realme’s Number Series has seen a lot of changes in the past three years. Since the introduction of the realme 9 Pro+, the brand doubled down on bringing better smartphone cameras. While the Pro Series already does that, I think it’s nice to get a new Plus model in the Number Series. Is the realme 12+ 5G worth spending almost P20,000 for? Find out in my full review
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 two weeks.
Design and Build
Like its more expensive sibling, the realme 12+ 5G has a Luxury Watch Design. Co-developed with Ollivier Savéo, an international luxury watch design master, this phone’s design features many elements you can find in luxury watches. These elements include the Polished Sunburst Dial, the 3D Jubilee Bracelet, and the Polished PVD Edges. While I’m not a fan of the shiny frame, the overall package feels more premium.
On top of the more premium feel, we get previously missing features like the headphone jack and the microSD card slot! Granted, the latter is a hybrid slot in which you can put either two SIM cards or a single SIM plus a microSD card. Another good thing about this phone is its IP54 dust and water resistance! While you still can’t submerge this phone in water, it’s nice to know that it can take a splash of water or two.
realme really brought its design A-game with the realme 12+ 5G. Its premium look and feel is what we come to know and love about the brand while keeping essentials that were previously gone from a lot of midrange phones.
Display
The realme 12+ 5G uses a 6.67-inch E4 AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and an FHD+ resolution (2400 x 1080). Protecting the display is a 0.68mm Secondary Tempered High Strength Glass which may seem like a downgrade from even the realme 11’s Gorilla Glass 5 protection. While I value having it, it’s not something I think about other than it being on a spec sheet.
I like the quality of this display. It’s plenty bright and colors pop here. A very useful feature for me is the up to 2000 nits peak brightness under bright sunlight. This is a feature I don’t see in the midrange very often. While it doesn’t reach that high all the time, this phone’s display mostly matches a flagship phone I use with the same peak brightness levels. I did try testing out the Rainwater Smart Touch feature for a bit, and it works when you’re in a pinch and the phone’s display gets wet.
My only criticism of this display is the chin on the bottom. I already see other midrange phones bring more uniform bezels on their displays and it would be nice to see realme adapt that by now.
Speakers
The dual speakers on this phone are loud enough, but the sound isn’t as full. While I do appreciate excellent sound coming out of phone speakers, these are good enough for most people. I’m just not sure exactly how Hi-Res Audio support works, especially when most of the audio content we listen to is either from web video or from music streaming services.
Performance and Software
The realme 12+ 5G uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 processor with either 8 or 12 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. If that processor sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the same one used in the realme 11 Pro Series. Using the same processor isn’t a bad thing when you consider the optimizations realme does with its software.
If you were to ask me whether spending more for 12GB RAM is worth it, I would say yes. Just having that flexibility to run more apps while not missing a beat performance-wise is always worth it. Based on previous experience with realme’s Number Series phones, I also wouldn’t say that the 8GB variant is a bad experience either.
That being said, this phone performs well. While you won’t expect to play graphics-intensive games like Genshin Impact in max settings, you can pretty much play most mobile games out there.
Benchmark Results
In case you need them, here are the benchmark results:
realme UI 5.0
This phone is one of the first realme phones to run the full realme UI 5.0 out of the box. Based on Android 14, it brings some new features that enhance the overall experience further. My two favorite features are the File Dock and the Flash Capsule. The former lets you store links, files, and more for later use, while the latter shows certain important information like the number of devices connected to your mobile hotspot.
realme UI has been one of those Android skins that don’t slow me down when using a realme phone. That has not changed here with the realme 12+ 5G. I do wish they could lessen the amount of bloatware though.
Battery Experience
Like most of realme’s phones, the realme 12+ 5G has a 5000 mAh battery. It also comes with 67W SUPERVOOC fast charging. I can comfortably say that I get a full day of use out of this phone. My day of use consists of watching at least an hour of YouTube videos, at least an hour of social media use, and occasional gaming. This phone shines when I’m doing lighter tasks as it can do a day and a half whenever that happens. Charging this phone only takes around 45 minutes to finish charging from 0 to 100%.
Here are screenshots of a day when I was mostly using Wi-Fi:
I performed the PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life benchmark and got almost 14 hours of use. This is nice for most cases and supports my “day and a half” usage.
Thanks to a balance of good battery life and 67W fast charging, I can count on the realme 12+ 5G through a full workday.
Cameras
The previous sections of this review are things that I expected to say about a realme Number Series phone. My overall sentiments about the realme 12+ 5G boil down to its cameras. This is the first time realme used the 50MP Sony LYT-600 main camera in a phone and I’m glad it’s in this phone. Supporting that main rear camera is an 8MP ultrawide camera and a 2MP macro camera. We also get a 16MP front camera to take those ever-important selfies. Are the photos coming out of this phone a DEFINITE PLUS? Let’s find out together!
Click on photos for full-resolution versions!
One thing that impressed me with the main camera of the realme 12+ 5G is how much detail it can show. Taking photos with this phone gives me confidence I can get a good shot most of the time. It may not be as consistent as a proper flagship phone, but it’s good enough for me.
I also like the color reproduction in the photos coming from the main camera. The quality surprised me here even if I knew the 50MP main camera has optical image stabilization (OIS).
The standout photos for me are the food photos. While the results may vary due to color reproduction and lighting, I’m really happy with the food photos I got. They make the food more appetizing. (I got hungry as I wrote this. Haha!)
Thanks to that aforementioned OIS, I love the low-light shots coming out of the 50MP Sony LYT-600 main camera. It retains detail very well and I don’t see much noise.
How’s The Ultrawide Camera?
I’ll just go and ignore that useless 2MP macro camera and go straight to the 8MP ultrawide camera. While I can see why phone makers still use an 8MP ultrawide, I just wish they would simply use a better sensor here. That being said, I commend realme for trying to match the colors of the ultrawide camera with the main camera.
Front Camera
The 16MP front camera hasn’t changed much compared to its predecessors. It handles low light well, but it would be nice to see a higher-resolution camera here for better group selfies and 4K video recording.
Should You Buy the realme 12+ 5G?
I’ve experienced almost every aspect of this phone in the previous iteration of the realme Number Series. The realme 12+ 5G brings most of what was good about that iteration and puts its spin on it. From the Luxury Watch Design to the flat 120Hz E4 AMOLED display to the 50MP Sony LYT-600 main camera, this phone is definitely a PLUS to me.
If you’re looking for a mid-range phone that nails the fundamentals while bringing a flagship-level main camera, then the realme 12+ 5G is for you. With the intro price starting at P14,999 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant, you’re getting a lot for your money.
Pros
- The Luxury Watch Design gives off a more premium feel plus a nice Pioneer Green color
- Good 120Hz flat E4 AMOLED display with 2000 nits peak brightness
- The return of the microSD card slot and the headphone jack is nice
- Good optimization of the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 with up to 12GB RAM and realme UI 5.0
- Battery experience was good with the combination of its 5000 mAh battery and 67W SUPERVOOC
- Excellent shots in general from the 50MP Sony LYT-600 main camera
- Decent 8MP ultrawide camera
Cons
- Its Polished PVD Edges are too shiny and leave fingerprints
- Same processor as the predecessor
- realme UI still has bloatware
- The same old useless 2MP macro camera
- No 4K video recording in the front camera
The realme 12+ 5G comes in two variants. You can get the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant for P17,999 and the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant for P19,999. It is available in realme Concept Stores and authorized retailers nationwide. You can also get one online via e-commerce partners Lazada, Shopee, and TikTok Shop.