Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G test verdict: Time for a strategy change in the smartphone segment

As with the Redmi Note 10 Pro and Redmi Note 11 Pro before, buyers of the current Note 12 Pro series will again get very good hardware at a fair price, since that has already dropped significantly from the slightly high MSRP of 400 Euros (~$440).

Even though the Redmi Note 12 Pro only delivers 50 MP in the main camera instead of the 108 MPix in the Note 11 Pro, the optically stabilized Sony sensor (IMX766) delivers very beautiful pictures in daylight as well as competitive low-light quality. It would be difficult to find a better camera than in the Redmi Note 12 Pro in a midrange smartphone for less than 400 Euros. Particularly since compared to the Note 11 Pro, it is finally able to record videos in UHD quality.

On the other hand, aside from the good performance of the 50-MP camera and the powerful equipment, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro also deserves some critique on the software support. According to the response to our question from Xiaomi Germany, the Note 12 Pro will only receive two large Android updates. You should also keep in mind that one major OS upgrade will already be used for the update to the current Android 13, so that the next Android generation (Android 14) will probably be the end of the line. With the large number of products that are still produced by the Chinese manufacturer, a long product cycle with long-term updates might not be possible. But what was still unproblematic a few years ago, since many other manufacturers in this price segment didn't offer longer upgrade periods either, is now made much harder by the new product philosophy of the A series from Samsung. Google also offers significantly more and also faster updates with its "a" series. At this point, Xiaomi with its Redmi Note series has to be measured against this. Hopefully Xiaomi will change its strategy at some point and also offer a longer update period.

Are you interested in a midrange smartphone with OIS and need a long battery life? In that case, you can get a detailed impression on the Redmi Note 12 Pro from our extensive review of the Xiaomi smartphone.