Realme 12 Pro 5G comes equipped with a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 SoC, 5,000mAh battery with 67W fast charging, and a triple rear camera setup. However, the most interesting thing about the phone is its design. Here’s our review of the Realme 12 Pro 5G.
January 2024 has been Jan-packed with new smartphone launches and one of them was the new Realme 12 Pro 5G series. The latest number series from Realme includes the Realme 12 Pro 5G and the Realme 12 Pro+ 5G. While both phones look similar to the Realme 11 Pro lineup from the front, there are some changes internally, and on the rear panel. I’ve been using the Realme 12 Pro 5G for more than a week testing out various aspects of the Realme 12 Pro. Here’s what I think of the phone.
The Realme 12 Pro is available in India at a starting price of Rs. 25,999 for the base 8GB RAM + 128GB variant. There’s also an 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant, which is priced at Rs. 26,999. Realme offers the new phone in two colour options or finishes. There’s the Navigator Beige option, and there’s the Submarine Blue. We received the 256GB variant in Submarine Blue for review.
You get a 67W fast charger in-the-box
The unboxing experience of the Realme 12 Pro 5G is similar to other phones in the price segment. You get all the things that you’d expect. There’s a 67W charging brick, a USB Type-A to Type-C cable, a case to protect the phone, SIM ejector tool, and the usual paperwork.
There are only a few smartphones out there that make people go ‘what phone is that’. The Realme 12 Pro 5G is sure to get similar comments. Almost every other smartphone, apart from foldables, is a slab these days, but Realme has tried and succeeded to make its slab look different and stylish.
I received the Submarine Blue variant and it looks brilliant. The rear panel on the Realme 12 Pro has a vegan leather finish and a camera module that looks similar to a luxury watch dial. Realme has partnered with French luxury watchmaker Ollivier Savéo who’s worked with popular brands such as Rolex, Breitling, and more.
The main attraction here is the camera module with gold accents on the outside and a sunburst dial inside. The phone has good weight to it (196g) and feels good to hold in hand. Both the display and the rear panel are curved, making the phone look and feel slimmer than it is (8.75mm). The Realme 12 Pro feels great in hand, and you won’t have any fingerprints or smudges on the back thanks to the vegan leather finish.
On the front, the phone has uniform bezels on the opposite sides that are thin. The front looks very similar to the Realme 11 Pro, which also had a curved display of the same size. The Realme 12 Pro 5G comes with an IP65 rating as well.
The Realme 12 Pro is equipped with a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 processor coupled with the Adreno 710 GPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage. It comes with a Dynamic RAM feature that can add up to 8GB of additional VRAM borrowed from the internal storage. Talking about storage, it isn’t expandable. The phone comes with a USB Type-C port at the bottom accompanied by a speaker, microphone, and a SIM card tray, which supports dual 5G SIM. The top of the phone houses another speaker grille and a microphone. On the left edge, you’ll find the power and volume buttons.
For connectivity, you get Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6 dual-band, and support for all the major GPS satellites. Realme could’ve included Wi-Fi 6E here and perhaps a newer Bluetooth standard as other phones in the similar price range do get newer connectivity standards.
Realme has included an in-display fingerprint scanner on the handset. It’s placed at the bottom of the display, and while it would’ve been nicer to have it a little higher, the scanner works well. I had no issues unlocking the phone in the time I’ve been using it.
The Realme 12 Pro comes with a 5,000mAh battery with a 67W fast charger in the box, same as its predecessor. Nothing new to see here.
Now, let’s talk about software. You’ll get the latest Android 14-based Realme UI 5.
