Xiaomi 12T Pro review

Introduction

We will be the first to admit that the ever-expanding Xiaomi phone family has been hard to keep track of. We have it easy with the just announced Xiaomi 12T and the 12T Pro, as it's easy to see how they come to replace the Xiaomi 11T and Xiaomi 11T Pro. The new devices underpin the positioning of the T-series as a sort of "budget flagships" with a clear focus on camera prowess.

The spotlight feature on the 12T Pro is its 200MP main camera. It is based on the Samsung-made ISOCELL HP1 sensor - a powerful piece of camera kit that we only recently saw in action for the first time in our Motorola Edge 30 Ultra review. The HP1 is a 1/1.22" imager with an f/1.69 aperture, Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF) and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). It brings 16-1 pixel binning in various resolutions that go from 12.5MP stills with a 2.56µm pixel pitch to 50MP stills (1.28µm pixels) or natively at 200MP (0.64µm pixels), depending on your needs.

Xiaomi 12T Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: 163.1x75.9x8.6mm, 205g; plastic body, glass back, Gorilla Glass 5 front.
• Display: 6.67" AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1220x2712px resolution, 20.01:9 aspect ratio, 446ppi, 1920Hz PWM dimming, 480Hz touch sampling rate.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3x2.75 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): 200 MP, f/1.7, 1/1.22", 0.64µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120-degree, 1/4", 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 20 MP, f/2.2, (wide), 1/3.47", 0.8µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 120W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; Infrared port; stereo speakers (Dolby Atmos, Harman Kardon).

Beyond the camera, the Xiaomi 12T Pro also offers a high-end 6.67-inch, 120Hz AMOLED display. It's dubbed CrystalRes due to its higher than usual resolution of 1220 x 2712 pixels and an extra crisp 446 ppi. The screen also has Dolby Vision and HDR10+ certification. It's not quite the LTPO panel on some of the Xiaomi 12 and 12S series, but still a great piece of hardware.

And other 12T Pro highlights also include stereo speakers tuned by Harman Kardon with Dolby Atmos support and a large 5,000 mAh battery with 120W HyperCharge.

But first, let's start with a tour of the Xiaomi 12T Pro retail box.

Unboxing

The Xiaomi 12T Pro ships in a standard two-piece cardboard box. It is quite sturdy, despite not including any plastic, which is great to see. Externally, it's not particularly shiny or flashy, not unlike the phone it carries.

The included accessory package is pretty plentiful by today's standards. First and foremost, the Xiaomi 12T Pro comes with a 120W HyperCharge charger in the box. It has a rated output of 5V@3A, 9V@3A, 11V@6A and 20V@6A. Unfortunately, Xiaomi's HyperCharge technology is still proprietary. Instead of relying on something standard like USB Power Delivery, it uses its own communication between the phone and charger, which is done through a USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable. The cable comes in the box as well; you better hold on to it alongside the charger since it is a proprietary cable with extra pins. You need it to get the fast charging working.

Xiaomi is also kind enough to include a nice transparent TPU case for the 12T Pro inside the box. You can slap it on and start using the phone immediately without worrying about its safety. There is no Type-C to 3.5 jack adaptor in the box, though.