Realme 12+ first impressions

The Realme 12 series now comprises four smartphones - Realme 12, Realme 12+, Realme 12 Pro, and Realme 12 Pro+ that we already reviewed. We now have the Realme 12+ with us, so let's do a quick unboxing of the smartphone to see what it's all about.

The Realme 12+ comes in a yellow-colored retail package like the other smartphones in the lineup. It includes a protective case, a 67W power adapter, a charging cable, and a SIM ejector tool.

The Realme 12+ is built around a flat 6.67" 120Hz FullHD+ E4 AMOLED screen with HDR10+ certification. It can display 16.7 million colors and has a 100% P3 color gamut. The panel has a 2,000 nits peak brightness, claimed to go as low as two nits. The display also uses Rainwater Smart Touch tech, which uses the screen's scanning data to determine whether the screen or the hands on the screen had water on them. This is to avoid unexpected touch actions and improve touch accuracy.

The AMOLED screen also has a centered punch-hole for the 16MP selfie camera with f/2.45 aperture and an 82.6° FOV. It uses a 1/3" sensor.

Additionally, the Realme 12+'s display has a fingerprint scanner underneath, advertised to have an unlock speed of 0.55s. In the short time we spent with the smartphone, we found it to be fast and accurate. However, we'd have liked the fingerprint scanner to be placed a bit higher for ease of reach and a more comfortable unlocking experience.

Turn the Realme 12+ around, and you will see a design similar to the Realme 12 Pro series. At first glance, you might not even be able to tell the three phones apart since the Realme 12+ also flaunts a 3D Jubilee Bracelet spanning the length of the rear panel, interrupted by the circular camera island.

The cover also uses dirt-resistant vegan leather, which not only prevents fingerprint smudges and provides a good grip but also makes the phone nice to touch while giving it a premium look.

Circling back to the camera island, we've got an LED flash and three cameras — a 50MP primary (Sony LYT-600, OIS), an 8MP ultrawide (112°), and a 2MP macro with f/1.88, f/2.2, and f/2.4 apertures, respectively.

The Realme 12+ can record 1080p videos at up to 60FPS and 4K videos at 30FPS. It also comes with three Master Camera filters named Journey Filter, Memory Filter, and Maverick Filter, inspired by the movies Life Of Pi, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Top Gun: Maverick, respectively.

The Realme 12+'s camera island flaunts the Polished Sunburst Dial pattern seen on the Pro models, creating a nice visual effect when light hits it at different angles. It also matches the color of the back panel, which, in our case, is green since we've received the Pioneer Green version. The other variant is Navigator Beige.

However, the difference here is that the Realme 12+'s camera island isn't surrounded by the Golden Fluted Bezel we have on the Pro and Pro+, which makes those phones look more premium. You get a shiny, reflective, golden-colored ring around the camera module, though.

Another difference is the flat design. Unlike the Realme 12 Pro and Pro+, the Realme 12+ has flat frames and a back cover, making the phone less comfortable to hold. Having slender curves around the edges of the rear panel like the iQOO Neo9 Pro and iQOO 12 would've made the Realme 12+ easier to hold despite the flat frames, which are shiny and get smudged.

The Realme 12+'s right-side frame houses the volume rocker and power button. At the bottom is the USB-C port, flanked by a speaker grille, primary microphone, and dual-SIM slot. Up top is the 3.5mm headphone jack, joined by the secondary mic.

Realme 12+'s ports and controls

Under the hood, the Realme 12+ has the Dimensity 7050 SoC with 8GB RAM and 128GB/256GB storage. It runs Android 14-based Realme UI 5.0 out of the box, and Realme has promised to provide two years of Android version upgrades and three years of security updates.

Fueling the entire package is a 5,000 mAh battery, advertised to go from 1% to 50% in 19 minutes and 100% in 48 minutes with the bundled 67W adapter. The rest of the Realme 12+'s highlights include 5G connectivity, an IP54 rating, Hi-Res Audio, and dual stereo speakers.

The Realme 12+ is available in multiple markets, including India, where it starts at INR20,999 ($255/€230).