Redmi Note 12 Turbo Review – Magical Budget Smartphone which can Genshin 56FPS Playing

I purchased the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Turbo Edition.

8+ Gen 1 level of performance for a low price

The Redmi Note 12 Turbo is a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 powered smartphone.

Even though it is cheap, it has as much CPU performance as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, the high-end SoC of 2022, and is capable of playing Genshin at an average of 56 FPS even at the highest quality.

While many parts of the device have been cut for cosmetic reasons, it is highly recommended for those who don’t mind as long as the display and performance are good enough.

I purchased the Harry Potter edition.

This review is done on the 12GB+256GB version, V14.0.5.0.TMRCNXM.

• Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 that combines high performance and power saving
• Weighs 182g despite being a high-performance budget model
• Easy-to-read display, even outdoors
• 5,000mAh battery with 67W charging capability
• Built-in earphone jack

• Rear texture is appropriate for the price
• Random reads are slow

	Redmi Note 12 Turbo (23049RAD8C)
OS	Android 13
RAM	8GB / 12GB / 16GB LPDDR5 (LPDDR5X)
Storage	256GB / 512GB / 1TB UFS 3.1
SoC	Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2
Display	6.67inch FHD+ 2400 x 1080 Aspect ratio 20:9 120Hz OLED
Size	161.11 x 74.95 x 7.9mm
Weight	181g
SIM	nano SIM + nano SIM
Rear Camera	64MP (OIS / OmniVision OB64B40) + 8MP (Ultra-wide Sony IMX395) + 2MP (Macro GalaxyCore GC02M1)
Front Camera	16MP (Samsung S5K3P9S04)
Battery	5,000mAh
USB Port	USB Type-C (USB 2.0)
Bands	5G ：n1/n3/n5/n8/n28a/n38/n41/n77/n78 4G：FDD-LTE ：B1/B3/B5/B8/B19 TDD-LTE：B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42 3G：WCDMA：B1/B5/B6/B8/B19 2G：GSM：B3/B5/B8 CDMA 1X : BC0

The packaging of the Harry Potter Edition is quite luxurious, unlike the standard edition, and is black with the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry crest and other gold decorations.

On the back are designs of four dormitories, including Gryffindor and Slytherin.

The lid is closed with a magnet.

First comes the letter from Hogwarts addressed to Harry Potter and the SIM pin.

It is fastened with wax-shaped parts.

It is addressed to the cupboard under the stairs.

The inside is an enrollment guide, listing things such as what is required.

On the back is the same information in Chinese, but unlike the English version, it is written in a normal gothic font….

The SIM pin is designed for London King’s Cross Station, where the trains to Hogwarts depart from, on the “nine and three-quarter line”.

The charger, case, etc. are located under the board with the SIM pin.

In addition to the case, charger, and USB Type-A to C cable, three stickers are included.

The case is also decorated on the back with Harry Potter’s glasses and broom.

…However, it is not very useful as a protective case as it is only half protected.

Is the “half-blood” represented by halving the case?

I wanted it to cover all of them, as it seems tacky to have only half of them look different….

The instruction manual is also gorgeously designed with a ninja map motif.

The boot animation and theme are all Harry Potter.

Bright display, easy to see even outdoors

The Redmi Note 12 Turbo features a 6.67″ FHD+ (2400 x 1080) resolution OLED display.

It supports 120Hz refresh rate and has a touch sampling rate of 240Hz.

A protective film is factory attached.

The bezels are clean and thin for a budget phone.

When measuring the brightness with the LX-1336B during all-white HDR video playback with automatic brightness adjustment on, it reached a maximum of 945 nits.

It is quite easy to see even outdoors and is distinctly different from other budget mid-range smartphones.

The array is diamond pixels.

The total touch latency measured by the WALT Latency Timer was 41.2ms.

This is about the same latency as the REDMAGIC 8 Pro.

Widevine L1 allows streaming in HD quality on Amazon Prime Video (beta) and others.

Back is plastic and slightly concave

The back of the Redmi Note 12 Turbo is plastic and cost-cutting.

It is a little scary that it dents a little when pressed…

It is fingerprint resistant and stays clean.

Thanks to the fact that it is not made of glass, it weighs in at a light 182.3 grams.

No other smartphone with this light weight, Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1-like performance, and a 6.67″ display is priced at the ¥30,000 range, beating its competitor, the realme GT Neo5 SE, which weighs 193.1g.

Surprisingly beautiful camera there.

The Redmi Note 12 Turbo is a cost-conscious device, so the camera is also a cost-cutting measure.

However, thanks to the 64MP OIS optical image stabilization main camera, it is possible to take some beautiful photos.

The design is based on Harry Potter’s glasses and scars.

All photos were taken hand-held and in auto mode, and are saved here.

Red color is strong.

I took the following photos in the order of 2x, 5x, and 10x.

Even the blades of the ab are clearly visible, which I think is good for a mid-range model in this price range.

Although the night scene gives a slightly faded impression, areas such as the logo sign are not too white.

This is how it looks at 2x zoom.

Fingerprint sensor on the side

The Redmi Note 12 Turbo has volume and power buttons on the right side, with a fingerprint sensor built into the power button.

Authentication speed is fast.

You can choose whether the fingerprint authentication is performed when you touch or press the power button.

Equipped with earphone jack

A 3.5mm earphone jack, which is rarely seen in recent high-end models, is mounted on the top.

Wired earphones can be used without conversion adapters.

Although there are three holes on the top, these are stereo speakers of the type that are used both for calls and for sound leakage only.

The WALT Latency Timer measured the audio output delay of the earphone jack to be 25.1 ms.

It is Dolby Atmos compatible and is the type of speaker that can be turned off.

Bass seemed light and treble was a bit stronger.

Sound quality is subtle for the price, but sound pressure is adequate.

Although the official Bluetooth codecs are only listed as AAC / LDAC / LHDC 5.0 compatible on the official website, aptX Adaptive and TWS+ are actually available as well.

Supports 67W fast charging

The Redmi Note 12 Turbo is budget-friendly, yet supports 67W fast charging.

It has a 5,000mAh battery, which coupled with the power-saving Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2, provides good battery life.

Supported bands for Asia

The following bands are supported by the Redmi Note 12 Turbo.

• 5G ：n1/n3/n5/n8/n28a/n38/n41/n77/n78
• 4G：FDD-LTE ：B1/B3/B5/B8/B19
• TDD-LTE：B34/B38/B39/B40/B41/B42
• 3G：WCDMA：B1/B5/B6/B8/B19
• 2G：GSM：B3/B5/B8
• CDMA 1X : BC0

VoLTE calling is also available.

High performance on par with 8+ Gen 1

The Redmi Note 12 Turbo is powered by the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2, a SoC with almost the same configuration as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.

In Geekbench 6, the package name-disguised version (i.e., not affected by the manufacturer’s boost) had a single-core 1355 and multi-core 4042, while the regular version had a single-core 1627 and multi-core 4251.

These scores are about the same as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.

AI performance measured in Geekbench ML with TensorFlow Lite/NNAPI was a score of 528.

PCMark Work 3.0 (package name disguised), which measures performance in everyday use such as document manipulation, scored 11187.

The Wild Life Extreme Stress Test in 3DMark with disguised package name showed a score of 1970 to 1964, with a temperature increase from 19°C to 38°C (19°C increase) and a battery consumption of 8%.

The score was on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, with a difference from the 8+ Gen 1 in 3D performance.

However, the stability is quite high at 99.7% and the battery consumption is low, so although the best score is about the same, the overall performance remains high for a long period of time, unlike the 8 Gen 1.

There was no significant difference in the normal version of the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test.

After two consecutive tests, the stability was 99.6% and 99.7%, with a maximum battery temperature of 38°C.

Even with the performance mode turned on, which enhances performance by tolerating heat generation, the battery temperature was 40°C after two consecutive runs.

There is not much difference from the balanced mode with only a slight increase in stability….

Storage is UFS 3.1, which is one of the slowest among smartphones with the same standard.

Random reads in particular are quite slow, and there were times when the slow random reads seemed to be a drag, such as when playing Genshin and the FPS suddenly dropped to the 40FPS range in areas with many objects.

The memory is supposed to be LPDDR5, but the disassembly video shows that the memory used is Micron’s LPDDR5X memory D8CCP, which is the same as the vivo X90 Pro+.

First, I played Genshin in balanced mode with the highest quality, 60 FPS setting, and Sumeru, and measured with TakoStats, averaging 54.6 FPS and consuming 87 mW per FPS.

The battery temperature rose to a maximum of about 38.9℃.

In balanced mode, the battery may be limited to 45 FPS after a while above 35°C. It seems that the temperature rise is not the only trigger for the limitation.

Next, 30 minutes of play in performance mode averaged 56.339 FPS and consumed 96 mW per FPS.

Battery temperature rose to 40.4°C.

This is in line with the frame rate and power efficiency of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 models.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra, when there was no high-load Sumeru area, averaged 58.8 FPS and 82.5 mW power consumption per FPS with a rise to 41°C, so you can see how monstrous the Redmi Note 12 Turbo is, which can play close to that at this price point.

Conclusion

• Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 that combines high performance and power saving
• Weighs 182g despite being a high-performance budget model
• Easy-to-read display, even outdoors
• 5,000mAh battery with 67W charging capability
• Built-in earphone jack

• Rear texture is appropriate for the price
• Random reads are slow

The Redmi Note 12 Turbo is comparable to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in terms of performance for a budget price, and can play heavy games quite comfortably, although the slow random reads are a bit of a drag.

The display is also easy to see outdoors as it can produce more than 900 nits, and it’s hard to believe that this is a sub-$300 phone.

There are rumors that it will be available globally as the POCO F5.

Buy at JD

Buy at GIZTOP

Buy at AliExpress

The Harry Potter edition is not yet restocked at JD (and probably will not be in stock in the future), but is available at GIZTOP.

Buy at GIZTOP