Xiaomi Redmi 12C Full Review: Can Xiaomi Reclaim the Budget Segment?

Dec 28, 2023

The under-10K price segment is a highly competitive market for smartphones. With numerous options available, many brands are vying for a slice of the pie. Xiaomi, which once dominated the budget segment with its aggressive pricing and feature-rich devices, now faces tough competition from the likes of Realme, Tecno, Motorola, Samsung, and even its own subsidiary, Poco. In this review, we explore whether Xiaomi can reclaim its position as the budget king with its latest offering, the Redmi 12C.

The Xiaomi Redmi 12C comes neatly packaged in a standard white box. Upon opening the box, you'll find the device securely nestled inside.

Below the device, you'll find a SIM eject tool, a 10W in-box charger, a micro USB cable, and some documentation that often goes unnoticed.

The first impression of the Redmi 12C is its tall aspect ratio. Combined that with a 6.71-inch display, the device is on the larger side, making it a two-handed phone for many users.

The phone features a unibody plastic build, which is a common choice in this price range. While it may not have the premium feel of glass or metal, it offers durability and helps in keeping the device lightweight.

When it comes to appearance, the Redmi 12C boasts a clean and sleek design. The back panel showcases a matte finish with a subtle texture, enhancing the grip and reducing the visibility of fingerprint smudges. Positioned on the right side are the volume rocker and power button, offering satisfying tactile feedback. On the left side, you'll find the dual SIM and microSD card slot.

One favorable aspect appreciated by many users is the inclusion of a 3.5mm audio jack, conveniently located on the top side of the phone. This enables easy connection with headphones and other external audio devices. On the bottom of the phone, you'll find the dated micro USB port, along with a microphone and a mono speaker grill.

On the back of the device, you will find the rear camera module positioned on the upper left side. Adjacent to it is a fingerprint sensor that is both fast and responsive. Conveniently, the sensor is placed where my finger naturally rests, allowing for quick and effortless unlocking of the phone.

Shifting our focus to the front of the phone, it is evident that it features relatively thick bezels. The front design is completed with a waterdrop notch that houses the front-facing camera.

Overall, while the design of the Redmi 12C may not be groundbreaking, it is functional and pleasant enough for its price range.

The Redmi 12C is equipped with a 6.71-inch IPS LCD display, boasting a resolution of 720 x 1650 pixels. During my few weeks of testing, I found the display to be satisfactory considering its price range. While the 720p resolution is disappointing, it's rare to find FHD resolution in this price category, so the Redmi 12C is on par with its competitors in that regard.

The display performs reasonably well outdoors, thanks to its peak brightness of 500 nits. However, I had to keep the brightness at maximum to comfortably view it, which can have an impact on battery life. Fortunately, this doesn't appear to be an issue with the Redmi 12C (more details in the Battery section).

In terms of content consumption, the experience is average, as one shouldn't expect an exceptional viewing experience from a sub-10K smartphone. If I were to be critical, the colors appear flat, the 720p limitation has been mentioned before, and the noticeable thick bezels serve as a constant reminder of its budget nature.

Despite these drawbacks, the display is still usable and functional. The tall aspect ratio allows for viewing more content, whether it's reading ebooks, browsing the web, or scrolling through Instagram. Additionally, the display features a reading mode that protects your eyes by reducing harmful blue light.

The Redmi 12C is equipped with the MediaTek Helio G85, an octa-core SoC commonly found in mid-range smartphones of the past. The phone delivers decent performance for web browsing and app usage, albeit with some delay. Opening apps and loading pictures in the gallery take time, and multitasking is also slower. This can be attributed to the use of slower eMMC storage technology, resulting in longer loading times and data transfers.

In benchmark tests, the Redmi 12C achieves respectable scores for a budget smartphone without experiencing overheating issues.

The Redmi 12C handles lightweight games like Jetpack Joyride smoothly. However, for battle royale games like BGMI, it is recommended to play in medium settings for comfortable gameplay. Playing at higher graphics settings, such as HD with High FPS, may result in lag and jitters during intense scenes after 10-15 minutes. To ensure a smoother experience, it's advisable to keep the settings at medium.

While the Redmi 12C performs reasonably well for its price point, it should be noted that the overall experience is slower. However, it manages to fulfill its intended tasks effectively.

The camera capabilities of the Xiaomi Redmi 12C are not impressive and it does not showcase any remarkable AI features, despite having the AI branding in its camera module. The camera setup consists of a 50MP Samsung JN1 sensor as the primary sensor and a 0.08MP depth sensor that aids in portrait mode by providing additional data.

Under stable conditions, the primary sensor produces satisfactory images most of the time. However, if your hands are not steady, you may end up with blurry shots. The camera's user interface feels slow, and the slower shutter speed can result in missed shots, especially when capturing fast-moving subjects like cars or animals. This issue persists not only in daylight but also in low-light conditions with strong contrasts.

Bright areas in photos are excessively brightened, while dark areas lack pattern and detail. Nighttime photos appear grainy, and a hazy effect obscures the finer details. However, there is a night mode available that enhances details and improves image clarity to some extent.

The front-facing camera, with a 5MP sensor, suffers from the same problems as the rear camera. In daylight, it can capture decent shots, but at night, it produces overexposed images, loses detail, and introduces more noise.

Regarding video recording, the cameras can capture videos up to 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second. However, there is no video stabilization feature, resulting in jerky footage.

Overall, the optical performance of the Redmi 12C is not exceptional but comparable to other devices in its price range, such as the Realme C series.

The standout feature of this smartphone is undoubtedly its 6,000mAh battery. On a demanding day, with mobile data, maximum brightness, numerous apps running in the background, and frequent camera usage, the phone can easily last a day and a half. However, if you switch to lighter usage with minimal camera usage, reduced brightness, and Wi-Fi connectivity, the phone can easily last for two days.

When your battery is finally about to die, the Ultra Battery Saver feature can significantly extend its life, providing you with additional hours of usage when you're away from a power source.

However, if your battery completely dies, be prepared for a lengthy charging process with the included 10W wired charger. It took me approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes to charge the phone from 0% to 100%, so it's clear that this phone is not the fastest when it comes to charging.

What's a dealbreaker, though, is that the phone comes with an ancient micro USB port. In a world where USB C is the norm, having a micro USB sticks out like a sore thumb. You will have to carry a micro USB cable everywhere you go, and God bless you if you forget it at home.

Let's get straight to the point: I'm not particularly fond of custom Android skins. However, every now and then, certain OEMs go the extra mile to improve their skins, like Samsung's impressive One UI or Motorola's sleek MyUX. Sadly, MIUI doesn't quite measure up in comparison.

One major downside is the abundance of preinstalled bloatware, including unnecessary apps like Moj and Zili. To make matters worse, even the system apps themselves contain ads that incessantly push for the installation of additional third-party apps via Xiaomi's Get Apps service. They even pestered me about it during the startup process.

But here's the real kicker: the phone runs on the outdated combination of Android 12 with MIUI 13, while Android 13 has already made its grand entrance and Android 14 is just around the corner.

However, there is a glimmer of hope. The Redmi 12C has been confirmed to receive the MIUI 14 update, as it's included in the third batch of updates announced by the company.

MIUI 14 brings a fresh redesign, delightful super icons, charming animal widgets, and a range of optimizations for performance and battery life. Additionally, MIUI 14 has undergone size reduction by revamping the underlying architecture, promising significant improvements for the Redmi 12C.

According to reports, the eagerly awaited MIUI 14 update should grace the phone's interface by early June at the latest.

On a brighter note, I recently received the May security patch (at the time of writing), which is certainly commendable. I must also admit that Xiaomi's software is like a treasure trove of features; I'm constantly uncovering new functionalities as I delve deeper into the phone's software.

For those seeking special features like Second Space for running dual instances of WhatsApp with separate accounts, extensive customization options through Xiaomi's theme engine that goes beyond Google's Material You theming, and a plethora of handy tools such as Ultra Battery Saver and Lite Mode with its larger icons and reduced visual clutter, this phone is sure to fulfill your needs.

Let's start with the audio department. The Redmi 12C is equipped with a mono downward firing speaker. However, there's a slight issue when playing games - since your finger naturally rests on the speaker, it can end up muffling the audio. To have an immersive experience, it is recommended to use earphones. While the mono speaker doesn't offer a particularly loud or immersive audio experience, it gets the job done.

When it comes to call quality, it's really impressive. The listener didn't have any complaints, and the overall experience was great. Additionally, the Xiaomi dialer includes a call recording feature that doesn't notify the other person on the call about the recording.

Network connectivity is solid, with no noticeable drops in signal. The phone performed flawlessly on 4G.

Moving on to haptics, they are average at best. I found them annoying after a few days, so I ended up turning them off. The haptics provide a coarse buzz that simply isn't pleasant and serves as a reminder that you're using a budget device.

Surprisingly, the Redmi 12C comes with an IP52 rating, which is quite remarkable considering its price point. Kudos to Xiaomi for providing peace of mind to buyers in this segment.

At the moment, the Xiaomi Redmi 12C is available from various online sellers for less than ₹9,000. Its affordable price tag makes it a tempting choice for those in search of a decent budget smartphone, especially considering the competition from brands like Realme, Samsung, Infinix, and even Xiaomi's own Poco.

The phone offers satisfactory performance and features a commendable 6,000mAh battery that lasts a long time. However, it does have some areas where it falls short, such as camera quality, slow charging, and outdated software.

Despite these drawbacks, if you prioritize battery life and are looking for a reliable, larger-sized phone that meets your basic needs, the Redmi 12C could be a suitable budget option to consider.