In December 2022, Xiaomi introduced a new line of flagships. It includes 3 smartphones at once - the basic Xiaomi 12, the slightly less productive 12X model and the professional Pro version. Sales in China started on January 1, so enough time has passed to make a detailed review of the technical characteristics and have time to study the reviews of the happy owners of new smartphones. We suggest starting with the basic version - Xiaomi 12, which is declared by the Chinese company as an ideal flagship with a powerful processor, stylish design, cool cameras and innovative technologies.
Note! The most popular AnTuTu Benchmark gives the Xiaomi 12 a score of 985,154 points and places it in 4th place out of 200 smartphones in early 2022, behind the Oppo Realme GT2 Pro, Xiaomi 12 Pro and OnePlus 10 Pro.
Equipment
By purchasing the new flagship Xiaomi 12, you receive a smartphone in a minimalist white box without unnecessary images and details. On the front there is only the number 12, the Mi company logo (although it is no longer in the name of the smartphone, which may seem strange) and the full name of the model. The inscriptions are made in gold font, which gives the packaging a certain premium feel.
As users note, the equipment is very pleasing. Inside you will find not only a USB Type-C cable, but also a 67 W charging block, which is important, because the Xiaomi Mi 11 did not have an adapter. Additionally, the manufacturer included a transparent silicone case in the box.
Design and dimensions
The Xiaomi 12 smartphone turned out to be quite compact - the manufacturer did not disappoint in this regard. By modern standards, this is a small and light device, given that the screen has a diagonal of 6.28 inches. The flagship is available in four colors: black, green, purple and blue. The advantage is that the colors are quite delicate, harmonious, and do not catch the eye.
The back panel is made of frosted glass, and the frame is made of metal, and it is very thin (the working area is 89.2%). Due to the rounded edges, the smartphone lies comfortably in the hand and does not cut into the skin. The camera block on the rear panel is very harmonious and neat, does not contain anything superfluous.
The left side of the flagship is completely empty, on the right there are the power and volume buttons, at the bottom there is a Type-C connector, the main microphone and speaker, and a SIM card tray.
On top there is a second speaker and microphone, as well as an infrared port.
Xiaomi 12: Specifications
| Xiaomi 12: | Characteristics |
| Display: | 6.28 inches OLED 1080 x 2400 pixels, 120 Hz |
| CPU: | Snapdragon 8 Gen1 |
| GPU: | Adreno 730 |
| RAM: | 8/12 GB |
| Inner memory: | 128/256 GB |
| Memory card: | No |
| Cameras: | 50 MP + 13 MP + 5 MP based camera and 32 MP selfie camera |
| Wireless connection: | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS, 5G, NFC |
| Battery: | 4500 mAh (67W) |
| OS: | Android 12 (MIUI 13) |
| Connections: | Type-C USB |
| Weight: | 180 grams |
| Dimensions: | 152.7 x 69.9 x 8.2 mm |
| Price: | $639 |
Display
The Xiaomi 12 smartphone features a 6.28-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080x2400 pixels, which is considered the standard for most flagships. The display is protected by durable tempered Gorilla Glass Victus glass, which still has no analogues.
Users note good viewing angles, natural color reproduction, contrasting and rich colors. The maximum brightness of 1100 nits ensures that you can easily see what's on the screen, even in direct sunlight.
The screen refresh rate is 120 Hz. In the settings you can select 60 Hz. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to set the value to 90 Hz, since the manufacturer did not provide such an option.
Always-On Display and DC Dimming functions
The display supports the Always-On Display functions (lock mode with a sleep screen and display of information widgets) and DC Dimming, due to which it is possible to reduce the intensity of the screen when the voltage drops.
It is believed that DC Dimming almost completely eliminates flicker, which is very important for AMOLED displays, to which a certain part of users have increased sensitivity, causing deterioration in well-being when viewing content on the screen. Thanks to the DC Dimming function, you won't get tired eyes or get headaches due to using your smartphone for a long time.
CPU
The smartphone is equipped with a top-end energy-efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor with a three-cluster layout. The flagship chip was introduced by Qualcomm in early winter 2022. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor has 8 cores:
- one productive at 3 GHz;
- 3 average performance 2.5 GHz;
- 4 small E-cores at 1.8 GHz.
E-cores occupy a minimum area on the chip, operate over a wide frequency range and save energy due to lower supply voltage.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was the first with an updated naming system: the number 8 indicates the class (flagship), Gen indicates the generation and the fact that the processor is the first in the manufacturer’s history, created using a 4nm process technology using the ARMv9 microarchitecture. The graphics are handled by the updated Adreno 730 graphics accelerator.
Improved performance
The ARMv9 architecture increases the performance of Xiaomi 12 in general tasks and in applications or processes related to the work of artificial intelligence (AI), which is now actively involved in voice control. The focus on AI is driven by how smartphone usage patterns are changing. Today, we increasingly choose voice search instead of manual input, use voice assistants and assistants, record voices with a text-to-text function, etc. Thanks to ARMv9, such functions work much better and faster.
Also, hardware isolation has been added to the ARMv9 architecture. Unlike software isolation, which negatively affects the performance of the smartphone, it helps to eliminate delays and loss of productivity to the maximum.
Compared to the previous Snapdragon 888 model, the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor is 20% more productive and 30% more energy efficient.
But experts noted one problem - excessive heating. As with the previous processor, the new chip failed to resolve this issue completely. After 20 minutes of playing at an average frame rate of 42 fps, the heating reaches 55 °C. Throttling is also noted - a forced decrease in performance during real use. Power losses due to overheating reach almost 40%. Thus, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip is truly powerful, but due to an insufficiently efficient cooling system, its potential is not fully realized.
New features that were not previously available in MIUI
Now let's take a quick look at the new system functions that were not previously available in MIUI.
Haptic feedback
Previously, there was a regular vibration that responded to typing text, or to switching between applications or other usage scenarios.
But there was nothing special about it, a simple vibration that also works when making a call if it is on silent mode. And now the developers have introduced a new feature that uses the features of the vibration motors built into the company’s new smartphones.
Unfortunately, no Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO phone model that was released in 2022 or earlier supports this new feature.
To some extent, haptic feedback will simulate touching different surfaces, something similar to the haptic feedback function in the iPhone, but working slightly differently.
I think it’s impossible to express it in words, so we’ll just wait for it to come out and try it with our own hands.
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MIUI+
Honestly, it’s not yet entirely clear how it works, but the new feature in MIUI 12.5 promises tight integration between a Xiaomi smartphone and a Windows-based computer.
It will turn out, like Apple gadgets, you can easily transfer files from your computer to your phone and back, read notifications that came to your smartphone on the computer screen and even respond through them as if you did it on your phone.
There is no complete information about this innovation yet, but I would really like it, because sometimes you really want to have a common clipboard so that you can copy a picture on your computer and paste it into the messenger from your phone, or transfer data from one device to another.
Eh, dreams, but they are very real and very soon they will come to our phones.
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Cameras
The main camera includes 3 modules: main Sony IMX766 50 MP, ultra-wide-angle 13 MP and telephoto 5 MP. The photo quality is acceptable, but in terms of night photography the smartphone is at an average level. Videos can be recorded in 8K 24 fps quality. You can switch from the main to the ultra-wide-angle camera only when shooting video at 4K 30 fps and below.
One of the important advantages of cameras is good optical stabilization. In addition, the front camera with a resolution of 32 megapixels is pleasing, which allows you to take really good quality selfies. The front camera can record video at 1080p resolution and 60 fps.
The conclusion about the Xiaomi 12 cameras is this: the level is decent, but the solution cannot be called the best on the market.
Battery and runtime
Xiaomi 12 has a 4500 mAh battery. In this parameter, the basic version is almost identical to the Pro, which received 4600 mAh. With support for 50W wireless charging, you can fully charge your smartphone in 53 minutes.
Wired charging with a 67 W power supply allows you to “feed” the gadget in 39 minutes. There is also 10W reverse charging so the user can charge headphones, smartwatches and other smartphones that support wireless charging. The autonomy of the smartphone is normal - with normal use without explicit loading, the charge will be enough for 1-1.5 days.
operating system
Xiaomi 12 has the latest MIUI 13 user interface and the latest Android 12 update. The main plus is good optimization. The smartphone works quickly, without obvious freezes or bugs. Compared to the previous generation, the functionality has expanded. We added various widgets, improved the design, making the color palette more delicate and discreet, and the icons, on the contrary, brighter. We also diversified live wallpapers and screensavers on the Always-On Display.
Device usage time
An interesting point for fans of statistics, as well as those who want to adjust their interaction with the device:
Price and Availability
The cost of Xiaomi 12 smartphones is comparable to the filling and functionality offered. The price depends on the version. If we translate from Chinese yuan, then the basic 8/128 GB costs an average of 44,000 rubles, the average 8/256 GB costs 47,000 rubles, and the top 12/256 GB costs 52,000 rubles. This is the price for the Chinese market. The global presentation is planned for early spring, and European prices are expected to be different.
Based on the characteristics and cost, we can conclude that Xiaomi 12 is a worthy flagship at an affordable price. If you were looking for a compact smartphone with good functionality and performance, then this model will definitely suit you. If you are not a fan of resource-intensive games, you don’t have to worry about the processor overheating. In addition to good performance, the flagship will give you the pleasure of creating good photos and videos, as well as overall comfort when used for any everyday tasks.
Battery
Design changes, but improving appearance:
But the chart itself has become more convenient, due to the fact that you can choose a time interval:
And also look at the consumption by hour:
