Xiaomi 12 review

Is the new Xiaomi 12 worthy as the brand’s flagship series or should we just skip for the next release? Find out here in my Xiaomi 12 review.

Design

The Xiaomi 12 has an impeccable design. One that’s compact while at the same time up-to-date with the current needs and wants of the smartphone market. The phone comes with the standard unibody with some tweaks here and there. The right side of the phone houses the power button and the volume rocker…

The top houses the “Harmon Kardon” speaker which immensely boosts the sound output and quality when using the phone’s built-in speakers.

Definitely got a kick listening to streams or podcasts with this bad boy.

The bottom still has the standard three things most phones have namely the headphone jack, the USB Type-C charging port and a speaker.

One thing you need to be aware of is that the positioning of the speakers could be a little problematic. Flip the phone horizontally and you’ll find your blocking the sound or the vibration can be a little too much for you. But if you’re not fazed by these sorts of little annoyances, then full speed ahead in getting this smartphone.

 

Display

The Xiaomi 12 comes with a 6.4 display with is pretty compact and nice. It could be a little jarring especially when you come from using a bigger phone. But you’ll be able to adjust quickly.

The colors are crisp and fine and makes for great viewing experience or gaming experience. Combine this with the Harmon Kardon speakers they added for this smartphone and you’re definitely set.

The display also has this massive “bleed” over the edges making it visually appealing and enjoyable to use.

Camera

The Xiaomi 12 features :

• a 50MP main camera, f/1.9, 26mm (wide), 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS
• 13 MP, f/2.4, 12mm, 123˚ (ultrawide), 1/3.06″, 1.12µm
• 5 MP, f/2.4, 50mm (telephoto macro), AF

Here are some sample shots using rear camera…

And a few more I took during a recent meeting in Greenhills.

The Xiaomi 12 can shoot 8K videos at 24fps, 4K at 30fps as well as 1080p and 720p. Finally it also features a Dual-LED Dual-tone flash plus HDR and Panorama functions.

The Selfie camera features a Single 32MP camera with f/2.5, 26mm (wide) and 0.7µm. It also has HDR function and Panorama function.

As you can see from the sample selfie, it looks good for well lit, indoor shots and just ok for dim outdoor shots.

For video, it can shoot 1080p at both 30fps and 60fps and 720p at just 120fps.

UI and UX

First off the remaining storage once you boot up the smartphone…

The phone also features the MIUI OS which may need a little bit of getting used to in order to really appreciate. But once you do, it’s all fun and games.

The OS will also allow you to swipe down for notifications and customize what you want to see. There are some bloatware that wants to be relevant and showing off but you can turn them off if you plan on sticking to your own preferences.

Performance

Here are the scores I gathered from various benchmarking apps using the phone:

Geekbench 5 – 1187 (single core) / 3204 (multi core)

PCMark

Work 3.0- 12283

Browsing – 11212

Video Editing – 7604

Writing – 11384

Battery

The Xiaomi 12 comes with a 4500mAh battery which has three modes or functions namely the (a) battery saver (b) balanced and (c) performance.

I really like the battery life of the unit especially since it also comes with fast wireless charging up to 50W and fast charging at 67W able to reach 100% in 39 minutes. Power Delivery is 3.0 and Quick Charge functions.

Gaming

The Xiaomi 12 features Adreno 730, Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510) and Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm) meaning this can give you a boost when it comes to gaming.

 

You really have to lower down the settings for some of the games that you’d play like Genshin Impact and Call of Duty Mobile.

There’s a little bit of heating issues here with the smartphone but at the same time we get compensated with some great graphics and performance. Additionally if you’re playing games like Genshin Impact, you might experience frame drops when the heating begins. So while the phone can essentially run higher end games, its not that efficient when it does.

Xiaomi 12 Verdict

The Xiaomi 12 is a great phone for me. I’m totally satisfied with the display, the sound quality, the performance and UX and most importantly, the gaming aspect. However, the size of the screen is a little challenging for me especially since I’m used to have those big screens at the palm of my hand. Also, its also prone to suffer from heating which can be a problem for some users. Other wise, its a good phone to get. Speaking of which, the phone is priced in the Philippines at Php39,999.

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