Realme 12x Smartphone Review – Realme 12x was announced in April 2024 and later went on sale the same month. The smartphone has been launched globally and will expand to more regions shortly. This new smartphone from Realme is designed to impress budget users. Its main emphasis is on the design, which is certainly good.
The smartphone looks like its bigger brother, Realme 12 Pro, so the design will surely impress some people. But the same can’t be said about its internals. Realme has high hopes that this new smartphone will impress some people. Let’s begin with a detailed review of the new Realme 12x smartphone and see if this smartphone is worth purchasing.
Table of Contents
Realme 12x Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Realme 12x has a 6.72-inch IPS display with 120Hz high refresh rate support.
- The SoC inside the smartphone is the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ 5G chipset that can reach clock speeds of up to 2×2.2 GHz.
- The smartphone comes with Android 14 with a Realme UI 5.0 user interface for better customization options.
- The smartphone has a 50MP dual rear camera system while the selfie camera has an 8MP sensor.
- The smartphone has a 5000 mAh battery with 45W wired fast charging support.
Design and Display
The Realme 12x follows the same design language as the Realme 12 series. So, it has a similar flat design but instead of the more premium vegan leather option, the Realme 12x adopts a full polycarbonate design. However, it’s a solid design and well-built, so there’s no chance of any creaking or bending.
The smartphone comes in two colors, Twilight Purple and Woodland Green. The phone is protected with an IP54 rating for protection against dust and water splashes. As for the display, you get a 6.72-inch IPS display with 120Hz high refresh rate support. The display also comes with FHD+ resolution, so watching content on this display is going to be a pleasure.
The display also gets adequately bright at 950 nits under direct sunlight, so you won’t have any issues using the smartphone outdoors for longer periods. Unfortunately, there’s no protection for the display.
Memory and Internal
The Realme 12x features the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ 5G chipset. This chipset has a relatively decent performance and is capable of reaching clock speeds of 2×2.2 GHz. The chipset will have no issue running any apps or games, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and more. This performance is not just unique to the apps and games can also take equal advantage of this chipset.
Games like Genshin Impact, PUBG Mobile, Summoners War, and CODm run at decent performance. The chipset has Mali-G57 MC2 GPU, which is more than good enough when it comes to any demanding games. As for the OS, the smartphone comes with Android 14 with a Realme UI 5.0 user interface.
This allows you to get the latest features while still enjoying the customization support. Also, the smartphone supports 5G connectivity. As for RAM and storage, the smartphone can be purchased with up to 4GB to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is quite rare these days.
Camera
The Realme 12x sports a 50MP dual rear-camera system. The primary camera consists of a 50MP sensor, which manages to capture some decent shots with a good level of detail and accurate color tone. These pictures have proper white balance and high dynamic range. The second camera has a 2MP depth sensor for the portrait camera.
The portrait pictures look decently good with a natural background blur. You can also take pictures at night as the smartphone supports night mode. The night photos look decent and nothing out of the ordinary. For the selfie camera, there’s an 8MP sensor. As for video recording, both the rear selfie cameras can shoot up to 1080p@30FPS. There’s no stabilization option either.
Battery and Others
The Realme 12x has a 5000 mAh non-removable high-capacity battery, which can last 1 – 3 days with light to medium usage. So, if you do a bit of camera, social media, texting, watching videos, making notes, and so on, getting 2 days or even more is not that difficult. But playing games will drain the battery a lot faster.
When the battery does go out, there’s a 45W wired fast charger, which can charge the smartphone to 50% in under 30 minutes. Apart from that, the smartphone also has Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.3, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, GPS, stereo speakers, and a USB Type-C port. The Realme 12x starts at $161 (Rs 13,479 in India) approx.
Realme 12x Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Realme 12x smartphone.
| Specifications | Realme 12x (China) | Realme 12x |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G | Same |
| Announced | March 2024 | April 2024 |
| SIM | Dual SIM | Same |
| Dimensions | 7.9 mm thickness | 6.52 x 3.00 x 0.30 inches |
| Weight | 190 g | 188 g |
| Size | 6.67 inches | 6.72 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 120Hz 625 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~395 PPI density | IPS LCD 120Hz 800-950 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~392 PPI density |
| Protection/Others | IP54, dust and splash resistant | Same |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | Same |
| OS | Android 14, Realme UI 5.0 | Same |
| Chipset | 6nm – Mediatek Dimensity 6100+ | Same |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 | Same |
| GPU | Mali-G57 MC2 | Same |
| Card slot | Unspecified | microSDXC (dedicated slot) |
| RAM | 12GB | 4GB, 6GB, 8GB |
| Internal | 256GB, 512GB | 128GB |
| Camera | 50 MP (wide), PDAF 2 MP (depth) LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 1080p@30fps | Same |
| Selfie | 8 MP (wide) Panorama Max – 1080p@30fps | 8 MP (wide) Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes | Yes 24-bit/192kHz Hi-Res audio |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE | 5.3, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, LHDC |
| GPS | GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS |
| NFC | Unspecified | No |
| Infrared port | No | Same |
| Radio | Unspecified | Same |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0 | Same |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, proximity, compass | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | 5000 mAh 15W wired | 5000 mAh 45W wired |
| Colors | Dark Green, Green | Twilight Purple, Woodland Green |
| Expected Price | $203 (Rs 16,999 in India) approx | $161 (Rs 13,479 in India) approx |
Conclusion
The Realme 12x is a decent smartphone on its specification, but compared to the competition out there, it doesn’t look too good. It fails to bring meaningful improvements over its predecessor, Realme 11x. There are only three improvements here and they are higher refresh rate, charging speed, and inclusion of the latest Android OS.
That’s about all the changes that are noticeable in the new smartphone compared to the Realme 11x. On its own, it brings a decent design, display, chipset, and camera, but comparatively, this smartphone brings nothing noteworthy, so the pricing is not up to the mark. The best alternative smartphone would be the Motorola Moto G34.
The Moto G34 has a far better chipset, camera, and even 5G, while costing a bit lower. But the display and camera of the Realme 12x was better than the Moto G34. With the Realme smartphone, you get a better display, camera, and charging speed, but the Moto G34 has a good chipset, 5G, and Android OS. However, the final decision is up to you, so it is better to choose a smartphone based on your requirements and needs.
