Last year, I reviewed realme’s 11 Pro and Pro+ Android smartphones, which impressed me with what they offered for their price range. As 2024 ushered in a fresh lineup from the same brand, I was able to test the brand-new realme 12 Pro 5G, too. This model walks the same line in terms of beautiful design while introducing several significant changes under the hood when compared to its predecessor, the realme 11 Pro. Notably, it features new cameras and a different chipset. But does it stand out as a good mid-range Android phone, and more importantly, is it the right choice for you? Read on and find out from this review:

realme 12 Pro: Who is it good for?

The realme 12 Pro 5G is an excellent choice if you:

• Want an elegant mid-range Android smartphone
• Are looking for a smartphone with good cameras
• Need a large battery and fast charging

Pros and cons

These are the things I like most about the realme 12 Pro smartphone:

• Stylish design with vegan leather
• Good main and telephoto cameras, especially in daylight
• 67W fast charging and a large battery
• Bright AMOLED screen
• Competitive price
• Certification for protection against dust or water

There are a few drawbacks, too:

• The chipset is weaker than its competitors
• Color discrepancy between the ultrawide camera and the main/telephoto lens
• Lots of bloatware

Verdict

The realme 12 Pro 5G stands out for its design and cameras, making it an attractive choice for those seeking a phone that not only looks good but can also capture high-quality photos, especially in good lighting conditions. While there are many pros to getting this phone, it’s not without drawbacks; notably, the chipset performance doesn’t measure up to its direct competitors. At launch, you can find similarly priced smartphones that deliver better performance than the realme 12 Pro. Thus, while I can recommend it to those who prioritize looks and cameras, if you’re a gamer or if beefier performance is important to you, you may want to look at other Android smartphones in the same price range. However, realme has a habit of making discounts soon after they launch a new smartphone, and if the asking price gets lower, realme 12 Pro will be even more appealing than it is on its launch day. 🙂

Unboxing the realme 12 Pro

The realme 12 Pro 5G arrives in a vibrant yellow and black box with a minimalist design that showcases the phone’s make and model. You’ll find the smartphone’s essential specs detailed on the bottom of the packaging.

The box of the realme 12 Pro 5G

The package includes the realme 12 Pro smartphone with a pre-installed screen protector, a 67W fast charger, USB-C cable, transparent case, SIM ejector, manual, and warranty.

Unboxing the realme 12 Pro

Unboxing the realme 12 Pro 5G feels like a premium experience. realme includes a fast 67W charger and a case, two details that set it apart from many competitors in the mid-range Android market. I like the minimalist design of the box, and I appreciate the fact that the packaging is solid, protecting the contents from unwanted damage during transport.

Design and build quality

Thanks to its design aesthetics, the realme 12 Pro 5G made a striking impression right from the start. This smartphone is the result of a partnership with French luxury watchmaker Ollivier Savéo, known for his work with renowned Swiss watch brands such as Rolex and Piaget. And the realme 12 Pro does indeed stand out with its unique look. The vegan leather on the back of the phone has a smooth, silky texture that’s pleasant to touch, while the camera ring gives off a high-end and sophisticated feel. Moreover, the phone’s back also showcases a vertical dividing segment with a pattern of 3D rhomboids.

The realme 12 Pro is elegant

In terms of colors, realme offers the 12 Pro 5G smartphones in two versions, both inspired by the world of watches: Submarine Blue and Navigator Beige. I am reviewing the Submarine Blue version. 🙂

Color versions available for the realme 12 Pro 5G

Both color versions maintain the same weight and size: 190 grams (6.70 ounces) and 161.47 mm (6.34 inches) in length, 74.02 mm (2.91 inches) in width, and approximately 8.75 mm (0.35 inches) in thickness.

The blue realme 12 Pro model

A 6.7” OLED screen dominates the smartphone’s front, extending edge to edge with very slim bezels and rounded corners. The screen is protected by 0.55 mm of double-strengthened glass, which is slightly curved at the sides. The only thing interrupting the phone’s display is a tiny top-center notch housing the selfie camera.

The realme 12 Pro 5G has a large OLED screen

The realme 12 Pro 5G has a plastic frame with a glossy finish that looks elegant but is prone to collecting fingerprints. The phone’s left edge lacks any features, as all buttons, speakers, and ports are located on the other sides.

The left side of the realme 12 Pro

The power button and volume rocker are located on the upper right side of the device. Despite their ultra-slim design and lack of distinctive texturing, these buttons are slightly raised and have different lengths, making them easily identifiable by touch alone.

The right edge of the realme 12 Pro 5G

On realme 12 Pro 5G’s top edge, you’ll find just the secondary microphone and an earpiece speaker grille.

The top edge of the realme 12 Pro 5G

The smartphone’s lower edge is the most crowded: the SIM tray is accompanied by the main microphone, the USB-C port, and the primary speaker.

The bottom edge of the realme 12 Pro

Last but not least, it’s worth mentioning that the realme 12 Pro also has an IP65 certification. This means the smartphone is protected against dust and low-pressure liquid jets from any direction. Note that this doesn’t mean you can submerge the phone in water!

The realme 12 Pro features an elegant and modern design that you don’t usually get in mid-range Android devices. Its smooth curves, symmetry, and vegan leather give you the impression that you’re looking at a premium device that’s both beautiful and a delight to hold in your hand.

Hardware specifications

The realme 12 Pro runs on a Qualcomm SM6450 Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, an octa-core chipset introduced on September 6, 2022. This SoC (System on a Chip) is fabricated using a 4-nanometer manufacturing process. It features four Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2200 MHz, four Cortex-A55 cores operating at 1800 MHz, and an Adreno 710 GPU (graphics processing unit).

The phone uses a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset

Regarding storage and memory, the realme 12 Pro smartphone can have either 8 or 12 GB of RAM and 256 or 512 GB of internal storage. The sample I received for this review had 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of ROM flash storage. The operating system and preinstalled apps took up almost 30 GB of the internal memory.

Storage available on the realme 12 Pro 5G

The realme 12 Pro 5G is a dual SIM smartphone, accommodating two nano-SIM cards that operate simultaneously in dual stand-by mode. It’s worth noting that the device lacks a micro-SD card slot, meaning you won’t have the option to expand its storage capacity. Therefore, ensure you get a model with sufficient built-in storage to meet your requirements.

The realme 12 Pro is a dual-SIM phone

The generous 6.7-inch curved display of the realme 12 Pro uses an AMOLED panel with a 2160 Hz PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) ultra-high frequency dimming feature. This ensures the preservation of color accuracy and prevents flickering, particularly in low-light conditions when the screen brightness is reduced. Thanks to an FHD+ resolution of 2412×1080 pixels and a 20:9 screen ratio, the display offers an excellent pixel density of approximately 394 pixels per inch (ppi). Additionally, the screen offers a dynamic refresh rate that can reach 120 Hz, a 240 Hz touch sampling rate, and the capacity to show over 1 billion colors, covering the entire DCI-P3 wide color range. With a maximum peak brightness of 950 nits (800 nits globally), these specifications are excellent for a mid-range smartphone like the realme 12 Pro 5G.

The screen has a refresh rate of 120 Hz

The realme 12 Pro includes a triple-camera setup on its back and a single front-facing selfie camera:

• A 50MP primary wide camera based on a Sony IMX 882 sensor, featuring an f/1.8 aperture, phase-detection autofocus (PDAF), and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).
• A 32MP telephoto camera based on a Sony IMX709 sensor, with an f/2.0 aperture and support for PDAF, OIS, and 2x optical zoom.
• An 8MP ultra-wide camera with a 112˚ field of view and an f/2.2 aperture.
• A 16MP wide selfie camera with an f/2.4 aperture.

Note that while the main and telephoto lens have support for optical image stabilization, the ultrawide and the selfie cameras don’t.

The main rear camera setup supports 4K video recording at 30 frames per second and 1080p at 30, 60, or 120 fps with gyroscopic Electronic Optical Stabilization (gyro-EIS). The selfie camera video recording is restricted to 1080p resolution and 30 fps.

The rear camera setup on the realme 12 Pro

Connectivity-wise, the realme 12 Pro obviously supports 5G mobile networks. It also features Bluetooth 5.2 and dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) across both the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies. The inclusion of an NFC chip is region-dependent, but I can attest that Europe is getting it. Furthermore, the device is equipped with an optical fingerprint reader under the display, as well as other usual sensors such as an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, a gyroscope, and a compass sensor.

The smartphone has a fingerprint sensor (under the display)

The realme 12 Pro gets its autonomy from a large 5000 mAh non-removable Li-Po battery. With such a capacity, I expect the phone to be able to run for at least a full day before having to recharge it. The good news is that the smartphone supports 67W fast charging, and realme bundles the required charger within the phone. According to its official specs, the realme 12 Pro can reach 50% capacity in just 19 minutes, and it can go from 0 to full 100% battery capacity within 48 minutes of charging. Check the next section of this review to see what I got in real life.

The phone has a large battery and support fast charging

If you’d like to get into detail about all the features and technical specifications, check out realme 12 Pro 5G’s official webpage.

The realme 12 Pro seems like a good mid-range Android smartphone. While its chipset may not top the charts, it should be enough to provide a smooth and pleasant experience for everyday use and casual gaming. Moreover, the phone also has some other fairly obvious pros, such as fast charging, a large battery, a beautiful display, and a set of cameras with a good amount of potential for photography.

Let’s move on to see how the realme 12 Pro performs in real life. On the next page, you can find out what to expect in daily use, see what this phone’s cameras are able to do, the software you get on the phone, and what the benchmarks have to say about the realme 12 Pro 5G.