Yesterday, the Xiaomi 12 series launched in China on schedule. It features three models: Xiaomi 12, Xiaomi 12X, and Xiaomi 12 Pro. The 12X is a new budget-friendly addition to the Xiaomi flagship family. Xiaomi also redesigned the baseline phones to be more compact this year.
Xiaomi 12X
Xiaomi 12X is the cheapest of the three Xiaomi 12 phones. Instead of the latest flagship chip from Qualcomm, it has the Snapdragon 870 at its heart. LPDDR5 memory and UFS 3.1 storage round off the chip. It's all powered by a 4500 mAh battery and 67W charging. But no wireless charging support is offered. MIUI 13 x Android 12 runs on this hardware.
The design is consistent across the entire lineup — we're looking at modular accents on the camera rectangle, curved edges on both the casing and the display, and a centered hole-punch cutout. If it weren't for the dimensions, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the three Xiaomi 12 editions apart. Xiaomi 12X comes in blue, lavender, and black finishes.
The 6.28" screen offers excellent reachability and an ergonomic fit. It's a 1080P OLED that peaks at a 120Hz refresh rate and 1100 nits of brightness. HDR10+ content is supported. The fingerprint scanner rests below the display. Plus, Gorilla Glass Victus protects the Xiaomi 12X.
Harman Kardon fine-tuned its stereo speakers. But there is no audio jack on any of the Xiaomi 12 phones. The microSD card slot is missing again too.
Lastly, the rear camera system on the Xiaomi 12X features OIS-enabled 50MP f/1.9 wide-angle, 13MP ultra-wide, and 5MP tele-macro lenses. The 32 MP front camera captures selfies.
Xiaomi 12X comes in 8GB+128GB and 12GB+256GB storage options — the former starts from CNY 3,199 (~ Rs. 89,900,) and the fully-specced out version costs CNY 3,799 (~ Rs. 106,800.) The pricing puts it squarely in the so-called "flagship-killer" category.
Xiaomi 12
Xiaomi is going back to the compact form factor from a few years ago. It adopts the same Samsung-made screen we saw on the Xiaomi 12X, down to the dimensions and specs. But the display on the Xiaomi 12 curves much more aggressively along the edges. The bezel also seems slightly more trimmed off.
The entire camera system is also shared with the Xiaomi 12X. Except for the lower-res 50MP sensor, the setup is borrowed from last year's Xiaomi 11. Also, stereo speakers, the design, and colors are carried over from the Xiaomi 12X wholesale.
But the Xiaomi 12 is offered in a much more premium mint faux leather finish. The phone's chip is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 — the latest and greatest from Qualcomm.
50W wireless charging support is also integrated. And the battery size and wired charging tech are identical to the Xiaomi 12X. The same goes for the storage configurations, but the Xiaomi 12 starts from CNY 3,699 (~ Rs. 104,000.)
Xiaomi 12 Pro
Xiaomi 12 Pro is the real showstopper in the series. It rocks a 6.73" LTPO screen from Samsung. The cutting-edge tech intelligently adjusts the variable refresh rate between 1 and 120Hz. It peaks at QHD+ resolution and an eye-searing 1500 nits of brightness.
At a whopping 120W, the wired charging speed is the fastest on any Xiaomi flagship yet. Xiaomi promises a 100% top-up in just 18 minutes! Even in the limited mode, it takes only 24 minutes. Blazing fast 50W wireless charging is also available. And the battery capacity is upped to 4600 mAh in the Xiaomi 12 Pro.
All three cameras have 50MP sensors behind them. It's a cluster of an OIS-powered wide-angle, a 2x telephoto, and dedicated ultra-wide lenses. In addition, the new CyberFocus AF feature and improved night mode make for a better photography experience.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, UFS 3.1, and LPDDR5 memory ensure hiccup-free performance. The baseline Xiaomi 12 Pro is priced at CNY 4,699 (~ Rs. 132,000.) Xiaomi has yet to announce the international releases for these phones.