© Courtesy of India Today Redmi Note 12 will be launched in India next week, so will it be the champ at the new price?There was a time when buyers looking for a phone from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 in India opted for Redmi Note devices only. They were very powerful and there were few options. In fact, I personally look forward to seeing Redmi Note phones every year. The craze was real, mostly because of the features Note devices once offered for their price. Now, if you ask me, the last Redmi Note device that I personally liked was the Redmi Note 7. That's right — it was the first 48MP main camera phone, priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 9,999. You can read the Redmi Note 7 review I wrote for India Today Tech and you will understand how much I love this phone.
After Redmi Note 7, in my opinion, the company has lost its plot. Or maybe brands like Realme had too many options to contend with. But now, years later, with the arrival of the Redmi Note 12 series, the brand aims to bring back the old Note days. Next week, on January 5, the company will launch three Redmi Note 12 series phones, among which the Redmi Note 12 5G will be the cheapest ever. The most expensive will be the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus.
These phones are already available in China, but Redmi wants to offer Indian consumers more. It does not have the exact Redmi Note 12 5G currently available in China. While some of the key features of the Chinese and Indian Note 12 models are the same, the latter will feature a triple camera system. The Chinese model Redmi Note 12 5G has a dual camera system. A teaser from Amazon revealed that the Redmi Note 12 5G phone in India will have a 48MP main camera. No other details of the camera have been disclosed.
The official teaser also revealed that the upcoming Redmi Note 12 5G will come with a punch-hole AMOLED display. It will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The Chinese model is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 processor and supports 33W fast charging. Additionally, a teaser from Amazon revealed that the Redmi Note 12 will be the thinnest Redmi Note released so far.
Apart from the difference in the camera system, most of the specifications of the Indian and Chinese models are said to be the same. The Redmi Note 12 is said to pack a 5,000mAh battery, a 6.67-inch HD display with a 120Hz refresh rate, up to 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of internal storage. The company does not yet have options for India. Here are some of the powerful features that the company will be introducing in its next budget smartphone.
While the specifications look enticing, whether the Redmi Note 12 will draw attention depends entirely on the price of the phone. In China, the Redmi Note 12 5G starts at CNY 1,199 for the base model with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in China. The price is around Rs 13,500. There are three more models including 6GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage, priced at CNY 1,299 (Rs. 14,500 approx), 1,491 CNY 00 (Rs. 00) and CNY 1699 (Rs. 190 approx).
While we don't yet know the Redmi Note 12 price in India, we expect Redmi to be aggressive about the phone and position it as the soon-to-be-released Realme 10 5G. Now keep in mind that times have changed and smartphone components are getting more expensive, mainly due to supply chain constraints that directly affect the retail price of the final product. Hence, Redmi will definitely take all these aspects into consideration when pricing the Redmi Note 12 in India. So, let's wait until the company officially announces the price of the phone and if the price is really aggressive, we can expect the Note 12 5G to be the device that will return from the Redmi Note series in India.
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