While they’re only going to be available in China for now, the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro have been unveiled. Here’s everything you need to know about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Android phones.
The new flagship phones for 2022 will succeed the Xiaomi Mi 11 series and are among the first to be powered by the brand new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 line of flagship processors from Qualcomm.
Both the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro will offer the new MIUI 13 user-interface with 6.28-inch and 6.73-inch OLED displays, respectively. Let’s take a deeper look inside the new flagships leading the Android pack into the new year.
Xiaomi 12 Series Screen
As mentioned above, the Xiaomi 12 will have a 6.28-inch display, which has a 120Hz refresh rate, making it a nice candidate for gamers and ensuring super smooth scrolling for normal activity. There’s a 2400×1080 resolution with 1100 nit peak brightness. Both displays are protected by Gorilla Glass Victus.
On the Pro side of things, the Xiaomi 12 Pro will offer a 6.73-inch display with a 3200 x 1440 resolution, while the peak brightness is 1500 nits. Both devices support HDR10+ and Dolby Vision as well as that all important refresh rate.
In the announcement, the company said: “Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro both earned the highest-ever Display Performance Grade of A+ from DisplayMate—setting or matching 15 Smartphone Display Performance records.”
Xiaomi 12 Series Cameras
Xiaomi is bringing a dual camera to the Xiaomi 12. The main camera is a Sony IMX766, while there’s also a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a dinky little 5-megapixel telephoto camera.
However, the Xiaomi 12 Pro goes big as it’s the first phone to have the 50-megapixel Sony IMX707 sensor (“ultra-large 1/1.28″ sensor which utilises 2.44μm 4-in-1 pixels”). Xiaomi says the main camera promises 49% greater light capturing capabilities compared to the previous generation.
Both of the other cameras offer a 50-megapixel resolution too. There’s a ultra-wide snapper with a 115-degree field of view and there’s a 2x telephoto camera for your portrait shots. The latter two sensors also include Night Mode capabilities. Both phones have a centred 32-megapixel selfie camera.
The company is also pretty psyched about improvements to its new imaging computing algorithm, which promises to reduce shutter lag and improve burst mode.
Xiaomi 12 Series specs
For avid spec watchers, the headline feature is the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Processor, which will lead the way for Qualcomm-based flagships in 2022. In both the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro, the new chip will be aided by up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB storage. The company is also launching a lower end Xiaomi 12x with the Snapdragon 870 processor.
Elsewhere, the Xiaomi 12 Pro’s 4,600mAh battery can be charged at 120W. The Chinese company says this single-cell battery is an industry first. The Xiaomi 12 model has a 4,500mAh battery which is charged at a maximum of 67W over USB-C. Both devices can be wirelessly charged at 50W using the company’s own charger.
Finally, there’s good news for audiophiles with support for Dolby Atmos with speakers turned by Harman Kardon.
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Xiaomi 12 Series price and availability
Initially, the Xiaomi 12 Series is only going to be available in China and is going on sale on December 31. However, a UK launch shouldn’t be too far behind. The Xiaomi Mi 12 series was launched in China this time last year and rocked up in the UK a couple of months later. Last year, the phones started at £749 for the Xiaomi Mi 11. All phones come in black, blue, or purple glass and there’s a special green vegan leather edition coming too.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
