Reviewing Xiaomi 12: a slim top smartphone without the wow effect
With its features, Xiaomi 12 deserves the title of top smartphone. But an impressive data sheet alone isn’t enough to convince me.
The Xiaomi 12 feels really good to hold. Unfortunately, it’s the only outstanding feature on this top-of-the-range smartphone. The display and performance are very good, but nothing special among high-end models. That’s where the camera comes in.
A wonderful feel
The Xiaomi 12 is slim. At a width of 69.9 millimetres, my thumb and index finger touch when I hold it. The only other smartphone lying around my desk that allows this is the Huawei P50 Pro – that one is even longer. Thanks to the slim design, I can comfortably reach the opposite side of the Xiaomi 12 touchscreen with my thumb – at least at the bottom. This doesn’t work for the Pixel 6. I need to loosen my grip on it to get to the right edge of the screen with my left thumb.
The display and back of the Xiaomi 12 are curved around the edges on each of the long sides. This makes the aluminium frame narrower on the edges. The back is made of scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass and feels slightly rough. But it has a nice grip and fingerprints aren’t visible. It feels good to hold generally.
The 6.28-inch AMOLED display has a resolution of 2400 × 1080 pixels. In terms of detail accuracy, colour representation – it covers the P3 colour space – and brightness up to 1100 nits, the screen leaves nothing to be desired. The refresh rate reaches up to 120 hertz. By default, the Xiaomi 12 automatically adjusts this to the content on display. However, you can also set it permanently to 60 or 120 hertz.
Good photos are the standard
The Xiaomi 12’s main camera has a resolution of 50 megapixels and an aperture of f/1.88. Its wide-angle camera with a viewing angle of 123 degrees, on the other hand, only offers 13 megapixels, f/2.4. The telemacro camera has to make do with 5 megapixels and an f/2.4 aperture as well. Its front camera is located in a hole in the display and has a resolution of 32 megapixels with an aperture of f/2.45.
Colours and contrast
Whether subtle florals or gaudy graffiti: the Xiaomi 12 camera reproduces colours naturally. Strong contrasts, such as those caused by shadows, are no problem for the automatic system. They’re recognisably incorporated into the image without being completely dark or washed out.
Wide angle and zoom
The wide-angle camera allows you to squeeze more into a picture. At first glance it appears quite sophisticated. Quality differences on the main camera are only noticeable when zooming in. In my sample images, the name of the ship can only be guessed at with the wide-angle shot, but it can be read wonderfully with the main camera.
The Xiaomi 12 camera app has dual zoom as an option. This allows you to get closer to your subject without any loss of quality compared to the main camera. When enlarged, they could be the same photos. That changes when you go to the maximum. Images become pixelated at ten times the digital zoom.
Nighttime
If it gets dark, night mode is worthwhile. The main camera already delivers decent pictures in automatic mode, but night mode provides more sharpness, better illumination and nicer colours. With the wide-angle camera or use of zoom, these differences become even greater.
Selfies
Selfies with the Xiaomi 12 front-facing camera are okay in terms of detail. However, I find them paler than main camera photos in terms of colour. In the dark, night mode is also worthwhile here to improve image quality.
Performance, Android and battery
You won’t have to compromise regarding all other hardware. The current top Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset is used in the Xiaomi 12. It’s supported by eight gigabytes of working memory. In the Geekbench 5 benchmark test, the smartphone achieved similar or even better scores than the 12 GB OnePlus 10 Pro. The difference is that Xiaomi doesn’t throttle performance to save battery. You don’t have to activate high performance mode for full power.
| Geekbench 5 | Xiaomi 12 | OnePlus 10 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Single- / Multi-Core-Test (CPU) | 1239 / 3739 points | 987 / 3341 points
(1259 / 3474 points in high performance mode) |
| OpenCL (GPU) | 5905 points | 5845 points |
| Vulkan (GPU) | 6279 points | 5406 points |
Stereo sound with two speakers is now widespread in smartphones. However, the phone speaker usually serves this purpose. That’s okay, but such a measly speaker doesn’t deliver much power – unless you hold it to your ear. This Xiaomi 12 changes things up. The one normal speaker in the frame is complemented by a second one. Thus, there’s a speaker from Harman Kardon on the lower and upper edge. The phone speaker isn’t used for music playback. It works. The sound is much better than in devices with 1.5 speakers.
You can insert two SIM cards into the Xiaomi 12, but you cannot expand the 128 or 256 gigabyte internal storage with a microSD card.
The Xiaomi 12 runs Android 12. Xiaomi provides the operating system with its MIUI 13 user interface. Not my favourite UI, but still usable. The six preinstalled third-party apps are particularly grating to me. Still, they can be removed with little effort – hold down and tap «Uninstall». Xiaomi promises to provide the 12 with Android updates for three and security updates for four years.
The Xiaomi 12 battery has a decent capacity of 4500 mAh. For me, it was enough to last a typical day without any problems. You charge it via the USB-C port – quickly at that – with the included 67-watt power adapter. If the battery is empty, you’ll need just under 40 minutes before it’s full again. With a suitable charger, you can also charge the Xiaomi 12 wirelessly with up to 50 watts. Should you charge the Xiaomi 12 overnight out of habit despite this, «Xiaomi AdaptiveCharge» will maintain the battery at 80 per cent and only release the last 20 specifically at your set alarm time or your typical waking time.
Verdict: good, but not impressive
The Xiaomi 12 is rightly labelled a top smartphone, but it remains inconspicuous. I’m not really that enthusiastic about it. The display is wonderful and the hardware performance is top, but other high-end smartphones also offer this. In addition, there’s a camera that plays in the big leagues, but is really only average. In terms of software, the preinstalled apps bother me.
The overall picture is only slightly improved by its handy shape and the above-average sound. I think I’d be just as satisfied with a cheaper mid-range smartphone as I am with the Xiaomi 12. Or with having to spend even more money – on the Xiaomi 12 Pro, for example.
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When I was but a young student, I'd sit in my friend's living room with all my classmates and play on his SuperNES. Since then I've had the opportunity to test out all the newest technology for you. I've done reviews at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, and have now arrived at Galaxus.de.
