Redmi sure doesn't hang about - it's got a publicly stated policy to release a new Note phone every six months or so, which means that even with the Note 11 fresh to the market, the next iteration is already likely to be well on its way.

You could probably be confident the Note 12 was coming regardless, but it's even more likely now after MySmartPrice spotted that it's passed the well-known 3C certification process in China, which often does leak the existence of phones before they're announced.

There are two models in the certification, which opens the door to a potential Note 12 Plus, or some other upgraded version of the base phone.

Both will seemingly use a MediaTek processor, although which one isn't made clear - that leaves some wiggle room on the performance front for the phone. Software was a bit of an issue with the Note 11, so hopefully Redmi will have managed to improve things on that front, too.

The certification doesn't include any visuals, though, so we're also completely in the dark in terms of the phone's design. Whether it proves to be a departure from the Note 11's relatively generic looks, or sticks to them, will come out when (or if) the phone's officially announced.