Design
Apple iPhone 12 Pro and Apple iPhone 12 both kinda use that squared frame look, but here it starts to differ. The Pro has a polished stainless steel frame, while the iPhone 12 sticks with an aluminum border. Honestly, more isn’t always better though, because that shiny edge on the 12 Pro is extremely easy to smudge with fingerprints. And when it gets scratched, the marks are also fairly obvious, even if you add a case, for steel or aluminum, it’s not that far apart.
If you compare the Apple iPhone 11 Pro to the iPhone 12 Pro, you can feel it’s a bit thinner. The gap is actually pretty noticeable, and yes the 12 Pro in real life looks slightly more appealing than what you see in photos, like, smoother somehow.
On the front, the iPhone 12 lineup is covered by what Apple calls “Ceramic Shield,” which is basically a blend of glass and ceramic. Apple claims the new glass handles drops up to 4 times better, and it’s also more scratch resistant than before. The back still uses that frosted glass feel, but Apple says the durability improved versus the iPhone 11 Pro.
Now the OLED display on the iPhone 12 Pro feels bigger than the one on the iPhone 11 Pro ,it’s 6.1 inches compared with 5.8 inches. So the entire device ends up a bit taller. The brightness ,contrast, and sharpness are all really solid, top tier in a way, but of course it’s still stuck at 60Hz, while a lot of premium Android phones already moved to 120Hz. If you’ve been on iPhone for a while, it won’t feel like a big deal, but if you’re coming from a 120Hz display, you’ll probably notice it right away, and yeah it can get annoying.
The phone’s back features Apple’s new MagSafe magnetic wireless charging and mounting system. The idea is pretty great; users no longer have to mess around with the Lightning port, nor do they need to determine the exact location of the charging dock; the magnet’s magnetism will put it in place.
However, the charging dock is not cheap; the capacity can only reach 15W, not to mention the cord is quite short. Users can completely buy a Qi wireless charger from third parties or wait for the MagSafe standard to be licensed by Apple for accessory manufacturers to develop.
Camera
Last year, the iPhone 11 Pro had excellent camera quality. This year there is not much left for Apple to improve. The main camera captures light better than last year, which helps in low-light image quality and handles Smart HDR 3 a bit better.
Noise reduction has also been improved, and the images are also slightly more contrasty. All four cameras on iPhone 12 Pro (3 rear and 1 front) can use night mode, and they all work well.
Another small improvement on the Pro version is that the ultra-wide lens is slightly less distorted, in addition to some new settings: lens correction can be turned off, and you can disable both Smart HDR and “detection” scene.”
The iPhone 12 Pro also has a new LiDAR sensor on the back, which we first saw on the iPad Pro. LiDAR helps the iPhone 12 Pro focus faster in low light. Night mode portrait shots are impressive – however, they only work with the main camera, not the telephoto camera. But it should be added; if you don’t use AR tasks and take low-light portraits, the LiDAR sensor does not have much effect.
Compared with the Google Pixel 5 and Samsung Note 20 Ultra , the iPhone 12 Pro feels like what weve kinda started expecting from Apple, great photos in most cases with colors that seem pretty well balanced and small details that actually hold up. Everybody has they’re own preferences, you know some people really like Googles cleaner camera layout, and others go with Samsungs slightly more vibrant tones, it kind of feels like a more punchy everyday life, like you’re in it more.
Another pretty nice thing about the iPhone 12 Pro is the option to record 10-bit HDR video. The clips come out kind of crisp, with solid detail and it tends to stay brighter at night, then it keeps this strong contrast through the daytime moments. I mean, the iPhone 12 Pro can film up to 4K at 60fps and also 1080p at 240fps, and yep that pretty much lines up with the 11 Pro too.
Overall, the iPhone 12 Pro camera is still one of the best on the market today.
Performance and battery life
iPhone 12 series is powered by Apple’s latest A14 Bionic processor, the first 5nm chip in a smartphone, and is faster than any phone processor currently available in commercial products. With iOS, there’s no need to worry about performance on new iPhone models.
The iPhone 12 Pro also has a U1 chip; it will have a little benefit for the AirDrop feature; perhaps there will be more applications in the future. But that is still the story of the future.
But in terms of battery life, you’ll probably be disappointed. According to testing, when using 5G mmWave, iPhone 12 Pro is only 18% after 2.5 hours onscreen. Sure, if you mostly rely on Wi-Fi then the battery life is still fine for a full day of use, or if you pick 5G Sub-6GHz it will likely go on for longer as well. But in general, the iPhone 12 Pro just can’t quite keep up with the iPhone 11 Pro when it comes to battery life.
Ending
The iPhone 12 Pro is still a solid device, it has plenty of technology that feels kind of ahead of its time, y’know. But, if you’re looking for a cheaper pick, the iPhone 12 will probably fit better. Honestly the main contrasts on the iPhone 12 Pro, like that telephoto camera and the LiDAR sensor , plus the reflective steel frame they can kinda end up feeling a bit less important for most people, not everyone though, really. Sometimes it’s like, what you need is different.
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Tech Reviewer & Product Analyst
Định Bia has spent over 10 years testing consumer electronics with a focus on smart technology. He work as a product advisor at Biareview where he helped customers find the right devices for their needs. He personally tests every product featured on this site using a consistent evaluation framework covering quality, durability, and value. All reviews are based on experience, not influenced by the manufacturer.
