realme has finally confirmed that the much-awaited 12 Pro series will launch globally on January 29. From all the previous teasers, the main highlight of the realme 12 Pro series–or at least the Pro+ variant–is the ditching of the 2-megapixel filler camera for a periscope camera.

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–Here are the Key Features of the realme 12 Pro Series

–realme Thinks a Periscope Camera is Better than a 200MP Sensor

This is a big deal for realme’s numbered series, as it will be the first time that a mid-range phone will have a complete rear camera setup–and none of them being useless, filler cameras. 

To emphasize how groundbreaking this periscope camera is, realme highlighted the key highlights: these include its use of a 64-megapixel OV64B sensor, a lens that has an 80mm focal length equivalent and a 3x optical zoom equivalent, and OIS built in. If those features are not enough, realme boldly promises up to 120x digital zoom–a figure that’s even higher than most flagship phones today. 

To complement the periscope camera of the 12 Pro series, realme is also bringing over its tried-and-tested IMX890 sensor as the main camera for the mid-range devices. We first saw this sensor on the realme GT3, and it’s a great pick for flagship-like image quality with the right software optimization. 

realme has yet to disclose the processor on the 12 Pro series, but the mention of a Qualcomm partnership means that we’re getting Snapdragon processors this time around.

The next big question about the realme 12 Pro series is pricing: the 11 Pro+ was already at the Php 25k price point, and periscope cameras don’t come cheap either. We hope that realme will be able to give the 12 Pro series a competitive price with all of these camera upgrades.