Redmi Note 12 Explorer can't reach 210W in real-world tests, is it a scam?

Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi Note 12 series with four variants in total. The Redmi Note 12 Pro and Explorer Edition are the most impressive options, but there is not much difference between them. The only thing that makes the Redmi Note 12 Explorer Edition stand is its 210W charging. Xiaomi has raised the bar for charging tech with this new mid-range phone. However, it seems that the phone is not reaching this impressive spec in real-world tests.

Redmi Note 12 Explorer Edition - The 210W charging has a catch

The 210W charging is way above what we currently have in the market. Realme, and OnePlus, for example, are selling smartphones with 150W charging. Xiaomi's tech has a 4,300 mAh battery that had very specific manufacturing to reach the 210W charging standards. The phone also comes with a bundled charger that promises the 210W rate no matter if you're using it on 127V or 220V standards. Despite all this, the phone is not reaching the promised charging - anyway, it is still faster than most of the phones in the market.

The phone has a 184.85W charging peak

The folks at Charger Labs have conducted tests with the Redmi Note 12 Explorer Edition. The results show that the phone was able to reach a peak charging wattage of 184.85 W about three minutes in. This speed is still faster than the biggest majority of the market. It's especially faster when we look at some flagships that can't even reach 50W of charging. The speeds were not consistent throughout as they dropped the lower wattage quickly.

The 184W speed didn't sustain for long and entered a continuous decline. Regardless of that, the charging tech managed to stay above 120W. In the end, the phone was still capable of charging fully in just 10 minutes and 10 seconds. So, despite the buzz, it seems that Xiaomi is not scamming with the Redmi Note 12 Explorer Edition. The drop in the wattage is pretty much for safety. The charging time in the tests was 1 minute and 10 seconds above the 9 minutes mark revealed by Xiaomi. But, in the real world, that is not a problem.

Xiaomi certainly used the 210W for marketing purposes. However, when it comes to the real world, the charging tech is always adapting to reduce heating and avoid other issues. The Redmi Note 12 Explorer Edition reached a peak temperature of 43.3 degrees Celsius in the test.

Explorer Edition remaining specs

The Redmi Note 12 Explorer Edition packs the MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC. It has up to 12 GB of RAM with up to 256 GB of Storage. The phone runs on Android 12 with MIUI 13 running on top. It also has a large OLED screen, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, NFC, stereo speakers, and a 3.5 mm audio jack. Unfortunately, the device has no slot for a micro SD card.

Apart from charging, the Redmi Note 12 Pro also has another highlight - the 200 MP Samsung HPX sensor with OIS. In this case, there are no inflated numbers. The camera can capture photos with 200 MP resolution, but obviously, you can pick other resolutions.