Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S vs Poco M3 Pro

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.43-inch Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S (with MediaTek Helio G96) that was released on March 6, 2023, against the Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro, which is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 700 and came out 1 year and 9 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
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Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • More recent OS version: Android 15 versus 13
  • Stereo speakers
  • Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB
  • Delivers 18% higher peak brightness (630 against 533 nits)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (33W versus 18W)
  • AMOLED display (versus competitor's IPS LCD)
  • The phone is 1 year and 9 months newer
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro
  • Shows 13% longer battery life (24:46 vs 22:00 hours)
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Dimensity 700
  • Reverse charging feature

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S and Poco M3 Pro 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
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πŸ“± Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
6 / 64 GB
VS
4 / 64 GB
81.1
(Good)
Value Index
58.6
(Average)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type AMOLED IPS LCD
Size 6.43 inches 6.5 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 409 ppi 405 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 90 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 1000 nits 500 nits
HDR support No No
Touch sampling rate 180 Hz 180 Hz
Screen protection Tempered glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 84.5% 83.8%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
-
Display tests
RGB color space 99.2% 93.5%
PWM 355 Hz -
Response time 3 ms 33.5 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity 2512:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
630 nits
533 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 159.87 mm (6.29 inches) 161.8 mm (6.37 inches)
Width 73.87 mm (2.91 inches) 75.3 mm (2.96 inches)
Thickness 8.09 mm (0.32 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 176 g (6.21 oz) 190 g (6.7 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors Black, Blue, Green Black, Blue, Yellow
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-button
Screen-to-body ratio
84.5%
83.8%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S and Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Helio G96 MediaTek Dimensity 700
Max clock 2050 MHz 2200 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.05 GHz: Cortex-A76
- 6 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2.2 GHz: Cortex-A76
L3 cache - 2 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 12 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) MediaTek APU Yes
GPU
Graphics Mali-G57 MC2 Mali-G57 MC2
GPU shading units 64 64
GPU clock 950 MHz 950 MHz
FLOPS ~121.6 GFLOPS ~121.6 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S and Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
1916
Single-core score 671 713
Multi-core score 1518 1916
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
533942
CPU 182454 215564
GPU 44018 42830
Memory 129323 124298
UX 137427 151750
Total score 493222 533942
Samples Less than 3 [4 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 97% -
Graphics test 1 FPS -
Graphics score 132 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability 82% 98%
Graphics test 1 FPS 1 FPS
Graphics score 326 321
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
8263
Web score 7036 6046
Video editing 4563 4675
Photo editing 17381 16474
Data manipulation 6849 6243
Writing score 10223 8543

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-07-20 (Victor monteiiro)Geekbench 6 CPU664 / 1929
πŸ“˜ 2025-11-09 (Killjoy)AnTuTu 11493222
πŸ“˜ 2024-05-22 (Victor Monteiiro)Geekbench 6 CPU671 / 1518
πŸ“˜ 2024-01-03 (KaQ_Ss)Geekbench 6 CPU678 / 1895
Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-07-20 (Sus Go0d)Geekbench 6 CPU713 / 1916
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-13 (Yaroslav)AnTuTu 11501406
πŸ“˜ 2026-01-03 (Denis)AnTuTu 11533942
πŸ“˜ 2026-01-03 (Denis)AnTuTu 11533942
πŸ“˜ 2025-11-12 (Hajilo)AnTuTu 11516582

Memory

RAM
RAM size 6 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 2133 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 64 GB
Storage type UFS 2.2 UFS 2.2
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 11 (Can be upgraded to Android 13)
ROM HyperOS 2.0 MIUI 14
OS size 20 GB 19.2 GB
OS updates 2 years -
Security updates 2 years -

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 33 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging No Yes
Fast charging Yes (55% in 30 min) Yes (33% in 30 min)
Full charging time 1:12 hr 2:00 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:33 hr 10:01 hr
Watching video 12:31 hr 14:26 hr
Gaming 05:17 hr 05:48 hr
Standby 112 hr 122 hr
General battery life
22:00 hr
24:46 hr

Main camera

Matrix 108 megapixels 48 megapixels
Image resolution 12032 x 9024 8000 x 6000
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED Dual 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 118Β° -
Lenses 1) Standard: 108 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Macro: 2 MP
3) Depth: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 108 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.9 f/1.8
Focal length - 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KHM2 OmniVision OV48B
Sensor size 1/1.52" (β‰ˆ 0.66 inch) 1/2.0" (β‰ˆ 0.5 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 0.8 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 8 MP -
Aperture f/2.2 -
Sensor size 1/4.0" (β‰ˆ 0.25 inch) -
Stabilization Digital -
Macro lens
Image resolution 2 MP 2 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Sensor - Hynix Hi-259
Sensor size - 1/5" (β‰ˆ 0.2 inch)
Pixel size - 1.75 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

Selfie camera

Megapixels 16 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 4920 x 3264 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.0
Sensor CMOS OmniVision OV8856
Sensor size 1/3.06" (β‰ˆ 0.33 inch) 1/4" (β‰ˆ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron 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
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.2 5.1
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, QZSS
NFC* Yes 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 Yes
LTE Cat* 13 18
5G support No Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
Headphone audio jack Yes Yes
FM radio No Yes
Dolby Atmos No No
Speakers test
Max loudness
81.3 dB
93.5 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced March 2023 May 2021
Release date April 2023 May 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $289 $200
Successor - - Xiaomi Poco M8 Pro 5G
SAR (head) - 0.54 W/kg
SAR (body) - 0.89 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 -
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

If the display, camera, software, design, and sound are more important to you, then choose the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S. But if the gaming and battery life are more of a priority – go for the Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
4 (40%)
6 (60%)
Total votes: 10

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