Redmi 12C: An intriguing look for fairly ordinary Android smartphone specs at a reasonable price

Redmi seems to have made a start on upgrading its 11 series of yesteryear in China, although it has done so in a low-key way with the new 12C. The smartphone has debuted with a novel, diagonal pinstripe effect to its flattened-edge casing, finished in a bright green, lilac, matte black or navy blue. 

The Xiaomi brand keeps its design level high with a camera hump that manages to dominate the 12C's rear panel in its own right, even though about half of it is taken up with Redmi branding rather than lenses. Then again, the shooters that do fit in here are an "ultra-clear" 50MP module with support for HDR and time-lapse photography and a secondary 5MP "AI" shooter.

Then again, the 12C's rear panel and its water-drop notch gives its less than premium nature away. The 6.71-inch LCD display has a resolution and brightness of no more than HD+ and 500 nits respectively. It is driven by the 4G/LTE-only MediaTek Helio G85 SoC, which runs MIUI 13 based on an older version of Android.

Then again, Redmi asserts that the 12C benefits from a 5,000mAh battery for about 20 hours of video playback and 21 days on standby - however, it may spend a lot of time tethered to the wall with 10W charging via the smartphone's prime drawback: a microUSB port.

Nevertheless, this preliminary 12-series variant may grab some fans thanks to its price. It starts at just 699 yuan (~US$101) for a 4GB RAM/64GB internal storage base model, although this rises to as much as 899 yuan (~US$129) to invest in a 6/128GB top-end model.

The Redmi 12C is available to order via Xiaomi's online mall in China from now.

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