Redmi Note 12 Pro+ could be the first Redmi phone with a curved screen

With the flagship versions, the Xiaomi 12T and Xiaomi 12T Pro, already released, it’s only a matter of time before we see the budget Redmi Note 12 alternatives, the Pro+ even coming with a curved screen.

The fact that curved edge displays are no longer considered “fashionable” is starting to show in the choices made by smartphone manufacturers who are starting to use them with mid-range devices, even as they are ditching them for flagship phones.

A first argument against this type of screen would be that the edges over the area normally reserved for the side bezel are very exposed to bumps, with curved-screen phones more often ending up in service centres for not-so-cheap repairs. The second argument would be that the appearance of the image displayed over the curved edges suffers, which is not desirable in a premium phone. Finally, screens with curved edges are more problematic when it comes to applying protective films, which is compensated for by the use of expensive and often unsightly protective cases.

The good news is that the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ could be coming with an OLED display originally developed for flagship phones, delivering a noticeably better image quality than we’d previously expected from phones in Xiaomi’s budget range.

As for the rest of the technical specs, it would appear that Xiaomi has reserved the Dimensity 1080 chipset for the first two Redmi Note 12 models, delivering considerably better performance than the current Dimensity 920 solution. It remains to be seen if the recipe will be kept for the Pro+ model, or Xiaomi will prefer a more reputable chipset, such as one of Qualcomm’s mid-range solutions.

Another unconfirmed but expected feature from the first Redmi phone with a curved screen would be the 200MP camera. But this would be more of a tick on the specs list than a real advantage for image quality.

It’s unclear if that will apply to the “global” version of the phone, but the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ has been certified for the Chinese market with support for fast charging at 210W via USB-C, this also appears to be the “headline” feature on the specs list. Almost certainly, on the China version of the phone as well, charging power at 210W will come in the form of a default unchecked setting, with Xiaomi leaving it up to users to decide whether or not they want to experiment with this capability.