Realme 12 Pro Review : Pros and cons, Verdict (2024)

 The Realme 12 Pro series marks the debut of telephoto camera lenses in the numbered series by the brand. While we have previously examined the Realme 12 Pro+ (review), the standard Pro model boasts a distinct array of features, necessitating our attention towards the Realme 12 Pro. After spending over a week with this latest offering from Realme, I am prepared to share my insights to assist you in determining whether this phone merits your consideration. So, let's delve into the comprehensive review below.

Verdict

Realme 12 Pro excels in numerous aspects and can be readily hailed as the top-designed smartphone within its price range. Its telephoto camera facilitates capturing remarkable shots, while its display quality and charging speed match those of its competitors. Nevertheless, if performance stands as a crucial criterion for you, it contends fiercely with the POCO X6 5G, boasting a superior processor.

Design and display

When it comes to design, the Realme 12 Pro stands out as anything but your typical mid-range smartphone. Building upon the Realme 11 Pro's groundwork, this device introduces a striking 'Luxury Watch Design' crafted in collaboration with renowned International Luxury Watch Designer, Ollivier Savéo. The Submarine Blue variant we received boasts an exquisite appearance from every angle, accentuated by a golden fluted bezel encircling the camera setup, lending it a unique aesthetic. Sporting a vegan leather back, the phone offers a comfortable grip and remains free from fingerprint smudges, a notable departure from models featuring plastic or glass backs. Furthermore, its slender curved frame enhances both its ergonomics and portability.

Transitioning to the display, the device boasts a 6.7-inch FHD+ (2,412 x 1,080 pixels) OLED screen featuring a punch-hole cutout and a fluid refresh rate of up to 120Hz. With a 240Hz touch sampling rate and an instantaneous sampling rate of up to 2000Hz, the phone delivers impressive responsiveness. Despite the vibrant display providing an immersive viewing experience, its peak brightness of 800 nits falls short for outdoor usage.

It's worth mentioning that using the phone indoors was remarkably enjoyable. Engaging in games like Battlegrounds Mobile India and EA FC Mobile on the device proved to be entertaining, thanks to its high refresh rate screen. Additionally, the phone's display supports HDR10 and HLG, enabling streaming of video content with a wide color gamut from various OTT platforms. Noteworthy is the Realme 12 Pro 5G's utilization of high-frequency 2,160Hz PWM dimming in low-brightness conditions, resulting in a 4.5 times increase in dimming efficiency compared to conventional 480Hz methods. This feature ensures color accuracy in low light and effectively eliminates flickering, with the PWM dimming mode activating automatically when the screen brightness drops below 90 nits.

Overall, disregarding the peak brightness issue, I found the display quality to be remarkably impressive. Despite its curved design, the phone's panel offered decent viewing angles.

Cameras

The Realme 12 Pro boasts an IMX882 50MP primary camera equipped with OIS support. Its 1/2-inch sensor, featuring a focal length equivalent to 26mm and an f/1.8 aperture, is touted by the brand as perfect for capturing expansive shots in various lighting conditions. Thanks to the large aperture, the primary sensor allows ample light intake, enhancing image clarity. In my personal testing, the device produced impressive results both in daylight and low-light scenarios. It excelled in capturing details and accurately reproducing colors. However, while edge detection could have been improved, the overall image quality remained quite satisfactory.

The phone boasts a 32MP IMX709 telephoto camera with a 1/2.74-inch sensor, providing 2x optical zoom capability. This allowed me to capture detailed shots even from a distance. Additionally, the phone offers a 4x Lossless zoom (In-sensor) feature, though it didn't perform as well as expected. Furthermore, it includes an 8MP ultra-wide camera sensor with a 112-degree field of view. However, I found the images taken with this sensor to be somewhat underwhelming in my experience.

The phone offers three exclusive movie filters curated by Claudio Miranda, an Oscar-winning cinematographer. These filters draw inspiration from his work on popular films: Journey Filter from ‘Life of Pi’, Memory Filter from ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, and Maverick Filter from ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. Despite the appeal of these filters, their results were not significantly different from those commonly found on other phones and apps like Instagram.

Realme claims that the phone's OIS support enhances videography output by providing stability. However, in my experience, videos shot with the phone did not exhibit noticeable stability, showing considerable shake when shot by hand.

Equipped with a 16MP selfie camera, the phone can capture decent shots in good lighting conditions. Nevertheless, it doesn't offer any distinct advantages over other phones in its price range.

Performance and Software

The Realme 12 Pro features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset, built on a 4nm process. This octa-core processor comprises four A78 cores running at 2.2GHz for high performance, and four A55 cores clocked at 1.8GHz for efficiency. Our testing revealed an AnTuTu benchmark score of 564,897, as displayed in the accompanying screenshot.

In the Geekbench benchmark, the Realme 12 Pro achieved a single-core score of 930 and a multi-core score of 2,724. These results are respectable, but it's worth noting that the POCO X6 5G, equipped with the more advanced Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset, is available at a lower price point compared to the Realme offering, which features the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset.

In the CPU throttling test, where the app runs 50 threads for 30 minutes on the phone, the Realme 12 Pro's CPU throttled to 87 percent of its maximum performance, which is commendable.

Transitioning to real-world usage, I tested the phone with several demanding titles and encountered no stuttering or app crashes. Gameplay was consistently smooth, aided by the support for high refresh rates, making the handset a joy to use. Remarkably, I didn't encounter significant heating issues even during extended gaming sessions exceeding an hour.

While benchmarks provide an objective measure of performance, my experience confirms that the Realme 12 Pro delivers reliable performance in everyday use.

Transitioning to the software aspect, the device is powered by Realme UI 5.0, built on Android 14, straight out of the box. While the phone does include certain pre-installed applications, it also offers some impressive functionalities. For instance, Smart Image Matting facilitates effortless isolation and sharing of subjects from your photos across various applications. Phonelink enables seamless integration with Microsoft LTW (Link to Windows), streamlining device connectivity with a mere click. Additionally, there's File Dock, which allows users to effortlessly recognize and extract content such as text, images, and links with a single click. In summary, the operating system boasts several handy features designed to enhance productivity.

Battery and charging speeds

The Realme 12 Pro boasts a powerful 5,000mAh battery accompanied by 67W SUPERVOOC charging capability. I found it remarkable that I could charge the device from 0 to 100 percent in under 45 minutes. This quick charging feature allowed me to simply plug it in before preparing for work, and by the time I was set, the phone was fully charged. This convenience in charging made my experience notably smooth. Moreover, the ample 5,000mAh battery capacity ensured that the phone easily lasted through a typical day, providing approximately 6-7 hours of screen-on time.

If you indulge in gaming on your phone, remember that it will require recharging by the evening. In the PCMark battery assessment, the phone demonstrated an impressive endurance, lasting 15 hours and 13 minutes.

Final verdict

Although the Realme 12 Pro delivers commendable performance, it finds stiff competition from the POCO X6 5G (review), which boasts a lower price tag and a superior processor. Additionally, the 12 Pro's telephoto camera enables capturing remarkable images. While the phone performs satisfactorily in areas such as display and battery life, it lacks standout features. Nonetheless, its standout attribute lies in its design, making it arguably the most aesthetically pleasing option in its price range—an aspect that warrants further consideration.

Editor’s rating: 8 / 1

Reasons to buy

• The phone has a premium design with a vegan leather back and a luxury watch-inspired camera module.
• Realme 12 Pro comes with a vibrant curved display, which is great for binge-watching content.
• The 32MP telephoto camera clicks some impressive pictures.
• The phone can be charged up fully in less than 45 minutes with 67W fast charging.

Reasons not to buy

• The processor could have been better for the price.
• The display’s peak brightness is a letdown.

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