At the beginning of 2023, major mobile phone manufacturers have fallen into the vortex of "involution".
At last year's OnePlus 11 mobile phone conference, Li Jie, president of OnePlus China, said this sentence: "Don't walk into this arena gently", which is like a fuse, so that all mobile phone manufacturers began to go crazy this year.
The first shot of this year's "inner roll" is the OnePlus Ace 2 equipped with the first-generation Snapdragon 8+, and due to its super high cost performance, OnePlus Ace 2 has rekindled the sluggish mobile phone market. Around this point in time, the realme GT Neo5 and OnePlus Ace 2V were released, and they also achieved good results.
If you are interested in these new models, you will find a phenomenon, that is, this year, most of the popular models are "sub-flagships" with prices in the mid-range, which is related to the weakness of the domestic mobile phone market, on the other hand, the lack of innovation of flagship mobile phones is also the main reason.
Source: Photo by ByArsT
For mid-range models, price is one factor, performance is also more important in this price segment, how to balance between price and performance, is the focus of mobile phone manufacturers; The flagship chip has strong performance, but the price is a little decoupled from the word "mid-range", and the cheap chip is priced appropriately, but the performance is inevitably somewhat insufficient.
Some time ago, mobile platform manufacturer Qualcomm released a new generation of mid-range mobile platform: the second generation Snapdragon 7+, interestingly, this time Qualcomm directly skipped the naming of the second generation Snapdragon 7, directly titled it "Plus", and played the "7iáng strong" slogan.
Snapdragon 7 series in the hands of Qualcomm, has always been a "high-end brand", compared with last year's announcement of the first generation of Snapdragon 7, Qualcomm for this year's second generation of Snapdragon 7+ is obviously more confident, by changing the way of architecture, to make the Snapdragon 7 series have new vitality.
It just so happened that we got the first mobile phone equipped with the second generation of Snapdragon 7+: Redmi Note 12 Turbo, it is worth mentioning that in order to show the strong performance of this product, the name "Turbo" was specially added to open a new product line.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
In addition, this time we got the Harry Potter joint Redmi Note 12 Turbo, in addition to attracting attention in performance, it is also very attractive to consumers in appearance.
Hard shake the "flagship" with the "mid-range"
In my opinion, the significance of the birth of the second generation Snapdragon 7+ is a bit special, and this special place lies in the time node.
Just now we mentioned at the beginning that this year's mobile phone manufacturers especially like to do "cross-level" design, this cross-level performance in performance, many mobile phone manufacturers will the previous generation of flagship platform as the first choice of mid-range machines, aside from product factors, in this link mobile phone manufacturers will definitely encounter a certain degree of cost problems, to put it seriously, may be major mobile phone manufacturers are gritting their teeth "hard".
As a "door welder", Redmi may have a deeper understanding of this problem because it has been taking the cost-effective route for many years, so at the press conference of the second generation Snapdragon 7+, Lu Weibing, general manager of the Redmi brand, also came to the scene and said that "if you want to reactivate the market, you must break the convention in the mid-range product line and promote the performance 'subversive' upgrade."
Source: Qualcomm official website
On this basis, the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ has changed dramatically.
For example, in the CPU architecture, the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ uses a super large core plus three performance cores and four efficiency cores of "1+3+4" three-cluster architecture, 4nm process technology, this architecture and process is completely the same as the flagship series Snapdragon 8 series, in other words, the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ is designed based on the standards of the flagship platform.
In terms of core frequency, the highest main frequency of Cortex-X2 super large core reached 2.91GHz, the frequency of A710 large core is 2.49GHz, the frequency of A510 small core is 1.8GHz, although the second generation Snapdragon 7+ still belongs to the high-end platform sequence, but from the perspective of parameters and architecture, it has far exceeded the products with the same positioning released by friends at the same time, and can even benchmark the flagship platform of the same level.
Based on stronger CPU performance, Redmi Note 12 Turbo also takes performance to the extreme, equipped with full-blood LPDDR5 memory and enhanced UFS 3.1 flash memory, forming a new generation of performance "Audio-Technica", pushing the performance of this "mid-range machine" to the level of flagship machines.
Here we use GeekBench 5 to test CPU performance.
Source: ByArsT
It can be seen that the Redmi Note 12 Turbo equipped with the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ has a single-core score of 1223 points and a multi-core score of 4050 points.
In addition to GeekBench 5, we also tested it with the recent GeekBench 6.
Source: ByArsT
In the CPU performance test of GeekBench 6, the single-core score was 1664 points, and the multi-core score reached 4412 points, which is basically on par with the flagship level CPU performance. In addition, Redmi Note 12 Turbo in the AnTuTu running score, is also the first time that the high-end mobile platform will run more than one million, completely reaching the "flagship level".
In terms of GPU, the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ is equipped with a new Adreno 725 GPU, the maximum frequency has reached 580MHz, according to the official statement, the performance is twice as high as the previous generation, and the energy efficiency is increased by 13%. Although the GPU frequency has been greatly improved, these are only "appetizers" for the second-generation Snapdragon.
Source: Qualcomm official website
The second-generation Snapdragon 7+ supports some of the Snapdragon Elite Gaming features this time, which means that the future upgrade of the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ is far more than performance, and some future-oriented technical features will also appear on the mid-range machine.
Snapdragon Elite Gaming features may not be understood by some friends, this is a collection of Qualcomm's game technology, with Snapdragon Elite Gaming represents not only a smoother game screen, but to embrace a new game technology ecology. For example, adaptive variable resolution rendering (Auto VRS) allows game developers to debug game performance while using finer granular control to render non-important objects in the picture at different resolutions, focusing performance on important areas of the picture and using them on the "blade".
Source: Qualcomm official website
In addition, Snapdragon Elite Gaming's three-dimensional rendering technology (Volumetric Rendering), which has a huge impact on picture quality, has also been placed by Qualcomm in the second generation of Snapdragon 7+, which can simulate the flow of light in objects in mobile devices to the greatest extent to achieve a more realistic and shocking effect, and the previous 2D animation effects will also appear in a more three-dimensional form, adding realism to particles such as smoke.
Source: Qualcomm official website
Here we use 3DMark for GPU testing.
Source: ByArsT
In the 3DMark Wild Life test, he scored 7531 points, and in the more stressed 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, he scored 1957 points, which is very good, far above the mid-range level.
Since the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ has decreased in power consumption, the performance release stability of Redmi Note 12 Turbo has also been improved, and in 3DMark's 20 cycle stress tests, whether it is 3DMark Wild Life or 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, Redmi Note 12 Turbo has scored more than 99%.
Source: ByArsT
It can be said that the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ has achieved "mid-range breakthrough to high-end" progress in performance.
Image power is no longer "mid-range"
In terms of image, due to the architectural changes of the second-generation Snapdragon 7+, Redmi Note 12 Turbo also obtains certain image capabilities of the Snapdragon 8 series, with a built-in 18-bit triple ISP, which can capture 30 pictures at a time and integrate the best part into this photo; The benefits are clear, even in low-light environments, the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ can take brighter, sharper, more colorful photos in ultra-low light.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
In addition, the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ also adds 4K HDR video shooting that supports triple exposure, and through the method of multiple cameras working at the same time, the brightest, darkest, and best parts in the middle of the triple exposure are combined to improve the ability of color, brightness and dynamic range as much as possible.
In terms of hardware configuration, the Redmi Note 12 Turbo is equipped with a 64-megapixel main camera, supports OIS optical image stabilization, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2-megapixel macro lens, which is conscientious enough in this price segment.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
In this sample, there is no noticeable noise, and the color of the sky is pure enough that no smearing occurs even under the lighting; In terms of highlights, the Redmi Note 12 Turbo is acceptable, with no noticeable overexposure, and the suppression of light is very good.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
Thanks to the triple exposure technology, the Redmi Note 12 Turbo can perform very well when shooting night scenes, even if you shoot multiple shots, you can feel the pure black of the sky, and in terms of texture in the dark, there is enough detail and no smearing.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
In bright environments, the Redmi Note 12 Turbo also feels the benefits of high dynamic range, and the contrast between highlights and shadows is very good.
"Harry Potter"
A good design gives a product its soul, and mobile phones are no exception.
Redmi Note 12 Turbo chose to co-brand with the big IP of Harry Potter on top of the basic design, giving this phone a different charm.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
Redmi Note 12 Turbo first put a lot of effort into the outer packaging, the entire box is designed in the shape of a magic book, the left side of the book is Hogwarts' admission letter, and the right side is the Mirror of Eris that appeared in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
It is worth noting that the Redmi Note 12 Turbo Harry Potter Edition has a very interesting thing, that is, a 93/4 platform design style SIM card needle.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
The back of the entire fuselage is dominated by the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's school emblem, and the camera module part is equipped with Harry's iconic glasses and lightning scars, with Harry's iconic dark pattern information such as the Patronus Stag, Quidditch, Spirits, and Sorting Hat, filling the overall customized atmosphere of the product.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
Aside from the "Harry Potter" elements on the fuselage, back to this phone, Redmi Note 12 Turbo has a very eye-catching place, that is, this screen does not add a screen bracket, the left and right borders are only 1.42mm, and through the high-gauge COP package, the bending radius at the bottom of this screen is reduced, achieving an ultra-narrow chin of 2.22mm.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
In the past, plastic screen bracket is the symbol of low-end mobile phones, the emergence of plastic brackets is limited by cost, but this is also the most affected texture place, now the cancellation of plastic brackets, so that the feel and texture of this mobile phone straight up, completely not lost to the current market so-called sub-flagship.
This screen also performs well in parameters, a 6.67-inch flexible straight screen, the surface covers 2.5D of the fifth generation Corning Gorilla Glass, the resolution is 2400*1080, supports 120Hz high refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate, the highest brightness reaches 1000nit, has 12bit color depth, supports 16000-level automatic brightness adjustment and 1920Hz high-frequency PWM dimming.
Visually enough to "pull up".
Break consumers' "conventional impression" of mid-range machines
For today's domestic mobile phone market, "inner roll" must be the keyword of the entire 2023, but this point of the volume is not the flagship, but the mid-range machine.
Whether the emergence of the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ can break this shrinking market, we don't know, but it is certain that this new mobile platform has achieved the mission of revolutionizing the mid-range product experience, breaking consumers' conventional impression of mid-range machines, and promoting the performance upgrade of mid-range products in the mobile phone industry.
Source: Photo by Pinplay LU
In addition, we can also clearly feel that with the emergence of the second-generation Snapdragon 7+ and the decentralization of various supporting technologies, the boundary between the so-called mid-range and high-end is constantly blurring, at least in terms of experience, to a certain degree of consistency; And on the future mid-range mobile platform, we may see more technology decentralization, such as Snapdragon Elite Gaming, Snapdragon Sight, etc., mobile phone manufacturers no longer need to use the old platform, mid-range machines can also use the latest technology.
Let's talk about this product, Xiaomi series products have not had a starting price of 1999 yuan for many years, and on the basis of this price, 67W flash charging, stereo dual speakers, X-axis linear motor, NFC campus card, infrared remote control and 3.5mm headphone hole, etc. are also a lot, with performance comparable to the flagship, Redmi Note 12 Turbo is completely "full of sincerity" of a product, at least at this moment, within 2000 yuan, it is a real "door welder".
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