Xiaomi 12 review

Introduction and specs

This year's Xiaomi 12 Series is a bit different. Xiaomi is offering two almost identical phones in the same lineup, and the Xiaomi 12 is the company's first compact flagship solution in a while. The Mi 8 was the last premium phone from Xiaomi with a similar screen diagonal.

The two almost identical devices in question are the Xiaomi 12 and the 12X. The latter settles down for an older, less powerful Snapdragon 870 SoC and skips wireless charging altogether. However, it's a sensible near-flagship solution with quite a few high-end features.

Xiaomi 12 specs at a glance:

• Body: 152.7x69.9x8.2mm, 179g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass 5), metal frame.
• Display: 6.28" OLED, 12-bit (68B colors), 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1100 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 419ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3x2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4x1.80 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730.
• Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 12, MIUI 13.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 26mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.4, 12mm, 123˚, 1/3.06", 1.12µm; Macro: 5 MP, 50mm, AF.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.5, 26mm (wide), 0.7µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps (HDR10), 4K@30fps (HDR10+), 1080p@30/120/240/960fps, 720p@1920fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps (HDR10+), 1080p@30/60fps, 720p@120fps.
• Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 67W, 100% in 39 min (advertised), Fast wireless charging 50W, 100% in 53 min (advertised), Reverse wireless charging 10W, Power Delivery 3.0, Quick Charge 4+.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); Infrared port; Virtual proximity sensing.

However, the focus of this review is the vanilla Xiaomi 12, which adopts most of the 12 Pro's features except for the telephoto cam and the ultra fast charging. Of course, the Pro has a bigger display too. So for anyone looking for a premium and compact Android solution in 2022, the Xiaomi 12 might be it.

It's going to be hard to tackle some of the big names in the industry that offer compact handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy S22 and the iPhone 13 mini as both of these fall within the same price range.

There are a couple of noteworthy reasons we believe the 6.28-inch Xiaomi 12 has a slight edge over its competitors. For one, the phone isn't compromising in terms of display quality, and then, it also has a significantly bigger battery with blazing-fast wired and wireless charging support.

Unboxing the Xiaomi 12

The Xiaomi 12 comes in a standard box containing all the usual user manuals, a USB-A to USB-C cable and the right 67W charger.

There's also a bonus case in the box, which is usually a rare sighting in flagship packages.