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

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 vs Redmi 12C

40 out of 100
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9
VS
34 out of 100
Xiaomi Redmi 12C
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9
Xiaomi Redmi 12C

Here we compared two smartphones: the 6.53-inch Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 (with MediaTek Helio G85) that was released on April 30, 2020, against the Xiaomi Redmi 12C, which is powered by the same chip and came out 2 years and 9 months after. 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 9
  • 47% higher pixel density (395 vs 268 PPI)
  • Modern USB Type-C port
  • Has 50% more RAM: 3GB versus 2GB
  • Delivers 17% higher peak brightness (465 against 396 nits)
  • Reverse charging feature
  • 21% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 516 and 426 points
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi Redmi 12C
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.1)
  • More recent OS version: Android 14 versus 12
  • The phone is 2 years and 9 months newer

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 and Redmi 12C 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
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
3 / 64 GB
VS
2 / 32 GB
79.2
(Good)
Value Index
54.4
(Average)

Tests and specifications

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

Display

Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Size 6.53 inches 6.71 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2340 pixels 720 x 1650 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 20.6:9
PPI 395 ppi 268 ppi
Refresh rate 60 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No No
Max rated brightness 450 nits 400 nits
HDR support No No
Screen protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5 Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 83.5% 82.6%
Display tests
RGB color space 97.7% 96.1%
PWM Not detected Not detected
Response time 32.2 ms 30 ms
Contrast 4608:1 1191:1
Peak brightness test (auto)
Redmi Note 9 +17%
465 nits
Redmi 12C
396 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 162.3 mm (6.39 inches) 168.76 mm (6.64 inches)
Width 77.2 mm (3.04 inches) 76.41 mm (3.01 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 8.77 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 199 g (7.02 oz) 192 g (6.77 oz)
Waterproof No No
Rear material Plastic Plastic
Frame material Plastic Plastic
Colors White, Gray, Green Black, Blue, Green, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, rear Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
Redmi Note 9 +1%
83.5%
Redmi 12C
82.6%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 and Xiaomi Redmi 12C
SoC
Chipset MediaTek Helio G85 MediaTek Helio G85
Max clock 2000 MHz 2000 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A75		 - 6 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A55
- 2 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A75
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 12 nanometers 12 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Yes
GPU
Graphics Mali-G52 MP2 Mali-G52 MC2
GPU shading units 48 48
GPU clock 1000 MHz 1000 MHz
FLOPS ~96 GFLOPS ~96 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 and Xiaomi Redmi 12C
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Redmi Note 9 +21%
516
Redmi 12C
426
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Redmi Note 9 +20%
1562
Redmi 12C
1297
Compute Score (GPU)
Compute Score (GPU) - 1056
Single-core score 516 426
Multi-core score 1562 1297
Sources: Geekbench [3]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Redmi Note 9
346495
Redmi 12C +5%
362896
CPU 155097 140129
GPU 28220 28814
Memory 78693 92602
UX 84485 101351
Total score 346495 362896
Samples [2 tests] [6 tests]
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 98%
Graphics test - 1 FPS
Graphics score - 187
Sources: 3DMark [5]
PCMark 3.0
Web score - 7353
Video editing - 6239
Photo editing - 18329
Data manipulation - 5536
Writing score - 9821
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-07-03 (viko)AnTuTu 11338364
πŸ“˜ 2025-11-08 (Ryuu)AnTuTu 11346495
Add View all (2)
Xiaomi Redmi 12C
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-15 (Bruno)AnTuTu 12411293
πŸ“˜ 2026-09-08 (Ramjan miah)AnTuTu 11320749
πŸ“˜ 2026-05-11 (Zero)AnTuTu 11348562
πŸ“˜ 2026-04-25 -> Alexandro_Redmi12cAnTuTu 11381175
πŸ“˜ 2026-03-29 (Dano)AnTuTu 11376190
Add View all (11)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 3 GB 2 GB
Memory type LPDDR4X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 1800 MHz -
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage size 64 GB 32 GB
Storage type eMMC 5.1 eMMC 5.1
Memory card MicroSD MicroSD
Memory card max size Up to 512 GB Up to 1024 GB

Software

Operating system Android 10 (Can be upgraded to Android 12) Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 14)
ROM MIUI 13 HyperOS 1.0
OS size 16.5 GB 13 GB
OS updates - 2 years
Security updates - 2 years

Battery

Capacity 5020 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 18 W 10 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes (50% in 40 min) No
Full charging time 1:30 hr 2:05 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:31 hr -
Watching video 14:21 hr -
Gaming 05:45 hr -
Standby 121 hr -
General battery life
Redmi Note 9
24:19 hr
Redmi 12C
n/a
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 48 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8000 x 6000 8150 x 6150
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) -
Angle of widest lens 118Β° -
Lenses 1) Standard: 48 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
3) Macro: 2 MP
4) Depth: 2 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Depth: 0.1 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 48 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.8
Focal length 26 mm -
Sensor Samsung S5KGM1 -
Sensor size 1/2.0" (β‰ˆ 0.5 inch) 1/2.76" (β‰ˆ 0.36 inch)
Pixel size 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) -
Pixel size 1.12 micron -
Stabilization Digital -
Macro lens
Image resolution 2 MP -
Aperture f/2.4 -
Pixel size 1.75 micron -
Stabilization Digital -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 13 megapixels 5 megapixels
Image resolution 4128 x 3096 2592 x 1944
Aperture f/2.3 f/2.2
Focal length 29 mm -
Sensor CMOS CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.1" (β‰ˆ 0.32 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		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5.1
Bluetooth features LE, HID, A2DP LE
USB type USB Type-C Micro USB
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Depends on the region
Infrared port Yes No
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* 7 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 9 +16%
92.4 dB
Redmi 12C
79.7 dB

Other

Category Mid-range Budget
Announced April 2020 December 2022
Release date June 2020 January 2023
Launch price (MSRP) $199 $150
Successor - Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 5G - Xiaomi Redmi 15C 4G
SAR (head) 0.8 W/kg -
SAR (body) 1.14 W/kg -
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Accelerometer
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger - 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 9 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
44 (59.5%)
30 (40.5%)
Total votes: 74

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