Xiaomi 12 Series: Three new smartphones presented

As announced, Xiaomi has just made its Xiaomi 12 series smartphones official for the global market.

The Xiaomi 12 and the Xiaomi 12 Pro had already been shown for the Chinese home market. A trio consisting of Xiaomi 12, 12X and Xiaomi 12 Pro is presented for the German market. The 12X is also available in China, so none of the three devices is really “new”.

The Xiaomi 12X and the Xiaomi 12 differ rather slightly. Both smartphones use a 6.28-inch (approx. 16 cm) AMOLED panel on the front. The resolution is 2,400 x 1,080 pixels – 1,100 nits of maximum brightness are in it. The panel supports a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, protected by Gorilla Glass Victus.

The Snapdragon 870 works under the hood of the 12X, while the Xiaomi 12 uses the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, manufactured using the 4 nm process. In both cases, 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM is available. While the Xiaomi 12X is only available with 256 GB of storage space, the Xiaomi 12 has an additional 128 GB to choose from. Xiaomi relies on Android 12 for the operating system with its own MIUI 13 overlay.

Otherwise? Both smartphones charge the 4,500 mAh battery with 67 watts. The Xiaomi 12 also offers wireless charging with up to 50 watts and reverse wireless charging with 10 watts. The camera setup of Xiaomi 12X and Xiaomi 12 is identical. So you rely on a triple camera with a 50-megapixel main camera, 13-megapixel ultra wide-angle sensor and 5-megapixel telephoto lens. On the front, however, a sensor with 32 megapixels.

Specifications of the Xiaomi 12X

Display: 6.28-inch, 2,400 x 1,080 pixels (FHD+), 120 Hz, AMOLED, 1,100 nits, Gorilla Glass Victus
Operating system: Android 12 with MIUI 13 interface
SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 870
GPU: Adreno 650
RAM: 8 GB (LPDDR5)
Storage space: 256 GB (UFS 3.1)
Triple main camera: 50 (wide angle, f/1.88) + 13 (ultra wide angle, f/2.4) + 5 (tele macro) megapixels
Front camera: 32 (wide angle, f/2.4)
Battery: 4,500 mAh, fast charging with up to 67 watts wired
Interfaces: 4G / 5G LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, Infrared, USB Type-C
Dimensions / Weight: 152.7 x 69.9 x 8.1 mm / 176 g
Features: X-axis linear motor, in-display fingerprint scanner, Harman Kardon stereo speakers
Colours: blue, grey, violet
Price: 8/ 256 GB: 699 euros

Specifications of the Xiaomi 12

Display: 6.28-inch, 2,400 x 1,080 pixels (FHD+), 120 Hz, AMOLED, 1,100 nits, Gorilla Glass Victus
Operating system: Android 12 with MIUI 13 interface
SoC: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
GPU: Adreno
RAM: 8 GB (LPDDR5)
Storage space: 128/ 256 GB (UFS 3.1)
Triple main camera: 50 (wide angle, f/1.88) + 13 (ultra wide angle, f/2.4) + 5 (tele macro) megapixels
Front camera: 32 (wide angle, f/2.4)
Battery: 4,500 mAh, fast charging with up to 67 watts wired / 50 watts wireless charging / 10 watts reverse wireless charging
Interfaces: 4G / 5G LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi 6 (E), Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, Infrared, USB Type-C
Dimensions / Weight: 152.7 x 69.9 x 8.1 mm / 180 g
Features: X-axis linear motor, in-display fingerprint scanner, Harman Kardon stereo speakers
Colours: blue, grey, violet
price
8GB / 128GB: 849.90 euros
8GB / 256GB: 899.90 euros

The Xiaomi 12 Pro is a step up in many respects. The AMOLED display is a corner larger at 6.73 inches. The resolution is 3,200 x 1,400 pixels (WQHD+). The panel comes with 10-bit and a maximum brightness of 1,500 nits. The display uses an LTPO panel with 120 Hz and a sampling rate of up to 480 Hz. The refresh rate is dynamically adjusted between 1 Hz and 120 Hz.

Here, too, the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is at work under the hood. There is a choice of 8 or 12 GB of RAM (LPDDR5) and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Of course, MIUI 13 based on Android 12 is also used here. The triple camera setup with three times 50 megapixels is quickly explained. Here you rely on the classic combination of main camera, ultra wide-angle camera and telephoto camera. The main sensor is the IMX707 from Sony. On the front there are 32 megapixels.

The battery capacity of the Pro model is 4,600 mAh. It is charged here with 120 watts. The battery is fully recharged within 18 minutes. There are 50 watts wireless and 10 watts for reverse wireless charging. Xiaomi uses Wi-Fi 6E for the 12 and 12 Pro. The Xiaomi 12 Pro uses four speakers for a decent sound.

Specifications of the Xiaomi 12 Pro

Display: 6.73 inches, 3,200 x 1,440 pixels (WQHD+), 120 Hz, AMOLED, LTPO, 1,500 nits, Gorilla Glass Victus
Operating system: Android 12 with MIUI 13 interface
SoC: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
GPU: Adreno
RAM: 8 / 12 GB (LPDDR5)
Storage space: 256 GB (UFS 3.1)
Triple main camera: 50 (wide angle, f/1.9 IMX707) + 50 (ultra wide angle, f/2.2) + 50 (tele macro, f/1.9) megapixels
Front camera: 32 (wide angle, f/2.4)
Battery: 4,600 mAh, fast charging with up to 120 watts wired / 50 watts wireless charging / 10 watts reverse wireless charging
Interfaces: 4G / 5G LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi 6 (E), Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, Infrared, USB Type-C
Dimensions / Weight: 163.6 x 74.6 x 8.1 mm / 205 g
Features: X-axis linear motor, in-display fingerprint scanner, quad speakers from Harman Kardon
Colours: blue, grey, violet
Price:
8GB / 256GB: 1049.90 euros
12GB / 256GB: 1149.90 euros

The advance sale of the new smartphones starts immediately. From March 29, 2022, the smartphones mentioned will be available in stores with immediate effect. Starting price is 699 euros for the Xiaomi 12X with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage space. If you are one of the pre-orderers, then there is a Redmi Watch 2 Lite with an RRP of 69.90 euros on top.

The Xiaomi 12 costs 849.90 euros or 899.90 euros, depending on whether you choose the variant with 8 GB and 128 GB or the one with double storage space of 256 GB. You have to dig a good bit deeper into your pocket for the Xiaomi 12 Pro. Since 1049.90 euros are due for 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage space. It is doubtful whether the RAM upgrade to 12 GB for a whopping 100 euros more (1149.90 euros) is worthwhile. Those who pre-order the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro will receive a Xiaomi Watch S1 Active worth 179 euros for free.

On top of that, there is also three months of YouTube Premium. If you buy a smartphone from the Xiaomi 12 series by March 15, 2023, you can request a one-time display repair from the Xiaomi Service Center within the first 6 months of purchase.