Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S vs Note 10S

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 Redmi Note 10S, which is powered by MediaTek Helio G95 and came out 2 years 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

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
  • Higher display refresh rate – 90 Hz
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
  • More recent OS version: Android 15 versus 13
  • Has 50% more RAM: 6GB versus 4GB
  • The phone is 2 years newer
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
  • Water-resistant body (IP53 classification)
  • Shows 10% longer battery life (24:11 vs 22:00 hours)
  • Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
  • Ability to record video in 4K resolution
  • Delivers 10% higher peak brightness (696 against 630 nits)
  • Reverse charging feature

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S and Note 10S 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 14% Yes
No, we don't think this update is worth it.
Moving from Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S to Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S will likely not feel like a meaningful upgrade.
Main improvements: display and camera.
Be aware: the newer phone is weaker in battery life.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.43 inches 6.43 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1080 x 2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 409 ppi 409 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 1000 nits 450 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR - 1100 nits
HDR support No Yes, HDR10
Touch sampling rate 180 Hz -
Screen protection Tempered glass Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Screen-to-body ratio 84.5% 83.4%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
Display tests
RGB color space 99.2% 91.6%
PWM 355 Hz 250 Hz
Response time 3 ms 4.4 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
630 nits
696 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 159.87 mm (6.29 inches) 160.5 mm (6.32 inches)
Width 73.87 mm (2.91 inches) 74.5 mm (2.93 inches)
Thickness 8.09 mm (0.32 inches) 8.3 mm (0.33 inches)
Weight 176 g (6.21 oz) 178.8 g (6.31 oz)
Waterproof No IP53
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors Black, Blue, Green White, Gray, Blue
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-button Yes, in-button
Screen-to-body ratio
84.5%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S and Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Helio G96 MediaTek Helio G95
Max clock 2050 MHz 2050 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 2.05 GHz: Cortex-A76
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 12 nanometers 12 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) MediaTek APU MediaTek APU
GPU
Graphics Mali-G57 MC2 Mali-G76 MC4
GPU shading units 64 96
GPU clock 950 MHz 900 MHz
FLOPS ~121.6 GFLOPS ~172.8 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S and Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) - 2061
Single-core score 671 672
Multi-core score 1518 1908
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
530335
CPU 182454 208935
GPU 44018 58271
Memory 129323 104438
UX 137427 158691
Total score 493222 530335
Samples Less than 3 [14 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 2 FPS
Graphics score 326 422
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Web score 7036 5630
Video editing 4563 5967
Photo editing 17381 16797
Data manipulation 6849 6830
Writing score 10223 8704

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-07-20 (Victor monteiiro)Geekbench 6 CPU664 / 1929
📘 2025-11-09 (Killjoy)AnTuTu 11493222
📘 2024-05-22 (Victor Monteiiro)Geekbench 6 CPU671 / 1518
📘 2024-01-03 (KaQ_Ss)Geekbench 6 CPU678 / 1895
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-10 (Nurbakhyt)AnTuTu 12590155
📘 2026-08-20 (rejaulakash)AnTuTu 11545523
📘 2026-08-15 (Rey Firmansyah)Geekbench 6 CPU665 / 1754
📘 2026-07-19 (Stoic-saint)AnTuTu 11502377
📘 2026-06-21 (Vadim250905)Geekbench 6 CPU650 / 1574

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 18 GB
OS updates 2 years -
Security updates 2 years -

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 33 W 33 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 (50% in 35 min)
Full charging time 1:12 hr 1:09 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:33 hr 09:10 hr
Watching video 12:31 hr 13:06 hr
Gaming 05:17 hr 05:29 hr
Standby 112 hr 129 hr
General battery life
22:00 hr
24:11 hr

Main camera

Matrix 108 megapixels 64 megapixels
Image resolution 12032 x 9024 9216 x 6912
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording No Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 120 FPS (720p) 960 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 118° 118°
Lenses 1) Standard: 108 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
1) Standard: 64 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
4) Depth: 2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 108 MP 64 MP
Aperture f/1.9 f/1.8
Focal length - 26 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KHM2 OmniVision OV64B
Sensor size 1/1.52" (≈ 0.66 inch) 1/1.97" (≈ 0.51 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 0.8 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 - Sony IMX355
Sensor size 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) 1/4" (≈ 0.25 inch)
Pixel size - 1.14 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital
Macro lens
Image resolution 2 MP 2 MP
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.4
Sensor - GalaxyCore GC02M1
Sensor size - 1/5" (≈ 0.2 inch)
Pixel size - 1.75 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Samples - Photo samples of Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 16 megapixels 13 megapixels
Image resolution 4920 x 3264 4290 x 2800
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.5
Sensor CMOS Omnivision OV13B10
Sensor size 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 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 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
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, NAVIC
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 No
LTE Cat* 13 12
5G support No No

Sound

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

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced March 2023 March 2021
Release date April 2023 April 2021
Launch price (MSRP) $289 $190
Successor - - Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- 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, and software are more important to you, then choose the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S. But if the gaming, battery life, design, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
40 (21.6%)
145 (78.4%)
Total votes: 185

User opinions

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