Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S vs Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)

Compared 2 smartphones : Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S Manufactured in April, 2023, with display 6.43 with chipsetMediaTek Helio G96, vs Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos), Manufactured in March, 2026 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2600. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
  • Larger display: 6.43in
  • Higher battery capacity: 5000mAh vs 4300mAh
  • Infrared port
  • Includes charger
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
  • Higher pixel density: 411ppi
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Lighter design: 167g vs 176g
  • Newer Bluetooth version: 5.4 vs 5.2
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports DisplayPort
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 6/64 GB
- 6/128 GB
- 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 12/256 GB
- 12/512 GB

Review

Key Specs Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S and Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
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Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Display

Display quality comparison
Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.43 in 6.3 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1080x2340 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.5:9
Pixel density 409 ppi 411 ppi
Refresh rate 90 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate No Yes (1-120 Hz)
Max brightness 1000 nits n/a
HDR support No Yes, HDR10+
Touch Sampling Rate 180 Hz 240 Hz
Screen-to-body ratio 84.5 % 90.9 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
629 nits
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
n/a
sRGB gamut99.2 %n/a
PWM (Flicker)355 Hzn/a
Response time3 msn/a
Contrast∞ Infiniten/a

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 159.87 mm (6.29 in) 149.6 mm (5.89 in)
Width 73.87 mm (2.91 in) 71.7 mm (2.82 in)
Thickness 8.09 mm (0.32 in) 7.2 mm (0.28 in)
Weight 176 g (6.21 oz) 167 g (5.89 oz)
Water resistance No IP68
Cooling system n/a Vapor chamber
Back panel Plastic Glass
Frame Plastic Metal
Colors - Black
- Blue
- Green
- White
- Black
- Silver
- Blue
- Pink
- Purple
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Button Yes, In-Display
Screen-to-body ratio
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
84.5 %
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
90.9 %

Performance

Testing Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S and Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset MediaTek Helio G96 Samsung Exynos 2600
Max Frequency 2050 MHz 3800 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (2 + 6) 10 (1 + 3 + 6)
Architecture - 6/2 (Cortex-A55)
- 2/2.05 (Cortex-A76)
- 6/2.75 (C1-Pro)
- 3/3.25 (C1-Pro)
- 1/3.8 (C1-Ultra)
Process TSMC Samsung
Transistor Size 12 nm 2 nm
Neural Processor MediaTek APU AI engine with 32K MAC NPU
Graphics Mali-G57 MP2 Samsung Xclipse 960
GPU Cores 128 1024
GPU Frequency 950 MHz 980 MHz
FLOPS 243 GFLOPS 4014.1 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
680
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
3203
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
1688
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
11056
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)6803203
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)168811056
Geekbench Compute (GPU)n/a27467
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
392628
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
3504102
CPU1247651013874
GPU636611351843
Memory95926414601
UX108276723784
NanoReview Score3926283504102
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
1154
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
n/a
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
8306
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
n/a
Writing score10309n/a
Web score6774n/a
Video editing4587n/a
Data manipulation7052n/a
NanoReview Score8306n/a

Memory

RAM
RAM Size - 6 GB
- 8 GB
12 GB
Memory Type LPDDR4X LPDDR5X
Memory Frequency 2133 MHz n/a
Channels 2 4
Storage
Storage Capacity- 64 GB
- 128 GB
- 256 GB
256 GB
Storage TypeUFS 2.2UFS 4.1
Memory CardMicroSDNo

Software

OS Android 13 (Upgradeable to Android 14) Android 16
OS Size 20 GB 29.5 GB
UI Skin HyperOS 1.0 One UI 8.5

Battery

Volume 5000 mAh 4300 mAh
Max Charging Power 33 W 25 W
Battery Type Li-Po Li-ion
Removable No No
Wireless Charging No Yes (15 W)
Reverse Charging No Yes, (Wireless)
Fast Charging Yes (55% in 30 min) Yes
Full Charge Time 1:12 h n/a
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
21:29
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
n/a
Web Browsing08:34 hn/a
Video Playback12:36 hn/a
Games05:22 hn/a
Standby Mode105 hn/a

Main camera

Matrix 108 MP 50 MP
Photo resolution 12032x9024 pixels 8160x6120 pixels
Zoom Digital Optical, 3x
Flash LED LED
Stabilization Digital Optical
8K Recording No Yes (Up to 30 fps)
4K Recording No Yes (Up to 60 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 30 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 120 fps (720p) 240 fps (1080p)
Wide-angle lens 118 ° 120 °
Lenses count Standard: 108 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Macro: 2 MP
Standard: 50 MP
Telephoto: 10 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix108 MP50 MP
Aperturef/1.9f/1.8
Focal lengthn/a24 mm
SensorSamsung S5KHM2Samsung ISOCELL S5KGN3
Sensor size1/1.521/1.56 (0.64)
Pixel size0.7 μm1 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
StabilizationDigitalOptical
Telephoto
Matrixn/a10 MP
Aperturen/af/2.4
Focal lengthn/a67 mm
Sensorn/aSamsung ISOCELL S5K3K1
Sensor sizen/a1/3.94 (0.25)
Pixel sizen/a1 μm
Stabilizationn/aOptical
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix8 MP12 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal lengthn/a13 mm
Sensorn/aSony IMX564
Sensor size1/4.01/2.55 (0.39)
Pixel sizen/a1.4 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital

Front camera

Matrix 16 MP 12 MP
Photo resolution 4920x3264 pixels 4000x3000 pixels
Aperture f/2.4 f/2.2
Focal length n/a 26 mm
Sensor CMOS Samsung S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/3.06 1/3.2 (0.31)
Pixel size 1 μm 1.12 μm
Autofocus No Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps 2160p (4K) at 60 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.2 5.4
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
DisplayPort n/a Yes, DP 1.2
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Galileo
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port Yes No
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *NoYes
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 3/5/8GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
3G BandsWCDMA 1/5/8UMTS B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B8(900)
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B20/B28/B38/B40/B41)LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66)
LTE category13n/a
5G SupportNoYes

Sound

Speakers Stereo n/a
3.5 mm Jack Yes No
FM Radio No No
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12S
81.3 dB
Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos)
n/a

Other

Class Mid-range Flagship
Announced March, 2023 yr February, 2026 yr
Release Date April, 2023 yr March, 2026 yr
Launch Price ($) 289 n/a
MSRP ($) n/a 879
Sensors - Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
Charger Included Yes 33 W No
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Samsung Galaxy S26 (Exynos) the clear winner in this comparison.

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