The Xiaomi 12 is now OFFICIAL in China! Three are announced: Xiaomi 12, 12X and 12 Pro

The 12X comes with Snapdragon 870 processor. A little outdated for 2022 but still packs a punch.

Xiaomi has been teasing their flagship Mi 12 (now just Xiaomi 12) ever since the SD8G1 chip has been announced. They are one of the few companies anticipated to be the first to use the chipset. They were beaten, unfortunately, by the Motorola Edge X by a few weeks.

It’s not too late yet though, as the SD8G1 chip is still new and optimizations are still being developed for it. It’s the flagship chip for next year, and we have three days left before 2022 hits, but companies aren’t done yet announcing new handsets.

Xiaomi has released three handsets, which knocks out the rumours only two of the phones are going to be released. However, that rumour isn’t entirely false as two are flagships while the other is a high tier midranger. (Yes, the SD870 5G chip is now considered “midrange”).

Xiaomi 12

The base Xiaomi 12 is a pretty small flagship by 2021-2022 standards. It also has the smallest display size since the Xiaomi 8 and thus compact users would be happy to know that they won’t be needing to carry a super tall glass slab in their bags or pockets everytime. This phone has a 6.28in. FHD+ AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate. An under-display fingerprint scanner is present as well as Gorilla Glass Victus for scratch resistance.

Inside of it is, of course, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. 2022 ready. While rumors purportedly made Xiaomi the company anticipated to release a phone with this chip first, they have been beaten to that race. Sadly due to disappointing test results from the Motorola Edge X, we are less excited about the processor. However, there’s still a long way to go, and the heating issue should be fixed before other mainstream phones get a hold of it. For now, be a little cautious, even to the Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro.

Anyway, this processor’s paired with either 8 or 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and either 128 or 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. There’s also a cooling pad inside the phone in which Xiaomi’s brilliant team of engineers managed to still fit despite the small and cramped size of the phone.

For the cameras, the phone comes with a 50mp Sony IMX766 that Xiaomi misspelled in their teasers. This is a flagship-grade sensor found on other 2021 flagship phones as well. It has a large 2.0µm pixel size and the sensor is also pretty big at 1/1.56″. Like all other flagships, OIS is available. There’s also a 13mp ultrawide snapper and a 5mp macro camera with a 50mm focal length. In front is a 32mp selfie camera.

It boots with MIUI 13 at the helm and would be one of the first to use this new version of MIUI. MIUI 13 promises improvements to privacy, optimization, and performance. It will also have some slightly new design changes, such as a 100% original, uncopied control panel that’s definitely not taken by biting onto an apple. There’s also a version for tablets but that’s for another article for another day.

The battery is modest at 4500mAh which is typical to modern flagships. This is paired with 67W fast wired charging along with 50W fast wireless charging and 10W reverse charging. The phone comes in three colours as seen above: Black, Blue, and Pink.

It is now debuting in China with a starting price of CNY3,699 (~Php 29.4K) for the 8/128 variant. There’s also the 8/256 variant that comes with a price of CNY3,999 (~Php 31.8K), and finally, the top-tier 12/256 variant that’s priced at CNY4,399 (~Php 35K).

The phone does not come with an IP rating (or any announced thereof) but has support for 8K@24fps and 4K@30fps. There’s also support for FHD (1080p) slow-mo up to 960fps. NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, Stereo speakers tuned by Harman-Kardon (though no 3.5mm jack), Wi-Fi 6, and 5G services are also present.

SPECS:

• 6.28in. FHD+ Samsung E4 AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate, 1B Colours, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4nm)
• CAMERAS:
  • 50mp (main), Sony IMX766, f/1.9 aperture, 1/1.56″ sensor size, 26mm focal length, 2.0µm large pixel size, PDAF, OIS
  • 13mp (ultrawide), f/2.4 aperture, 123° FoV, 1/3.06″ sensor size, 1.12µm pixel size
  • 5mp (macro), 50mm focal length
  • FRONT: 32mp (main), 26mm focal length, 0.7µm pixel size
  • VIDEO: 8K@24fps (main), 4K@30fps (main), 1080p@120/240/960fps (main), 1080p@30/60fps (front and main)
• 4500mAh battery
  • 67W fast wired charging
  • 50W fast wireless charging
  • 10W reverse charging
• 24-bit Harman Kardon-tuned stereo speakers, no 3.5mm jack
• Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, NFC, In-display fingerprint sensor
• PRICE:
  • 8/128: CNY 3,699 (~Php 29.4K)
  • 8/256: CNY 3,999 (~Php 31.8K)
  • 12/256: CNY 4,399 (~Php 35K)

XIAOMI 12 PRO

If you think the Xiaomi 12 looks quite similar to the OnePlus 9, well that makes the Xiaomi 12 Pro the company’s “Oneplus 9 Pro” just without the useless Hasselblad branding. This one has a more blatant design resemblance though especially with that large camera (which frankly reminds us of the Infinix Hot 11s).

Anyway, let’s start with the specs sheet. The display is a large 6.73in. LTPO AMOLED panel with a 2K resolution and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Like the base Xiaomi 12, this phone has speakers that are tuned by Harman Kardon and also support Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res audio.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro comes with three 50mp cameras. The first is a newly-developed 50mp Sony IMX707 main lens with OIS, 1/1.28″ sensor size, 2.44µm quad-bayer large pixel size, and a 7P shooting system. The second one is a 50mp telephoto while the last is a 50mp ultrawide shooter. No gimmicky depth and macros here. That’s reserved for budgets and midrangers. These three cameras are assisted by Xiaomi’s own Cyberfocus system that helps with better autofocus. Truly amazing how Xiaomi has given lots of time and care for their upcoming flagship. Not only have they released a flagship, but they also have shown that they’re developing new technologies for their new devices.

Speaking of new proprietary technology, the Xiaomi 12 Pro has a 4500mAh battery with 120W fast wired charging and 50W for wireless. Xiaomi’s own Surge P1 charging chip helps in maintaining the battery and charging in check. The battery is split into two by the way.

There are three colours and one limited-time edition Vegan Green colour scheme. It starts at CNY 4,699 (~Php 37.3K) for the 8/128 trim. The 8/256 trim is priced at CNY 4,999 (~Php 39.7K) while the 12/256 model starts at CNY 5,399 (~Php 42.9K) The phone is now live in China and we’re just waiting for an international release.

SPECS:

• 6.73in. LTPO 2.0 AMOLED panel with 2K (1440p) resolution, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
• CAMERAS:
  • 50mp (main) Sony IMX707, f/1.9 aperture, 24mm focal length, 1/1.28″ sensor size, 1.22µm standard pixel size, Dual-Pixel PDAF, OIS
  • 50mp (telephoto), f/1.9 aperture, 48mm focal length, PDAF, 2x optical zoom
  • 50mp (ultrawide), f/2.2, 115° FoV
  • FRONT: 32mp (main), 26mm, 0.7µm
  • VIDEO: 8K@24fps (main), 4K@30/60fps (main), 1080p slow-mo (main, 120/240/960fps), 1080p@30/60fps (main and front)
• 4500mAh battery
  • 120W fast charging
  • 50W fast wireless charging
  • 10W reverse wireless charging
  • Quick Charge 4+
  • Surge P1 charging chip
• Stereo Speakers tuned by Harman/Kardon, no 3.5mm jack
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, Optical in-display fingerprint scanner
• PRICE:
  • 8/128: CNY 4,699 (~Php 37.3K)
  • 8/256: CNY 4,999 (~Php 39.7K)
  • 12/256: CNY 5,399 (~Php 42.9K)

Xiaomi 12X

The “diet” version of the regular Xiaomi 12. It has nearly the same specifications and design as the vanilla Xiaomi 12 apart from one big differentiator: the Snapdragon 870 5G chip! There’s also no wireless charging available here but everything else was kept.

SPECS:

• 6.28in. FHD+ Samsung E4 AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate, 1B Colours, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G (5nm)
• CAMERAS:
  • 50mp (main), Sony IMX766, f/1.9 aperture, 1/1.56″ sensor size, 26mm focal length, 2.0µm large pixel size, PDAF, OIS
  • 13mp (ultrawide), f/2.4 aperture, 123° FoV, 1/3.06″ sensor size, 1.12µm pixel size
  • 5mp (macro), 50mm focal length
  • FRONT: 32mp (main), 26mm focal length, 0.7µm pixel size
  • VIDEO: 8K@24fps (main), 4K@30fps (main), 1080p@120/240/960fps (main), 1080p@30/60fps (front and main)
• 4500mAh battery
  • 67W fast wired charging
• 24-bit Harman Kardon-tuned stereo speakers, no 3.5mm jack
• Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, NFC, In-display fingerprint sensor
• PRICE:
  • 8/128: CNY 3,199 (~Php 25.4K)
  • 8/256: CNY 3,499 (~Php 27.8K)
  • 12/256: CNY 3,799 (~Php 30.2K)

We’re waiting for all these three phones to possibly release internationally including the Philippines, especially the Xiaomi 12 Pro where it is a substantial upgrade over the Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro but not really the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, as that phone had a 120x periscope camera.

Source: Xiaomi, via GSMArena