In July 2014, India’s smartphone market changed forever. A Flipkart flash sale launched a lesser-known Chinese brand called Xiaomi, and the Indian smartphone enthusiasts never looked back. Everyone from customers to analysts to reviewers, like this writer, went gaga over the smartphone — the Mi 3 — which had been launched in China a few months ago. But what this phone represented made it particularly important.
Mi 3 was packed with cutting-edge features that were seen in the latest Samsung Galaxy flagship but at a price less than Rs 15,000. Of course, Xiaomi was also dumping the last remnants of a product that it was planning on killing. This limited launch of the Mi 3 was going to be the platform for a phenomenon that has come to define smartphones in India, in the same ubiquitous way Nokia once did with its ringtones. And that product was the Redmi Note 2, which also landed in the latter half of 2014.
The Redmi Note myth
Redmi Note’s 4G model became the first 4G-enabled device the Chinese manufacturer launched in India. Since then, as per Xiaomi, the Redmi Note line has sold more than 70 million units in India. It became the undisputed leader in the smartphone market. But the competition has started to catch up. With the Redmi Note 12 series, which lands in India this week, Xiaomi wants to pull back the gap with a phone that can become the new gold standard for whatever one wants under Rs 30,000.
The first Redmi Note launched in India was an excellent phone, but it was only with the Redmi Note 3 in 2016 that the series became somewhat of a phenomenon. Note 3 was exceptional because of the hardware and its jaw-dropping battery life. It was a phone that refused to lose charge. Xiaomi further cemented the formula with the Redmi Note 4, which had a refined build quality and a better camera. By 2019, the Redmi Note 7 Pro doubled down on a new design language. It threw in excellent 48-megapixel camera systems and a level of polish that was not seen in phones under Rs 20,000.
But Xiaomi’s cadence of innovation started wavering by the time the pandemic struck. Its focus in India had also moved towards the more premium Mi line of gadgets. The Redmi Note 9 had a new design and a new chipset, but it wasn’t a dramatic improvement. Similarly, in 2021, when the Redmi Note 10 Pro and Pro Max landed, Xiaomi touted the addition of an AMOLED screen, a type of vibrant screen technology that’s seen on high-end phones like an iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S. But the design was again not appetising.
By 2021, the likes of Vivo, iQOO and Realme started to play catchup in the segment as their offerings progressively became better. The Redmi Note 11 Pro, launched in 2022, was a case of Xiaomi remixing the design of the Xiaomi 11i 5G and perhaps watering down the specifications and repackaging the device. It just didn’t feel like a unique phone.
So, the mission for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro/Pro Plus is to reignite the innovation that the series has been known for.
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Redmi’s comeback phone
I have been testing the new Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus for the past couple of weeks and I can say that Xiaomi has made an earnest effort with it. It is the nicest feeling Redmi Note phone since the Note 7. It gets sharp metallic edges and a polished glass back, which makes it an attractive gadget in the hand. It gets an impressive 200-megapixel camera system on the back, which can capture great images in low-lit conditions and does a reliable job when the lighting is good.
It is also not packed with excessive gimmickries — like low-resolution telephoto cameras or depth sensors. It has a massive battery, which lasts more than 30 hours on a single charge even if you push its limits. It also gets charged at light speed. The display is excellent, and the phone features MediaTek’s Helio 1080 processor, which is adequately fast for getting most normal tasks done and then some more frills like a session of Fortnite. Game graphics also look good on the phone.
The software is also cleaner than previous Redmi phones. Unwanted advertisement alerts tend to seep in less often. But it could have been better. Xiaomi’s Mi UI software layer works on top of Android 12, which is a wee bit dated and a bloat on the system. It means that the phone could’ve been faster had it not been for the lethargic software. Xiaomi insiders tell me that the phone will be improved with an update to Mi UI 14 but that may not be good enough.
As good as the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus is, it still gets eclipsed by two phones that were launched more than six months ago — the Google Pixel 6A and the Nothing Phone (1). The Pixel has an exceptional camera and the purest take on Android, while the Nothing is similar in terms of software but comes with a unique and exciting design with some useful tricks. Both phones also feel faster than the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus, making the Xiaomi phone seem bland in comparison. But if bland is something you like, with an excellent camera and superb battery life, then the Redmi Note can be your pick.
Sahil Mohan Gupta is a Delhi-based technology journalist. He tweets @DigitallyBones. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)