Realme 12 5G Review: specs and features, camera quality test, gaming benchmark, user opinions and photos

Realme 12 5G - stylish stagnation

The twelfth generation of smartphones from the Chinese company Realme turned out to be heterogeneous. If older models delight with photo capabilities, flagship design and wide functionality, then the younger representatives of the series are less interesting. Thus, the hero of today’s review largely repeats his predecessors and simply lags behind the general technological process.

The appearance of the new product can definitely be attributed to its advantages. The now signature round camera dial, leather-like back panel, side-mounted fingerprint scanner and small display frames allow the device to stand out from its opponents. The 6.72-inch IPS panel no longer deserves a lot of compliments. It is noticeably inferior to its AMOLED counterparts in terms of brightness reserve, which is why working with the mobile assistant in direct sunlight is hardly possible. Due to the mediocre visibility of the picture, you will have to look for a shadow. Of course, if the screen has a number of advantages. Their number is supplemented by increased smoothness at a 120-Hz image refresh rate, FullHD+ resolution, which is good for the chosen diagonal, and the presence of an oleophobic layer.

The technical characteristics were MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ CPU, 6GB/8GB RAM and Mali G57MC2 video accelerator. In addition to supporting 5G networks, the chipset offers good energy efficiency, but performance is far from record-breaking. Of course, more than 400 thousand points in the AnTuTu benchmark indicate that the Android 14 interface (RealmeUI shell) will not be replete with lags, but the gaming capabilities are far from top-end. This is especially noticeable in resource-intensive applications like Genshin Impact, Tank Company or Fortnite. Graphics settings must be reduced almost to the minimum level in order to achieve smooth gameplay without an abundance of friezes. But the 5000mAh battery helps the device function without searching for sockets for up to a couple of days. At the same time, the charging power was increased to a decent 45W, and the full battery capacity is reached in about an hour. The size of the permanent memory is already standard for the price segment 128GB, but it can be expanded with microSD cards.

The main 108- and 2-megapixel photo modules are not equipped with optical stabilization, so you shouldn’t hope for high-quality images in low light or highly dynamic objects. But static daytime photographs are much better for cameras. I don’t want to find fault with the color rendition and detail of such frames. For some reason they decided to save money on stereo sound, but left a jack for wired headphones. Unfortunately, contactless NFC payments have gone under the knife, with which payment for purchases in stores is much faster. Thus, the device cannot be definitely recommended for purchase, because it has some critical shortcomings and many strong competitors.