Xiaomi 12 Pro review: is it as luxurious as it appears?
A photogenic and fashion-conscious flagship
A new year means a fresh start for one of China's most important smartphone exports. Here's our take on the Xiaomi 12 Pro.
The 12 Pro is Xiaomi's first flagship to drop the long-running "Mi" branding, and it's part of a trio of handsets aimed at giving established European frontrunners Apple and Samsung a run for their money.
It's a no-compromise flagship, but it's light on gimmicks. Instead, the company is hoping that a sleek design, class-leading display, and some eye-catching quick charging capabilities will be enough to entice customers away from their Galaxy S and iPhones.
Oh, and it's one of the first phones with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU to arrive in the Stuff inbox. So, no pressure...
Design and features
There's no denying the 12 Pro is a premium phone, from the frosted glass back that shimmers in the sunlight to the expertly machined speaker grilles that almost look like sound waveforms.
Don't worry if you're clumsy and have experience with all-glass phones: Gorilla Glass Victus is the toughest material on the market, so it should withstand moderate stress, and the texture manages to keep fingerprint smudges well hidden.
The gunmetal grey frame is more subtle than the blingy chrome seen on previous Xiaomi phones, and the glass curves inwards on both sides, making it especially comfortable to grip. The fingerprint scanner, which sits invisibly beneath the screen and detects your digits with impressive speed, continues the minimal styling.
When it comes to IR blasters, Xiaomi is one of the few holdouts, which means the 12 Pro can save you from The Chase reruns if you can't find your TV remote, but it lacks a 3.5mm headphone port. There's also no official water resistance rating, though the rubber seal around the SIM card tray suggests a quick dip might not be disastrous.
Even with that prominent camera bump around the back, this is a fairly dense handset that is also quite thin. The three lenses are integrated in a stylish manner, giving the phone a mature, almost businesslike appearance.
Camera
There's no weak link in terms of pixel count with all three of the 12 Pro's rear cameras packing 50MP sensors. Whether shooting normally, zoomed in, or ultrawide, image quality should not suffer, though only the main sensor receives optical image stabilization.
A 2x optical zoom seems like an odd choice for a secondary camera. Given the main camera's massive pixel count, a purely digital 2x zoom would have undoubtedly sufficed, freeing up the second sensor for a more powerful optic. Last year's Mi 11 had a 5x optical setup that put it ahead of competitors.
This year, Xiaomi has put a lot of effort into its image-processing algorithms, and the results speak for themselves. The color intensity and contrast have both been improved, resulting in vibrant and striking images that may not always be true-to-life, but are undeniably pleasing to the eye. In almost every case, exposure is well-judged, with HDR capable of rescuing highlights in particularly bright skies, and detail is well maintained as light levels fade.
Although the ultrawide sensor does not have the largest field of view, it has an excellent dynamic range and is free of chromatic aberrations. Color temperature and exposure are consistent across the three sensors, so you can be confident that you'll get the desired result regardless of which one you use. A few focus tracking modes can lock onto people and animals to help keep subjects locked even when they move around, which should help reduce blurry photos.
In good light, digital zoom is excellent up to 5x, but detail drops off quickly as you zoom in further, and the lack of OIS on the telephoto lens precludes nighttime shooting at long distances.
In general, Night mode is excellent, taking much less time to capture each image than last year's Xiaomi flagships. The results are realistic and packed with detail, putting the 12 Pro near the top of the smartphone pile for low-light shooting - if not quite on an equal level with Apple and Google's best efforts.
Video is limited to 8K at 24fps with the main sensor. All three lenses support 4K recording at 60fps, and HDR10+ is also supported. The real fun comes from the optional movie modes, which include a "Dolly zoom" effect that any who wants to be Steven Spielberg will appreciate.
Display and sound
At first glance, the 12. Pro's 6.73 screen appears to be a step down from last year's model, but a slight size reduction aside, it actually receives a significant upgrade with second-generation LTPO display technology.
The panel now has more dynamic refresh rate flexibility, dropping to as low as 1Hz when showing static text, increasing for video playback, and reaching 120Hz for fast action. It can also react faster, which means it spends more time at lower refresh rates and uses less battery power as a result, though Android's developer settings appear to indicate it only gets as low as 10Hz rather than the advertised 1Hz. Indeed, scrolling is always silky smooth, and there is no brightness flicker when reading long passages of text, making it impossible to detect the differences.
What you can't miss is the stunning color and image detail provided by the AMOLED panel and its 32001440 resolution. Contrast is excellent, with deep blacks and bright highlights that offer Dolby Vision and HDR10+ content a real sense of atmosphere. The default Vivid color profile leans slightly toward overly saturated hues out of the box, but the P3 and sRGB modes are remarkable.
Brightness is excellent, with a 1500-nit outdoor peak ensuring good visibility in all conditions, & viewing angles are among the best available. It's easily one of the best smartphone screens available right now.
The hole-punch selfie camera isn't as smooth as the under-display snapper seen in the China-only Mi Mix 4, but it's not distracting when streaming videos or playing games.
The audio capabilities of the 12 Pro are equally impressive, as long as you hold it carefully: the stereo speakers are located at the top left and bottom right edges, making it all too easy to block half the sound when held in landscape mode. Nonetheless, they have plenty of volume and a distinct mid-range that isn't overpowered by the higher frequencies.
Dolby Atmos is supported (if you have compatible headphones and a streaming service that supports it), but there is no headphone jack or USB dongle included.
Performance
With a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU at the helm, there's no denying the 12 Pro's flagship credentials, especially since it also comes with a hefty 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
This is one of the first phones we've tested with Qualcomm's newest silicon, and it's... powerful. Even if raw CPU power hasn't improved significantly since last year, this is still significantly faster than any non-Apple handset in synthetic benchmarks. It can run any app from the Play Store with ease, and multitasking is a breeze. Expect to never notice any slowdown as well as stuttering in normal use.
The Adreno 730 GPU is supposed to provide a significant improvement in gaming performance, but it is here that the 12 Pro shows its limitations. While less demanding games can run for hours on end, more demanding titles either struggle to rival handsets' high frame rates or throttle after a certain amount of playtime. Your mileage may differ depending on your game library: PUGB Mobile performed admirably, but Genshin Impact lacked the smoothness we'd expect given the hardware.
It's also impossible to ignore how warm the phone gets during heavy use. When pushed, the new silicon can generate a lot of heat, and the 12 Pro can't seem to get rid of it fast enough. Whether firmware updates can be beneficial, It remains to be seen whether other Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 devices will perform similarly.
OS and software
The MIUI Android skin on the 12 Pro has now reached version 13, but don't expect any major changes - performance and security improvements were the priority for Xiaomi's software team.
It now runs on Android 12, which adds features like one-handed mode and an extra-low screen brightness option for late-night scrolling. The overall appearance, however, has not changed, implying the usual mix of Google and Apple-inspired features. The hybrid notification tray/command center, in particular, is bound to divide people.
Aggressive battery saving has been a flaw in previous Xiaomi phones, and it remains so here, with multiple power modes, prompts, and hibernation settings that can prevent push notifications from appearing, but the extensive customization options allow you to disable these extras if you prefer.
The app drawer contains a long list of own-brand apps, but the majority of them can be uninstalled if you prefer to use Google's versions from the Play Store.
Battery life
Xiaomi has long specialized in rapid charging, and the 12 Pro is no exception. The included power brick has a massive 120W capacity, which translates to a 0-100% charge in just 18 minutes. That outperforms the iPhone 13 Pro and is more than twice as fast as the advertised speeds of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
It is accomplished here with a single battery cell, as opposed to previous efforts that charged two cells at the same time. This reduces complexity, but total capacity suffers as a result. Its 4600mAh capacity puts it slightly behind the S22 Ultra, but when you can charge it for an entire day in the time it takes to make a cup of tea, You're not going to notice.
50W wireless charging is also fairly quick, taking about 45 minutes for a full charge, and reverse charging is always useful for recharging a set of supported wireless earbuds on the go.
In general, battery life is an improvement over last year's Mi phones, comfortably lasting for a whole day of general use away from the mains, with enough left over to get you through to the next morning. However, video playback at 120Hz, and gaming in particular can significantly reduce your uptime. After an hour or so of Genshin Impact, you'll be reaching for the power adaptor.
Then it's only on par with the top-tier competition, albeit with a clear advantage in the charging front.
Conclusion
The 12 Pro is a true flagship phone, with a sharp design, premium build, and absolutely gorgeous display - but it makes a few mistakes with its uncompromising approach to hardware.
High internal temperatures impede gaming performance, and while its photos are on an equal level with other high-end handsets, the selection of secondary lenses means it isn't as versatile as its periscope-equipped rivals.
Xiaomi has avoided prioritizing specs above all else, and the 12 Pro is a better handset as a result, but it does little to stand out against similarly-priced alternatives unless you're seriously excited about the prospect of unrivaled charging speeds.
TechliciousOfficial says...
Score: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰
A refreshingly gimmick-free flagship with a stellar screen and best-in-class rapid charging, but performance issues keep it from being the best.
- Good Stuff
+ It feels as good as it looks.
+ Excellent display quality
+ The main camera captures stunning images both during the day and at night.
- Bad Stuff
− When gaming, it gets extremely hot.
− A 2x zoom lens is an unusual choice.
− There is no IP rating.
Tech specs
Screen: 6.73in, 3200×1440 LTPO AMOLED w/ 120Hz, hole punch camera, HDR10+
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
Memory: 12GB
Camera: 50MP, f/1.9 wide w/ dual pixel PDAF, OIS + 50MP, f/1.9 48mm telephoto w/ PDAF + 50MP, f/2.2 ultrawide rear. 32MP front
Storage: 256GB
OS: Android 12 Pie with MIUI 13
Battery: Non-removable 4600mAh battery, 120W wired charging, 50W wireless charging
Dimensions: 164x75x8.2mm
Weight: 205g
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