Refinement is the best descriptor for the latest iteration of realme’s number series of phones. It gets subtle tweaks from the previous generation that might persuade you to finally pick up one of these phones. We got to spend a bit of time with the realme 12+ 5G. Here are the three things you need to know about it.
Refined design
realme revamped the look of its number series phones with the realme 11 line. It aimed to bring a polished, elegant look to the midrange segment. There are two color options for the realme 12+ 5G: Pioneer Green and Navigator Beige. Its distinctive design is meant to be shown off.
realme collaborated with luxury watch designer Ollivier Saveo to create the realme 12 series. He worked with Swiss brands like Rolex, Roger Dubuis, Piaget, and Breitling, to name a few.
The partnership resulted in these phones getting design features like a Polished Sunburst Dial on the center-placed camera module. Watch it sparkle as the light hits this part of the phone. It still runs that zipper-like band through the middle, but it’s more reminiscent of a 3D Jubilee bracelet on Rolex watches. It misses the Golden Fluted Bezel on the Pro+ model, but all the gold trimmings on the Beige model give that elegant feel to it.
With a vegan leather back, the realme 12+ 5G isn’t a fingerprint magnet. That alone encourages me to keep it out of the case. However, the shiny gold finish on the frame isn’t as smudge-proof.
realme ditches the curved frame for the Plus model this time, making it easier to grip or prop up when needed. With many of these finishes made in plastic, the phone feels light and easy to hold. It’s relatively thin at 7.87mm and weighs 190 grams. It also gets a bit of protection with an IP54 rating for water and dust resistance, which we didn’t get with its predecessor.
It shouldn’t be an issue even if you want to hold up the phone and watch your favorite shows or play games for hours.
Ready for entertainment
Speaking of usability, the realme 12+ 5G runs on respectable midrange specs. It inherits the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 processor of its predecessor paired with 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 256GB of expandable storage.
It’s good to see the option for extra space. We didn’t get on the realme 11 Pro, which you can consider the more direct predecessor than the base realme 11. You get up to 2TB of extra space using the second SIM slot. With this hybrid dual SIM setup, you either get space for two SIMs or you use the second SIM slot for storage expansion.
As mentioned, the realme 12+ 5G gets a flat 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 92.65% screen-to-body ratio. It has relatively thin bezels on the side that wouldn’t detract much from what you’re watching.
And this is the kind of phone you’d want to watch your favorite things on or use for gaming. realme adds the realme 11’s headphone jack to this model, so you can enjoy what you’re watching or listening to through the loud dual speakers or wired or wireless earbuds. And with Widevine L1 certification, you can enjoy Full HD streaming from services like Netflix.
Gamers will appreciate having a 120Hz refresh rate paired with a 240Hz touch sampling rate. You can enjoy smooth, relatively lag-free use of this phone. Asphalt 9 might be the most graphics-intensive game I play and I can play it just fine here.
You don’t have to worry about this phone freezing as you use it to go about your day either. You can use it when you need it to check emails, browse on social media, or take photos and videos throughout your day.
And with a high 2,000 nits peak brightness, I don’t have to worry about looking at the screen on sunny days. It came in handy when I wanted to test out the cameras outdoors.
It’s not a problem getting a full day’s use out of the realme 12+. Its 5,000mAh battery gets me over a day’s use most of the time. And top-ups take around an hour or less thanks to its 67W SuperVOOC charge.
All about those cameras
realme introduces a 50-megapixel Sony LYT600 camera to the realme 12+. It features a 1/1.95-inch sensor with a 26mm focal length and f/1.88 aperture. realme boasts optical image stabilization and a 2x in-sensor zoom. It promises to get you great-looking, well-lit photos in different conditions.
This main sensor gets paired with an 8-megapixel 112-degree ultrawide and a forgettable 2-megapixel macro. In front, it has a 16-megapixel selfie camera.
You get the most out of these cameras in bright environments. But that is unsurprising. The colors are slightly more saturated than how they look in real life. But it’s something that makes it easily shareable online. And if you want to achieve a certain look, realme adds Master Portrait Filters that work in modes like the Photo, Portrait, and Street. It takes out the need to edit and gives your snaps a signature look. realme co-created the filters with Claudio Miranda to have options that give them a bit of cinematic flair.
Portraits are the bread and butter of the realme 12 series. And this model holds up pretty well. I’ve run into some software bumps where the photos came out with artifacts. But it’s nothing a few additional snaps didn’t fix. Take more than one photo of your subject at a time. I was impressed with how it handles subject separation for a phone at its price. It does get a bit finicky with accessories and can blur things out like earrings and the edge of glasses. But for the most part, the subject is clear and crisp. We tried taking portraits against the light and its HDR worked magic there, too.
It’s not perfect, though. I wasn’t too keen about the sharpness of the 2x portraits. It’s something you need to use when there’s a lot of light. Portrait photography on this phone in general needs a light source to work its best. Otherwise, your portraits are going to have noise and not be as sharp. It’s still a smartphone after all.
realme 12+ 5G: Price and availability
The realme 12+ retails for PHP 17,999 for the 8GB + 256GB model and PHP 19,999 for the 12GB + 256GB variant.
Get it online from March 7 to 15 at discounted prices. The 8GB option will sell at an introductory price of PHP 14,999 over on Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok. Meanwhile, the 12GB model will retail for PHP 16,599 on Shopee.
If you get it in physical stores from March 8 to 17, you also take home a TechLife 4L Digital Rice Cooker or Hair Dryer worth up to PHP 2,399 for free.
realme 12+ 5G: Final thoughts
It’s always nice to see a phone that pairs good looks with a decent feature set. The realme 12+ 5G has one of the more chic designs I’ve seen in the midrange. It has a distinctive look that draws attention while also being easy to match outfits with.
On top of that, it is a solid daily driver that has enough improvements from its predecessor to make the upgrade worth it (if you’re coming from an older device, of course). I still want some refinements from its low-light shots. But for the most part, what you get makes it easy to capture your favorite moments beautifully.
Is this the smartphone for you? Share your thoughts with us!