Over the years, smartphone charging times have decreased from the already outstanding 30 minutes to 15 minutes, but that appears to be too slow for Xiaomi. One variant in the new Redmi Note 12 series, branded “Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition,” stood out with a massive 210W HyperCharge capabilities. Three 100W rapid charging chips handle this technology, which charges the phone’s 4,300mAh battery in just 9 minutes. To put things in context, both Xiaomi’s previous 120W HyperCharge and Oppo’s 150W SuperVOOC require 15 minutes to charge a 4,500mAh battery.
The Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition also has a 6.67-inch OLED screen (2,400 x 1,080, 120Hz), a 200MP primary camera (Samsung’s brand new HPX sensor; with OIS), an 8MP ultra-wide camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 16MP selfie camera. This Android 12 gadget also has twin SIM slots, dual speakers, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a side fingerprint sensor, NFC, and an infrared blaster.
This model only comes with one RAM and storage configuration: 8GB LPDDR4x RAM and 256GB UFS 2.2 storage. Unlike last year’s Redmi Note 11 Pro+, microSD expansion is not available here, which may dissuade those contemplating an upgrade. Still, not bad for 2,399 yuan (about $330).
Despite the name, the Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition is based on the Redmi Note 12 Pro+, with the primary difference being the latter’s larger battery (5,000mAh) and lower charging power (120W). This model costs 2,199 yuan (about $304) with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, or 2,399 yuan (approximately $331) with 12GB of RAM.
Then there’s the Redmi Note 12 Pro, which replaces the 200MP primary camera for a 50MP one (using Sony’s IMX766 sensor) and consumes just 67W charging for the same 5,000mAh battery. This starts at 1,699 yuan (about $235) for 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and can be upgraded to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for 2,199 yuan (about $304) — the same as the Pro+’s beginning price.
Last but not least, the Redmi Note 12 is marketed as a low-cost smartphone, with prices beginning at 1,199 yuan (about $166). It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 CPU, a somewhat lower-quality OLED display of the same size (lower brightness and contrast, as well as no HDR support), less powerful cameras (48MP main, 2MP depth sensor, and 8MP front), less charging capability (33W), and just a mono speaker. In terms of configurations, it starts at 4GB of RAM with 128GB of storage and progresses to 8GB with 256GB (1,699 yuan or roughly $235; the same as the Note 12 Pro’s basic pricing).
