Home > Smartphone comparison > Redmi Note 12 vs Redmi 9 – which one to choose?

Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 vs Redmi 9

47 out of 100
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
VS
38 out of 100
Xiaomi Redmi 9
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
Xiaomi Redmi 9

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.67-inch Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 685) that was released on March 23, 2023, against the Xiaomi Redmi 9, which is powered by MediaTek Helio G80 and came out 2 years and 10 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
  • Water-resistant body (IP53 classification)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Delivers 75% higher peak brightness (748 against 427 nits)
  • 43% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (496K versus 346K)
  • More recent OS version: Android 15 versus 12
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 685
  • Has 33% more RAM: 4GB versus 3GB
  • Supports higher wattage charging (33W versus 18W)
  • AMOLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
  • The phone is 2 years and 10 months newer

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 and Redmi 9 crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 45% Yes
Maybe, but mainly if you specifically want better display.
This is a situational upgrade. It makes the most sense if better display matters to you.
Main improvements: display, battery life, and performance.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Redmi Note 12
vs
Redmi 9

Display

Type AMOLED IPS LCD
Size 6.67 inches 6.53 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
PPI 395 ppi 395 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 1200 nits 400 nits
HDR support No No
Touch sampling rate 240 Hz -
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 85.3% 83.2%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 -
Display tests
RGB color space 100% 93%
PWM 484 Hz 500 Hz
Response time 5 ms 35 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 710:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
Redmi Note 12 +75%
748 nits
Redmi 9
427 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 165.66 mm (6.52 inches) 163.3 mm (6.43 inches)
Width 75.96 mm (2.99 inches) 77 mm (3.03 inches)
Thickness 7.85 mm (0.31 inches) 9.1 mm (0.36 inches)
Weight 183.5 g (6.47 oz) 198 g (6.98 oz)
Waterproof IP53 No
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors Gray, Blue, Green Gray, Green, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
Redmi Note 12 +3%
85.3%
Redmi 9
83.2%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 and Xiaomi Redmi 9
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 MediaTek Helio G80
Max clock 2800 MHz 2000 MHz
CPU cores 8 (4 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.9 GHz: Cortex-A53
- 4 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A73		 - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A75
L3 cache - 1 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 6 nanometers 12 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon 686 Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 610 Mali-G52 MP2
GPU shading units 128 48
GPU clock 1260 MHz 950 MHz
FLOPS ~322.6 GFLOPS ~91.2 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 and Xiaomi Redmi 9
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Redmi Note 12 +13%
469
Redmi 9
416
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Redmi Note 12 +10%
1484
Redmi 9
1347
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) 381 -
Single-core score 469 416
Multi-core score 1484 1347
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Redmi Note 12 +43%
496286
Redmi 9
346788
CPU 187869 144052
GPU 29691 27402
Memory 141765 77023
UX 136961 98311
Total score 496286 346788
Samples [20 tests] [6 tests]
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 97% 98%
Graphics test - 1 FPS
Graphics score - 171
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Redmi Note 12 +1%
8933
Redmi 9
8801
Web score 8747 8789
Video editing 4745 5624
Photo editing 15136 19468
Data manipulation 7401 6135
Writing score 10107 9169
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-20 (SSAN)AnTuTu 11508133
📘 2026-07-24 (Tameng)AnTuTu 11501656
📘 2026-07-12 (blvll.)AnTuTu 11480276
📘 2026-07-05 (Ikan pari 🐟🦈)AnTuTu 11501460
📘 2026-07-02 (Zəka)Geekbench 6 GPU381
Add View all (31)
Xiaomi Redmi 9
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-06-08 (Itsorif)AnTuTu 11312297
📘 2026-05-22 (klinton)AnTuTu 11374733
📘 2026-05-13 (‎)AnTuTu 11388645
📘 2026-03-30 (WinFuck)AnTuTu 11344734
📘 2025-09-06 -> overcookedAnTuTu 11346788
Add View all (7)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 4 GB 3 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 1866 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 32 GB
Storage type UFS 2.2 eMMC 5.1
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 1024 GB Up to 512 GB

Software

Operating system Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 15) Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 12)
ROM HyperOS 2.0 MIUI 13
OS size 21 GB 13 GB
OS updates 2 years -
Security updates 2 years -

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5020 mAh
Max charge power 33 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No No
Fast charging Yes (55% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 80 min)
Full charging time 1:11 hr 3:05 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:20 hr 08:45 hr
Watching video 15:10 hr 13:56 hr
Gaming 05:33 hr 05:30 hr
Standby 113 hr 113 hr
General battery life
Redmi Note 12 +1%
23:06 hr
Redmi 9
22:51 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4128 x 3096
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No No
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion 120 FPS (720p) 120 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 120° 118°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
1) Standard: 13 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 5 MP
4) Depth: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 13 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/2.2
Focal length - 28 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KJN1 Omnivision OV13B10
Sensor size 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch)
Pixel size 0.64 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 8 MP 8 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length - 13 mm
Sensor Omnivision OV08D10 OmniVision OV8856
Sensor size 1/4" (≈ 0.25 inch) 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution 2 MP 5 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Pixel size - 1.12 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 13 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 4128 x 3096 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.5 f/2.0
Focal length - 27 mm
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.0" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, HID, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Depends on the region Yes
Infrared port Yes Yes
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 13 7
5G support No No

Sound

Speakers Mono Mono
Headphone audio jack Yes Yes
FM radio Yes Yes
Dolby Atmos No No
Speakers test
Max loudness
Redmi Note 12
81.3 dB
Redmi 9 +3%
83.7 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Budget
Announced March 2023 June 2020
Release date March 2023 July 2020
Launch price (MSRP) $229 $130
Successor - Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 4G - Xiaomi Redmi 15 4G
SAR (head) - 0.71 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.06 W/kg
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Yes, 33 W Yes, 10 W
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
62 (69.7%)
27 (30.3%)
Total votes: 89

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