realme offers some of the best value-for-money smartphones in the market, and the company recently announced the realme 12 series devices, their latest 12 Pro premium mid-range offering good performance, stellar camera optics, a large display, and more. We reviewed the new Realme 12 Pro, and here are our thoughts about the device.

Design

It’s no surprise that most mid-range smartphones on the market feature premium design and build, similar to flagship smartphones. The realme 12 Pro comes with a large 6.7-inch AMOLED display, capable of 950 nits of brightness at its peak. This should help with outdoor views in direct sunlight. The display also boasts 1080 x 2412 as its screen resolution, along with 394 ppi. The 120Hz refresh rate is also a great addition for those who love the smooth animations of the user interface and fast mobile gaming.

The device is 8.8mm thick and weighs only 190g. On top of that, the smartphone also comes with IP65 certification for dust and water resistance. There is also a punch-hole camera on the middle top portion of the screen, along with an integrated under-display fingerprint scanner. The volume buttons and the power button are located on the right side of the device.

There are also two speaker grills on the top and bottom sides of the device. The bottom side also includes the SIM slot, mic hole, and USB-C port. The frame of the device features smooth curvatures on the sides and corners.  The Realme 12 Pro comes in two colors: Navigator Beige and Submarine Blue. And we got the latter as a review sample.

The rear side of the device features a premium vegan leather back that is smooth to the touch and resistant to dust and wear. realme mentions that the design of the rear side is inspired by luxury watches. The rear side comes with a circular camera island that sports a total of four cameras. Around the camera island is a circular golden fluted bezel with 300 precision-crafted triangular grooves. realme also implemented a premium finish on the camera island called the polished sunburst dial, where 500 gradient sunburst patterns together, create a classic sunburst effect, similar to luxury watch dials.

There is also a line in the middle of the rear side, that runs from the camera island bezel to the bottom, where the USB-C is located. The realme branding is also located on the rear side.

The realme 12 Pro packaging comes in a yellow box, which includes the smartphone, a white charger and USB-C cable, a transparent case, manuals, and more.

Performance

Apart from the premium design, the realme 12 Pro also features acceptable performance for everyday use. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 mod-range SoC, along with RAM and storage configurations, which include 8GB RAM/128GB storage, 8GB RAM/256GB storage, 12GB RAM/256GB storage, and 12GB RAM/512GB storage. The device runs on Android 14 OS with realme UI 5.0 optimizations. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is an octa-core processor featuring four 2.2GHz Cortex A78 cores and four 1.8 GHz Cortex A55 cores.

For gaming, the SoC also comes with the Adreno 710 integrated GPU. The realme 12 Pro performed well while we used it for everyday use, and we did not notice performance lags when using apps.  The 120Hz display is also a bonus for smooth visuals. We ran some benchmarks, including 3DMark WildLife and Slingshot, GeekBench 6 CPU and GPU, and Antutu tests. Here are the results below.

The realme 12 Pro also comes with a large 5000 mAh battery, and users can charge up to 50% battery capacity in just 19 minutes, thanks to the 67W fast charge. We ran the PCMark Work 3.0 battery test, which runs different app simulations from the device’s full-charge status up until the battery hits 20% battery. The Realme 12 Pro lasted for 16 hours and 42 minutes. Wireless features of the device include WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and 5G capability.

Camera

The realme 12 Pro comes with a large 16MP selfie camera and an f/2.4 lens. On the rear side, there are a total of three cameras. The main camera on the rear side packs a 50MP 1/2′ sensor with an f/1.8 lens, a 32MP telephoto shooter with an f/2.0 lens, and an 8MP snapper with an f/2.2 lens for ultrawide shots.

On the video side of things, the 12 Pro is capable of firing 4K videos but is limited to 30fps, along with 1080p videos at 120fps and 60fps. The front camera is only limited to 1080 at 30fps, which is a bit of a disappointment. We took some sample shots during day and night time, using each focal length of the camera system, from the wide-angle shooter, and till the maximum zoom range. Check out the samples below.

Daytime samples

Nighttime samples

Verdict

The realme 12 Pro is best for those looking for a mid-range smartphone that features a similar design as compared to premium models. The display used here is a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, with a 120Hz refresh rate, and 1080 x 2412 pixels as its screen resolution. The smartphone comes with IP65 certification for dust and water resistance. The device is 8.8mm thick and only weighs 190g.

The smartphone also features an under-display fingerprint scanner. The realme 12 Pro also boasts three cameras on the rear side, including telephoto and ultrawide shooters, and the main camera houses a 50MP sensor. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 mid-range SoC, along with memory up to 12GB, and storage up to 512GB of capacity. The device also houses a large 5000 mAh battery with a fast charge capability of 67W.