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Battery life
- 2,965mAh battery last a day on a single charge
- No fast or wireless charge support
For a phone with such a large display a battery of 2,965mAh doesn't sound like much, but the low resolution of the screen and the improved battery optimization of the Snapdragon 450 chipset really help to extract as much usage out of a single charge as possible.
In our standard battery test – which involves playing a 90-minute 720p video with brightness turned up to maximum – the Desire 12 Plus lost 25% of its battery life.
That's not great but nor is it bad going for a phone with a 6-inch screen, and in a typical day we found there was always a bit of juice left in the tank by the time we got to bedtime.
The Desire 12 Plus' battery even lasted partway into the next day, but it doesn't quite have the staying power to make it through 48 hours so a nightly visit to the wall charger is recommended - especially if you're doing intensive tasks like 3D gaming or watching movies on a daily basis.
Sadly, there's no fast charging support so you may want to get into the habit of leaving the device plugged into a wall socket overnight.
In the time it takes phones with larger batteries and quick-charge support to fully replenish their power (about an hour and a half, give or take), you'll reach around 70% on the Desire 12 Plus. Needless to say, there's no wireless charging.
Camera
- Dual 13MP + 2MP cameras on the rear, with LED flash
- 8MP selfie cam
- 'Bokeh' effects are excellent
While Google seems content with using a single camera on its flagship Pixel 2 phones, dual-camera setups are very much the norm in 2018, and the Desire 12 Plus is no exception.
However, while it's common to see phones sporting two or even three cameras, the way in which each device makes use of them is very different. In the case of the Desire 12 Plus, that second 2MP snapper is utilized solely for depth information and does not act like a telephoto ‘zoom’ camera.
This sensor is instead used in the phone's 'Bokeh' mode, where it judges depth and allows the device to apply a realistic blur effect on the background. Multiple focal point capture is also possible, so you can adjust the areas of focus at a later date.
It's one of the most convincing uses of a dual-camera system we've seen in this sector of the market, but the whole process is hamstrung by the camera's sluggish shutter speed.
Even when you're shooting in near-perfect conditions the Desire 12 Plus can prove to be frustratingly slow when it comes to locking on and snapping a shot, which often means you're left with a blurry image.
As is to be expected on a low-cost device, there's no optical image stabilization, so you have to keep your hands really still to get a decent image.
When shooting in dark environments, photos exhibit low levels of noise, but the Desire 12 Plus takes what feels like an eternity to focus and capture the shot. With so many handsets offering solutions to low light photography it's a real disappointment to see HTC's phone struggle in this area.
On the plus side, colors look realistic and there's a high level of detail without too much compression. Photos rarely come out overexposed, and everything has a pleasing sense of vibrancy.
The HDR mode makes your shots even more striking, but it slows down the already sluggish shutter speed even more, so it's best left for those times when you're supremely confident of getting the perfect snap.
For those of you who like to dig into the settings to capture the perfect photo, you may find the Desire 12 Plus's camera app to be a little too simplistic. While you can adjust things like ISO and white balance, there's no true 'manual' mode.
In terms of video, it's possible to shoot 1080p footage at 30fps but there's no 4K mode – something that even budget phones like those produced by Xiaomi manage to include. There are hardly any video features to speak of, so don't expect to find screen filters or fancy slo-mo effects, like those seen on the Samsung Galaxy S9.
