Realme 12+ 5G: A Budget Powerhouse with Premium Features Unveiled

Realme continues to impress. After introducing the Realme 12 Pro series this year, they have now launched the Realme 12 5G series. The latest offerings consist of the Realme 12 5G and the Realme 12+ 5G. We had a chance to explore the Plus variant, which already shows promise as an affordable option. The Realme 12+ boasts a design inspired by the pricier Realme 12 Pro series. It features a vegan leather finish and a primary rear camera equipped with OIS. This is quite an unusual feature for this category. Before we dive into an extensive review, here are our initial thoughts.

Looking at the back, the Realme 12+ 5G resembles the Realme 12 Pro. It sports a soft-touch vegan leather back that resists fingerprints, which is a notable upgrade over plastic or even glass surfaces. Realme has opted for a subtle branding approach, placing a simple Realme logo at the bottom left. Besides the vegan leather, which adds 50 percent to the cost of a standard plastic back, there’s also a circular triple rear camera assembly.

The triple camera design on the back takes inspiration from the Pro series but omits the golden ring. Nevertheless, the Realme 12+ 5G retains a sunburst dial effect and a golden line down the center of the back panel. The frame of the phone is where things differ significantly. Realme has crafted flat sides with rounded edges. Constructed from plastic, it has a metallic appearance, and the reflective sides contribute to its aesthetic. Personally, I prefer the sharper design over the rounded edges found on the Realme 12 Pro series.

Realme has done an admirable job in designing an attractive smartphone once again. The button layout places both the volume and power buttons on the right side, while the bottom features a USB Type-C port, speaker grille, microphone, and SIM tray. On the top, you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, an additional microphone, and a secondary speaker. I’m pleased that Realme has included a headphone jack on this device. The phone also boasts an IP54 rating.

Turning to the front, the Realme 12+ 5G showcases a large 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with slender bezels on three sides, although the chin is a bit thicker. The display is vibrant and features HDR 10+ support, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a full-HD+ resolution. Realme claims it has a Rainwater Smart Touch feature that allows touchscreen usage even during rain or with wet hands, which we will verify in our detailed review. Additionally, there’s an in-display fingerprint sensor on the phone.

Now, let’s discuss the camera system. This might be the only device in its price bracket sporting a Sony LYT-600 50-megapixel sensor with optical image stabilization. The primary selling point of the Realme 12+ 5G centers around this camera, which the company asserts can produce outstanding photos. We’ll delve deeper into the camera features in our full review, but during my limited time with the phone, I noticed the software tends to oversaturate images. Aside from the 50-megapixel main camera, the setup includes an 8-megapixel ultra-wide lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, there’s a 16-megapixel front-facing camera that captures decent images in favorable lighting conditions.

Under the hood, the Realme 12+ 5G is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7050 SoC that provided a responsive experience initially. I plan to conduct benchmarks and run some games to assess the phone’s performance under pressure. The device can be equipped with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Moreover, it allows both RAM (virtual) and storage (microSD card) expansion. In terms of connectivity, it offers dual SIM capabilities, 5G, dual-band Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, along with standard GPS satellite support.

Finally, the Realme 12+ 5G is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery that supports 67W fast charging, and fortunately, the charger is included in the package. Realme claims the device can achieve a full charge in just 48 minutes, which we will verify in our testing. Software-wise, it runs on Android 14 with Realme UI 5.0 pre-installed, though it does come loaded with a fair amount of bloatware. The company has pledged two years of Android OS updates and three years of security patches.

Realme 12+ 5G Early Impressions

With a starting price of Rs. 20,999, the Realme 12+ 5G appears to be an impressive budget phone. I will evaluate its camera, performance, software, and battery life to determine how well it performs. The inclusion of a Sony LYT-600 sensor with OIS is indeed uncommon in this segment. This device will be in competition with the recently launched Nothing Phone 2a(Review), another strong contender in the budget smartphone market.

Stay tuned for our comprehensive review to discover if the Realme 12+ 5G is worthy of your consideration in the search for the best budget device.