With 2024 being realme’s year to be more “brand-oriented”, the brand expands its Number Series to bring more value to its young users. Two years after bringing the 9 Pro+, we now have the realme 12+ 5G! (I will refer to it as “realme 12 Plus”) My main concern is how this phone is a “plus” to potential buyers. I’ve had it for a few days and here are my first impressions.
Disclaimer: realme Philippines sent over the realme 12 Plus 5G with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage in Pioneer Green. It arrived on February 21, 2024, and I’ve been using this as my main Android phone for almost a week.
Unboxing Experience
One thing I noticed right off the bat is the return to a more familiar realme box. While I did like the box we were getting since the realme 9 Pro+, I appreciate this simpler yellow box.
Besides the box, the unboxing experience is pretty typical for a realme phone. The jelly case is still clear and not a frosted one. We still get a charger and a cable out of the box as well (with 67W SUPERVOOC charging support).
A Phone That Looks and Feels Luxury
Since this is the first realme Number Plus model, I didn’t know what to expect from its design. Thankfully, realme got cues from the realme 11 Series models to get this Luxury Watch Design. We get the flat sides from the realme 11 and the camera module in the middle of the back from the realme 11 Pro Series. The back of the device also has Vegan Leather for that premium feel.
Co-designed with international luxury watch design master Ollivier Savéo, the phone’s overall design contains refined elements from his craft. While the shiny flat sides aren’t my thing, I can’t deny how premium it looks. This phone comes in Pioneer Green (the one I have) and Navigator Beige. I personally like how classy this green one is.
The Main Plus is This Camera!
One of the main reasons to get the realme 12 Plus is its 50MP Sony LYT-600 main camera. It may sound like a downgrade compared to many midrange phones with 108MP or even 200MP main cameras. However, smartphone cameras aren’t just about the megapixel count. This main camera has support for optical image stabilization (OIS) to produce better low-light photos. It even has support for 2x In-Sensor Zoom and Cinematic 2x Portrait Mode for good general zoom shots and good portraits.
An 8MP ultrawide camera and a 2MP macro camera are alongside the main rear camera. This phone also rocks a 16MP front camera. Besides the fact that there’s still a useless 2MP camera, there’s not much to discuss for now. I can’t go into detail on my thoughts on the cameras until the full review though. For now, I can share some sample photos!
What Else Makes This Phone A Plus?
That’s not all that the realme 12 Plus has to offer! Powering this phone is a MediaTek Dimensity 7050 processor with either 8 or 12 GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It has a 5000 mAh battery with 67W SUPERVOOC fast charging. We get two features that are becoming uncommon in the midrange segment: support for up to a 2TB microSD card and a 3.5mm headphone jack! It also has stereo speakers for an immersive movie-watching experience.
Like the realme 11, we get a flat display on the realme 12 Plus. It’s a 6.67-inch 120Hz E4 AMOLED display with 1200 nits in High Brightness Mode (HBM) and up to 2000 nits in Sunlight Mode! It’s nice to see a good display that we only saw in flagship phones a few years back in a midrange phone.
The realme 12 Plus runs realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14. One new feature I like is the bubble interface on the notification bar. In this case, it shows how many devices are connected via a mobile hotspot. There is also the File Dock, where you can drag any file from any app and store it for later use.
That’s all for my first impressions of the realme 12+ 5G! To know more about this and the realme 12 Pro+ 5G, watch out for the livestream launch on March 7, 2024, at 6 PM. You can watch the livestream on realme’s official Facebook and YouTube pages.
What do you want me to focus on for the full review? Sound off in the comments.
