price. The phone not only looks premium but feels premium as well, with a sturdy build that feels like it can withstand years of rough usage. The display may not be AMOLED, but the LCD is of high quality sized 6.79″ and has a smooth 90Hz refresh rate with an FHD+ resolution, so no complaints there.

Performance

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chip powers the Redmi 12 5G, making it the first device to arrive in the Indian market with this chip. Qualcomm has truly outdone itself with the naming scheme of this chip — 4 Gen 2, as its name implies, delivers exactly half the performance of the flagship-level 8 Gen 2. And considering how insanely powerful the flagship chip is, bringing half its performance to a phone that costs only a fraction of a flagship phone is indeed an achievement.

The Redmi 12 5G runs MIUI 14 that sits atop Android 13. (Image: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)

The phone breezes through everyday tasks and even handles gaming perfectly well. You can play BGMI on Smooth+Ultra like a pro, although it’s unfortunate that there’s no Extreme frame rate setting here. CODM doesn’t stutter either and even the highly demanding CarX Street, one of my favourite mobile racing titles, is playable. The 5,000mAh battery lasts all day.

My biggest gripe with the phone is the software it runs — MIUI. Despite the phone’s powerful CPU, it runs a lighter version of MIUI with reduced animations and no blur effects. The control centre has a dull grey background that looks unappealing. The skin, while being well-optimised for the device, seems to be desperately in need of updates as it lags behind in features compared to its rivals. For instance, there is no built-in icon customisation. Xiaomi also persists in treating China and Global versions of MIUI differently and keeps using outdated elements on the latter while the former is far more advanced in features. But hey, at least there’s MIUI Dialer and Messaging support this year.

Camera

The Redmi 12 5G features a 50MP primary camera, assisted by a 2MP depth sensor. In daylight scenarios, I landed myself some really eye-pleasing shots that I wouldn’t shy away from posting on my socials. The colours were natural and realistic, which is rare for a budget device, and the dynamic range was impressive. Night-time scenarios take a hit though and it gets obvious that it’s a budget device. But keep your hands steady enough and after a few tries you do get passable shots, like the one I clicked of the Noida skyline below.

Redmi 12 5G camera sample in daylight 1. (Image: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)

Redmi 12 5G camera sample in daylight 2. (Image: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)

Redmi 12 5G camera sample in daylight 3. (Image: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)

Redmi 12 5G camera sample at night. (Image: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)

Redmi 12 5G camera sample indoors. (Image: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)

Should you buy the Redmi 12 5G?

All in all, the Redmi 12 5G is a remarkable phone for its price range — it’s actually among the cheapest 5G options in India. It has a sleek design, a smooth performance, and great camera quality. The only thing I did not enjoy was the software experience, but that is a matter of personal preference. If you are looking for a 5G phone on a tight budget, the Redmi 12 5G is an obvious choice.