Realme 12+ review
Realme UI 5 on top of Android 14
The Realme 12+ comes with the latest Android 14 out of the box but not without its custom skin on top. The device boots Realme UI 5.0, which is absolutely identical to Oppo's ColorOS 14 and OnePlus' OxygenOS 14, down to the last feature.
We recommend checking out our dedicated review of the Realme UI 5.0 , but keep in mind that not all features listed there are available on the Realme 12+ since it's a midranger with some hardware limitations.
For instance, Air gestures are out of the mix, and there's no alert slider. However, it appears that Realme brought most of the Realme UI 5.0-intrinsic functionalities to the 12+.
There is one thing that really bugs us with the UI that we just have to mention. Every time the app drawer opens, the search bar on top receives focus and thus triggers the on-screen keyboard. It is very annoying since, most of the time, you just want to scroll the app drawer. We think this should be a configurable behavior.
Information regarding software support policy is a bit scarce, but we do believe that Realme 12+ comes with the promise of two years of software updates and three years of security patches.
Benchmarks and performance
The Realme 12+ offers midrange performance. It is based on the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset, which is a fairly modern 6nm part from 2023. That's if you ignore the fact that the 7050 is practically a rebranded Dimensity 1080. Still, the latter came out in 2022, so it is still a pretty modern piece of silicon.
The Dimensity 7050 has an octa-core CPU setup with two distinct clusters. Two ARM Cortex-A78 big cores are on board, clocked at up to 2.6 GHz and another six small Cortex-A55 ones, working at up to 2.0 GHz. The GPU is a Mali-G68 MC4. There is also an AI processing unit onboard - the MediaTek APU 3.0.
The Realme 12+ is available in three distinct memory configurations: 8GB/128GB, 8GB/256GB and 12GB/512GB. As far as we can tell from the testing, the storage chips are UFS 3.1. Our review unit is a top-of-the-line 12GB/512GB model.
Let's kick things off with some CPU benchmarks and GeekBench. The Dimensity 7050 is not a particularly powerful chip, especially in the CPU department. The fact is that you can get much better performance in the same price bracket.
GeekBench 6
- Multi-core
- Single-core
Poco X6 Pro
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G
Nothing Phone (2a)
Motorola Edge 40 Neo
Realme 11 Pro
Realme 12+
Tecno Pova 5 Pro
For instance, MediaTek's Dimensity 7000 and 8000 series are much better and within reach. The same goes for Snapdragon 6 and 7 series chips. Even Samsung's not particularly popular Exynos midrange offers much better CPU scores, like the 1380 and 1480.
AnTuTu, and its much more diverse and full set of benchmarks, which includes GPU and memory tests, is much more kind towards the Realme 12+. It's not posting segment-leading results by any means, but it does seem to offer "middle-of-the-road" performance.
AnTuTu
- v9
- v10
Poco F5
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G
Galaxy A55
Nothing Phone (2a)
Honor 90
Realme 12+
Realme 11 Pro
That being said, it is not the obvious choice if you are after the most raw power for your money.
The Mali-G68 MC4 GPU inside the Realme 12+ holds its overall performance scores back quite a bit. It's just not competitive, even amongst price peers.
3DMark (offscreen)
- Wild Life (1440p)
- Wild Life Extreme (2160p)
Nothing Phone (2)
Galaxy A35
Motorola Edge 40 Neo
Realme 12 Pro
Realme 11 Pro
Realme 12+
Redmi Note 13 5G
We've discontinued GFXBench graphics benchmarking as the app is often banned/blacklisted on the phones we receive for review. The graphics performance ranking in 3D Mark is just as meaningful, so we suggest you refer to that one instead.
In more practical terms, while not a particularly snappy device, the Realme 12+ remained perfectly fluent and responsive during our time with it. It runs its UI well enough with no obvious slowdowns and hiccups and handles everyday tasks and things like social apps perfectly fine. Don't expect to do much gaming on it though. Casual titles are OK, but nothing beyond that.
Thermal-throttling
The Dimensity 7050 is far from the most performant chip out there, but it doesn't put out much heat either. Whatever heat it does produce gets handled masterfully by the Realme 12+.
Thermal-throttling
There is a 4357mm2, 7-layer stainless steel vapor chamber cooling system inside the phone, which appears to be working quite well. The chipset maintains most of its performance even with prolonged stress testing, and the surface of the phone barely gets warm to the touch during the process.
Reader comments
- M
- 11 May 2024
- CbG
Else xiaomi's software experience is so pathetic
- An0n
- 07 May 2024
- X}w
Why is this phone not showing in the GSMA photo compare tool?
- Anonymous
- 21 Apr 2024
- Sr6
Good for you. All I know is fakemi is far inferior to the real xiaomi