The Infinix NOTE 12 Pro 5G is the device in between the Note 12i and NOTE 12 VIP in terms of specs as well as price. It has 6.7 Inch/170mm AMOLED screen with 8GB RAM and a big 108MP main lens. It also comes with a charger whose specs are right in between the 18 Watt Note 12i and the massive 120Watt on the NOTE 12 VIP. It is also the only device with 5G Dual channel capabilities.
This phone is powered by a powerful 6nm Mediatek Dimensity 810 processor and has an ultra-sleek design. The only issue I have is with the front notch camera. It is wide and just plain ugly. It would have been better to have it as a dot in display like the other NOTE 12 devices.
I have been using this smartphone for the last few past weeks and this is my review.
Also read my reviews of the Infinix NOTE 12 VIP and Infinix NOTE 12i.
Price In Kenya
The Infinix NOTE 12 Pro 5G is retailing at 34,599 Kenya shillings on XPark as well as on Jumia. On the other hand, the NOTE 12 VIP is selling for KES 41,999 while the NOTE 12i goes for KES 21,499. The NOTE 12 Pro 5G is in the middle of the price spectrum offering 5G and a Full HD+ AMOLED screen. The Note 12i is the only phone with a HD+ LCD display.
Unboxing
I had the chance of unboxing both the NOTE 12 Pro 5G and here is my video. You can view the NOTE 12 Pro 5G phone at 06:13.
Watch my video on the Infinix NOTE 12 VIP here.
Accessories
The phone comes with the same accessories as the Note 12i as is evident in my unboxing video. They include
- Free clear phone case
- USB A to USB type C cable
- Hands free headset
- 18 Watt Charger
- SIM Ejector tool
- And some paperwork
Up to 13GB Extended RAM
The official RAM value is 8GB which is a lot for a smartphone to be honest. This big RAM value can be extended up to 13GB. The Extended RAM Technology, called MemFusion on the Infinix NOTE 12 Pro 5G uses part of the Storage as RAM. With 128GB OF ROM, there is surely enough RAM to be sacrificed for use as virtual RAM.
There are 3 ROM values to choose from namely 2GB, 3GB and 5GB. Combined with the 8GB RAM, you can see that we can get up to 13GB RAM for running the system smoothly. This phone can be used smoothly without touching the virtual RAM for day-to-day phone use. But for a serious gamer, then more RAM is an added advantage.
Storage
The storage capacity is 128GB which is a lot but frankly I expected it to be 256GB in order to match with similar priced phones from other brands. For example, the Tecno Camon 19 Pro has a 256GB ROM for only KES34,000.
Camera
The rear triple camera setup consists of a 108MP main lens, depth lens and finally a 2MP Macro lens at the bottom. The camera bum is not complete without the Quad LED flash. The front lens is 16MP accompanied by dual flash.
When it comes to video recording, the NOTE 12 Pro 5G can record at a maximum quality of 1440p which is 2K at 30fps. This is for both the front and rear cameras.
Here are a few photo samples I took.
And a macro photo sample.
Battery & Charging
Power Marathon
The power marathon feature can add hours of time to the already existing better time provided by the 5000mAh battery. The Power Marathon feature does this by enabling some power saving features and disabling some power draining features.
Here is the list of actions taken by the NOTE 12 Pro 5G to increase the battery life.
- Enable Dark theme
- Enable Adaptive brightness
- Disable Vibrator
- Disable Action and gesture
- Optimize volume
- Disable wake screen for notifications
Here is a before and after screenshot of enabling Power marathon. Up to 4.7 hours can be added but in this case since I had a full battery, 10 hours were added.
33 Watt Charger
With a 5000mAh big battery, a big charger is required to fill it up as fast as possible. While the NOTE 12 Pro 5G does not have a 120Watt charger like the NOTE 12 VIP, the provided charger is still better than a normal 10-Watt charger.
The 33-watt big charger can fill the battery capacity from 0% to 100% in about an hour. This is partly thanks to the USB Type C port on the phone as well as a thick charging cable.
Conclusion
The only big advantage this phone has over the other NOTE 12 devices is 5G and a lower price than the NOTE 12 VIP. At the moment, 5G network is not widely available in Kenya so I’d rather get the Infinix NOTE 12i if I want to save money. And the NOTE 12 VIP for the AMOLED screen and styling.