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Review: realme 12 (8GB+256GB)
Review: realme 12 (8GB+256GB)

Review: realme 12 (8GB+256GB)

The brand positions the new realme 12 as an ideal device for both students and young professionals. With the back-to-school season returning in full swing, both students and parents are searching for a reliable smartphone that’s capable of handling the demands of academics, extracurricular activities, and social life. While young professionals looks for a phone that can handle heavy workloads and maintain durability.

The new realme 12 offers three standout features beneficial to both students and young professionals – a high-resolution camera with a Sony lens for more detail and wide range of color, a vibrant 120Hz AMOLED display with a high peak brightness, and a long-lasting battery with SUPERVOOC fast charging technology for rapid power top up.

If you want to know more, here’s our hands on experience with the new realme 12.

Pricing and Availability

The realme 12 in the 8GB+256GB configuration will retail for only PHP13,999.

Get a FREE TechLife Handheld Fan 3 worth P1,599 for customers who will avail the realme 12 from August 10-25 valid in all official realme retail stores until stocks last.

It will also be available online thru realme official e-commerce partners on Lazada, Shopee and TikTok Shop.

Design

Aside from the Pioneer Green review unit we got, the realme 12 is also available in Skyline Blue which is a more trendy color option.

In terms of exterior design, the realme 12 shares similarities with the realme 12 5G but it does have some few distinct elements to differentiate itself.

The realme 12 has a slim profile with thickness at 7.92mm and weighs a mere 187 grams holding comfortably for long hours and portable for everyday use.

The realme 12 still sports a premium back panel design with its Sunburst Dial design just like it’s other model variants. It is inspired by a trendy watch design found on the large circular camera module revealing a number of gradient sunburst patterns to create the classic sunburst effect of luxury watch dials.

In the Sunburst Dial, you’ll find four circular lens design, an LED flash at top center, and a OIS camera branding at the middle.

It still has the 3D Jubilee Bracelet design which is a strip of line found at the center with beautiful embossed diamond patterns flowing all the way from top to bottom.

Adding a touch of elegance and class to the phone’s overall design, the back cover panel has an appealing dark green tones in gradient finish with a shimmer effect.

The aluminum metal frame is finished in an anodized dark matte green as it complements the back panel’s color. Now, let’s explore the edge interface of the realme 12.

The volume rockers and power/sleep button are found on the right side edge.

The left side edge is completely clean free from any interruptions.

The bottom edge houses the SIM card tray, microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille. Pulling out the the hybrid SIM card tray accommodates either two nano SIM cards or a combination of one nano SIM and a microSD card.

On the top edge, you’ll find the 3.5mm headphone jack for your wired headphones, a small speaker grille and a secondary microphone.

Inspecting the front, we find slim bezels all-around the display area with a slightly elevated bottom chin and a small punch-hole cutout placed at the center of the front camera. At the bottom center, there’s a biometric sensor for the in-display fingerprint scanner with just the right location for easy access.

The front display panel supports a Rainwater Smart Touch feature able to be responsive to touch when there’s water on it, sweaty hands during workout, or after washing your hands

The realme 12 is made durable featuring an IP54 rating that can resist dust particles and splashes of water. Keep in mind with a water resistance on the phone, we advise users that’s it is not submersible under water.

Without a doubt the phone will undergo constant usage and to ensure durability, it underwent rigorous testing including over 320 stringent tests. The array of test consists of clicking the power button for 500,000 times, clicking on the volume rocker buttons 100,000 times, plugging and unplugging the USB cable 20,000 times, and 500,000 times of taps.

Display

The realme 12 boast a 6.67-inch Full HD+ display using an E4 AMOLED panel with resolutions of 2400×1080 pixels, 92.65 percent screen-to-body ratio, and touch sampling rate at 394 PPI.

With a peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits the screen remains readable even in bright sunlight. The adaptive brightness feature automatically adjusts brightness levels of your screen based on the surrounding lighting and your preferences.

The refresh rate can go up to 120Hz for smooth visuals or 60Hz if you want to save on battery. If you don’t want to manually set the refresh rate from time to time, the adaptive refresh rate automatically adjusts based on content for balance performance and power consumption.

Colors appears much richer and saturated on the realme 12 with its 100% DCI-P3 color accuracy providing a wider color gamut which is great for HDR movies or any video content.

Overall, the screen gives users good contrast, vibrant, sharp and wide viewing angles when viewed from different positions does not fade.

Performance

Beneath the internal core components of the realme 12 are flagship chipsets and high configurations to handle the most demanding tasks.

The realme 12 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 with a 6nm octa-core processor up to a maximum clock speeds of 2.8GHz and paired with an Adreno 610 for its GPU. Despite its release last year, this mid-range octa-core processor remains highly efficient, handling both work and play with ease thanks to its 6nm architecture as the CPU excels at multitasking and the GPU can easily run top gaming apps.

The internal storage has a generous 256GB enough to store all your photos, videos and apps you need to install. You can even use a microSD card to increase your storage space by up to 1TB, if it’s still insufficient for your requirements.

Internal memory of the phone offers an 8GB RAM with Dynamic RAM Expansion you can add another 8GB RAM bringing it to a total of 16GB RAM. It uses the internal storage of the phone to act as a virtual RAM and users has two more options of how much storage to use as Virtual RAM in either 4GB or 6GB RAM. The expanded 16GB RAM will help improve total performance as the phone is able to open and run apps faster.

Sharing our benchmark scores we got for the realme 12:

  • GeekBench 6 CPU: 469 Single Core / 1523Multi-Core
  • GeekBench 6 GPU: 374 OpenCL Score
  • CPDT: 351.07 MB/s Write, 248.91 MB/s Read
  • PCMark: 9691 Work 3.0 Performance
  • 3DMark: 649 Wild Life (3.89 fps)

If you’re a solid gamer concerned about overheating, don’t worry as the realme 12 has a stainless steel vapor chamber cooling system. You have seven layers of materials including graphite sheets to dissipate heat over a vast 12,436mm² area for better performance during long hours of continuous gameplay.

So far when it comes to sound quality on the realme 12, it delivers clear and balanced audio quality thanks to its dual stereo speakers, unlike many phones that rely solely on bottom-firing speakers. This type of audio setup creates a wider soundstage and even distribution of sound output from both the top and bottom of the device.

There’s a Hi-Res Audio certification that guarantees high-definition audio output from both top and bottom speakers for a detailed and immersive listening experience when you play music or video.

It comes with an audio enhancement technology with OReality Audio, you get four sound profiles ( Smart, Movie, Gaming, and Music) for different applications and scenarios that intelligently switch or can manually be selected according to user preferences.

For biometrics, the face and fingerprint scanner are available on the realme 12. It took me less than 2 minutes to register them both and when you use them, they are fast enough to unlock the phone. You can add another layer of security on the phone with the usual screen lock either in numeric, alphanumeric, and pattern.

For the realme 12, it uses a 4G/LTE network and supports for a two nano SIM cards should you wish to have two mobile network on it.

Camera

In the camera department, the realme is fitted with dual cameras comprising of a 50MP main camera and a 2MP mono lens that’s paired with a flicker camera a light sensor to detect the ambient lighting and help to improve shots during low light conditions.

The 50MP main camera has a focal length of 26mm with an aperture of f/1.88 enough to create a shallow depth of field to make your subject standout nice on a blurred background. The sensor on the main camera is using a Sony LYT600 that has a size of 1/1.95-inch. There’s also optical image stabilization built on this camera lens to avoid unwanted shakes in case you’re moving while taking the shot. It supports a 2x in-sensor zoom to have closer shots from longer distances.

The front camera has a 16MP lens with an aperture of f/2.45, field of view of 82.6-degrees, and sensor size of 1/3-inch for enhanced selfies during low light.

For videos, you can record footages with resolutions of 1080p and 720p at 30fps. You can select the available Super Steady mode on the camera app to allow for a stable video shooting if moving at fast speed, but the image crops in a little further to achieve that firm shots.

The camera app layout is simple, as you open it you already have five shooting modes ready at your dispersal with Night, Street, Video, Photo, and Portrait. If you click the more options, you get a few more extra modes with Pro, Pano, Hi-Res, Movie, Slo-Mo, Time-Lapse, Text Scanner, and Tilt-Shift.

On the top of the viewfinder, you have a few camera functions for the flash and Google Lens. But, if you click on the hamburger menu you got the other camera functions for the timer, aspect ratio size, HDR, Interval Shooting, and settings.

You get two zoom switch options on standby with 1x and 2x, while on the zoom dial switch you go up to 10x.

The realme 12 offers an array of built-in camera filters which includes Vivid, Warm, Cool, Gray, Mono, B&W, Natural, Food, Film 1, Film 2, Faded, and Cyberpunk to enhance both portraits and landscapes photos with artistic color effects. Three more color filters were added coming from the realme 12 Series to add more tone and style with Journey, Memory, and Maverick.

1x Photo Mode, Indoor – Mall, Ambient Lighting

1x Photo Mode, Outdoor, Sunny Weather

1x Photo Mode, Outdoor, Sunny Weather

2x Photo Mode, Outdoor, Sunny Weather

1x Photo Mode, Indoor – Mall, Ambient Lighting

2x Photo Mode, Indoor – Mall, Ambient Lighting

1x Night Mode, Outdoor, Low Lighting

1x Photo Mode + Maverick Filter, Indoor – Restaurant, Ambient Lighting

1x Photo Mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting

See how the color reproduction of the photos on the main camera when shot at indoors

Selfie – Photo mode, Indoor, Ambient Lighting

Selfie – Portrait mode (Depth of field at f/4.5), Indoor, Ambient Lighting

The image quality on the main camera of the realme 12 is pretty good for its price.

During bright conditions especially outdoors or if the area has a bright ambient lighting, the photos we took has details, dynamic range are nice, and colors looks very natural. And if you render a few tweaks or add the color filters on the photos, they are now social-media-ready for posting.

During low light conditions, the main camera manages to produce decent image quality with a slight occurrence of noise, even when using night mode.

With the portrait mode, we have our images generate a pleasing separation of foreground from background. The aperture can be manually adjusted and already viewed real time as we compose the shots. While I’m not a fan of beauty filters, the camera app offers it for those who prefer a retouch with its AI beauty algorithm.

With the 16MP selfie camera of the phone, it was able to capture good facial details during daylight or the ambient lighting is bright. The color reproduction is also natural not too saturated enough for color adjustment or add color filters with it.

Software

The realme 12 comes out of the box running in the latest Android 14 version with the realme UI 5.0.

The phone comes pre-loaded with a generous number of apps, including popular platforms like Agoda, Booking.com, Facebook, Netflix, Spotify, TikTok ,LinkedIn, WPS Office and shopping platforms like Lazada and Shopee are already installed. While some pre-installed games are included some of the popular game titles like PUBG and Mobile Legends are not there, plus you get realme’s own proprietary apps.

Under the new and improved realme UI 5.0, it has an updated design, customize your wallpapers or themes, and lots of always-on-display (AOD) options. There are more  new features added on its latest operating system especially for personalization and performance like File Dock, Flash Capsule, Phone Link, and 360-degree NFC.

Smart Sidebar

File Dock

Located at the smart sidebar, the File Dock offers a cross-app sharing feature to easily transfer text, links, images or a screenshot between apps by dragging and dropping them into its folder.

The new Flash Capsule feature sets apart from the previously introduced Mini Capsule, although both technologies aim to improve notification management, they differ in approach. The Mini Capsule displays essential information in a compact elongated capsule-shaped interface found on the front camera in just seconds, while the Flash Capsule offers a more interactive experience with real-time notifications and animations (audio recording, timer, music) that stays on top of the display much longer.

realme in partnership with Microsoft offers a PhoneLink feature to extend your smartphone experience to your PC to make or receive calls, run mobile apps, transfer files, images, and text between both devices.

Soon, fintech and telecom companies will leverage the NFC technology for contactless payments, similar to Globe’s Tap To Pay already rolling out this year. The realme 12’s 360-degree NFC feature enables a quick and more convenient transactions from varying angles of the device by eliminating the need for precise device alignment. It has an increased sensor area by 40% and sensor range by 10% versus the regular NFC from other phones.

More additional features I found very convenient with the new realme UI is the Dual-mode Audio that connects a pair of Bluetooth earphones and a pair of wired headphones allowing simultaneous connection to share your audio whether it’s your favorite music or attending online meetings. With the in-display fingerprint scanner, the phone can do a Heart Rate Measurement to check and monitor your health.

Battery

The realme 12 is powered by a 5,000 mAh battery with support for a SUPERVOOC fast charging technology to quickly juice up the phone. Realme claims it can charge the battery from a 1 percent to 50 percent in just 19 minutes and 100 percent full charge for only 47 minutes.

In our charging test, a 15-minute charge brought the battery to an initial 39%, then the next 15 minutes it reached to 64%. The realme 12 was able to fully charged from 0 to 100% in just 52 minutes, aligning closely with the claimed charging time.

The reason for the efficient and fast charging ability of the battery is due to the Dual Charge Pump Technology plus paired with multiple algorithms like VCVT Intelligent Tuning Algorithm and VFC Trickle Charging Algorithm.

The battery settings offer additional optimization options, including Power Saving mode for extended battery life, Charging Limit to prevent overcharging regulating the charging at 80% only, and Performance mode for demanding tasks. Additional feature still under the settings menu is conveniently displaying the expected charging speed and remaining time as it helps reduce the need for frequent checks on the battery while charging.

Rest assured that the realme 12 is equipped with 38 safety features across the charging adapter, cable, interface, and battery to protect your device even if you forget to unplug it or cause any abnormalities during charging the device. Here are the following safety features on the realme 12 – Intelligent Five-Core Chip Protection, Adapter Overload Protection, SuperDart Charge Condition Identification Protection, Interface Overload Protection, Overcurrent-Protection and Voltage Overload Protection, and Battery Fuse Protection.

What We Like

  • Good Aesthetics
  • IP54 Rating
  • Sharp and Vibrant AMOLED Display
  • 2,000 Nits Peak Brightness
  • 120Hz Refresh Rate
  • Rainwater Smart Touch
  • Great Main Camera Outputs
  • 5,000 mAh Battery
  • 67W SUPERVOOC Fast Charger
  • 38 Safety Protection Features
  • Expandable Storage
  • RAM Expansion
  • realme UI 5.0
  • AI Boost
  • Reasonable Price

What We Want

  • Ultra-Wide Camera
  • 1080p at 60fps
  • Less Bloatware
  • All Camera Functions Out From Hamburger Menu

Conclusion

We initially thought that the realme 12 5G that we reviewed would be the base model under the realme 12 series. However, just last month, the company announced that they will be releasing another variant, the standard 4G version of the realme 12.

With the latest realme 12 now in the market, we know that the brand is strategically launching this new phone to cater to an audience who is looking an affordable and a capable smartphone without compromising on essential features. The target audience for the realme 12 are students and young professionals which is fit for this device.

The new realme 12 is one impressive base model!

It still integrates the luxury watch design along with the 3D Jubilee Bracelet found on its other realme 12 series to look sleek and premium looking.

Its performance is adequate for most daily activities, and you can play popular mobile games on it. Don’t worry about playing or watching for hours on this phone, as it is equipped with a VC cooling system to dissipate heat.

The main camera has more great image quality in daylight while in low lighting it’s pretty decent, just use the Night mode in case you’re in that situation.

The large 6.67-inch screen with the E4 AMOLED panel provides bright images and smooth scrolling experience thanks to the 120 Hz refresh rate. We just love how great the colors and sharp details when we watch any video content on the realme 12.

In terms of battery life, we feel that heavy users might struggle to make it through the day. In our experience, after a morning of gaming, watching hours of YouTube and TikTok videos, and browsing our social media apps, we had already used up nearly half of the battery by lunchtime. And to compensate this, the realme 12 comes with 67W SUPERVOOC fast charging so you’re fully charge with the device again in less than an hour. It will have you back up and running in no time.

If that’s not enough for you, they’ve also added new features to the realme 12 that make it worth your money, including a 360-degree NFC, Flash Capsule, File Dock, Phonelink, Rain Water Smart Touch, and even some AI technologies like AI Boost, AI Smart Charging, AI Dual Light Sensors, and AI Protective Film Touch.

The realme 12 will certainly has its pros and cons but with the attractive price point of HP13,999 you’re still getting an array of good features from the camera, display, software, chipsets, fast charging technology and some convenient AI stuff on this phone.

Now here’s a spec comparison between the realme 12 5G and the new realme 12 to guide you in choosing the perfect model for your needs.

realme 12 – Full Specifications

  • Price: PHP13,999
  • Colors: Pioneer Green, Skyline Blue
  • Display Panel: E4 AMOLED
  • Display Size: 6.67-inch
  • Resolution: FHD+ 2400*1080
  • PPI: 394
  • Screen-to-Body Ratio: 92.65%
  • Refresh Rate: 120Hz
  • Touch Sampling Rate: 180Hz
  • Brightness: 600 Nits (Typ); 1,200 Nits (HBM); 2,000 Nits (Sunlight Mode)
  • Protection: IP54 Dust and Water Resistance
  • Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 (6nm; 4G)
  • Storage: 256GB
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Battery: 5000 mAh
  • Charging Wattage: 67W SUPERVOOC Charge
  • Camera Rear: 50MP Sony LYT600 OIS + 2MP Mono + Flicker
  • Camera Front: 16MP
  • Speakers: 2
  • OS: realme UI 5.0, Android 14
  • Voice Assistant: Google Assistant
  • Audio Ports: 3.5mm Headphone Jack
  • Audio Certification: Hi-Res
  • WiFi: 2.4GHz, 5GHz
  • Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0
  • Frequency Bands: 2G / 3G / 4G
  • Dimensions (LxWxH): 162.95mm x 75.45mm x 7.92mm
  • Weight: 187g
  • In The Box: realme 12, 67W SUPERVOOC Charging Adapter, USB Type A to Type C USB Cable, Warranty Card, Safety Guide, Quick Guide, SIM Ejector Pin, Clear Protective Case

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About The Author

Raymund Ravanera is an accomplished and experienced graphic designer with almost 20 years of creative expertise working in the graphic design industry. He loves the latest gadgets, food and movies. Currently, he owns and manages megabites.com.ph, an online technology and lifestyle blog since 2015.

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