Xiaomi’s new top phone for the beginning of 2022 is a 12 Pro with high-end features, sleek design and triple 50-megapixel cameras, but at a definitely first-class price.
The “Chinese Apple”, as Xiaomi was once called, is more commonly known for phones with the highest specifications, which undermine price competition. But the 12 Pro is different – a direct rival of Apple and Samsung, costing £ 1049, which is the same, if not more than competitors.
The matte gray back repels scattered fingerprints and has a subtle sheen that shines in direct sunlight. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / Guardian
Definitely looks like a role. The 6.73-inch OLED screen is super bright, vibrant and sharp with a refresh rate of 120 Hz to keep everything smooth. The sides bend to a metal frame and a smooth back of frosted glass with a protruding lump of the camera in the upper left corner. The 12 Pro is a great phone, but it feels great, is a little lighter than some competitors, and is relatively easy to hold.
There are a set of four speakers at the top and bottom of the phone that are surprisingly good for a smartphone and are not as easy to lock by hand when holding it as some rivals.
Specifications
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Screen: 6.73 inches QHD + OLED (522ppi) 120Hz
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Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
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RAM: 12GB RAM
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Storage: 256GB
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Operating system: Miui 13, based on Android 12
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Camera: Triple 50MP rear camera: wide, ultra-wide, 2x telephoto; 32MP selfie camera
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Connectivity: 5G, USB-C, wifi 6E, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2 and location
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Water resistance: none
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Dimensions: 163.6 x 74.6 x 8.2 mm
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Weight: 205g
Extremely fast charging, but short battery life
The phone fully charges in just over 20 minutes with its 120W power adapter and special “gain mode”, but it gets very hot. Its regular fast charge mode takes about 30 minutes, which is still fast. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / Guardian
12 Pro has the same best Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip as Oppo Find X5 Pro, OnePlus 10 Pro and most high-end Android phones released in 2022, and works in a similar way, able to handle demanding tasks and aplomb games.
Battery life is a bit short compared to competitors. The 12 Pro lasts only 30 hours between charges, while most phones last at least 35 hours. This includes about two hours of 5G and active screen use for about four hours for mostly light tasks such as messaging, surfing, music and taking a few pictures.
sustainability
The built-in fingerprint scanner is good, but not the fastest available on a smartphone. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / Guardian
Xiaomi estimates the battery for at least 800 full charge cycles while maintaining at least 80% of its original capacity and can be replaced for around £ 12 plus labor.
The phone is usually repairable, with screen repairs costing around £ 180 plus labor. Its predecessor scored only four out of 10 in the iFixit maintainability rankings.
Xiaomi does not publish environmental impact assessments and does not offer trade or recycling schemes in the United Kingdom. The phone is not made from recycled materials.
Miui 13
Miui 13 has many features and small additions, such as the sidebar of the application, which can be activated, deactivated or customized to your liking. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / Guardian
Miui 13 is the customized version of Xiaomi’s Android 12. It is still in the works for Western markets, full of small differences and oddities compared to Samsung, Google and other common brands and is certainly not the best version of Android available.
It is highly adaptable with options to change the way it looks and works beyond what most competitors offer, from looking and working like the iPhone to the more traditional way of Android. But it took some digging in the menus and adjusting the settings to make it work to my liking, after which it was quite fast and attractive.
Xiaomi will support 12 Pro with software updates, including three major upgrades to the Android version and a total of four years of security updates since the launch of the phone. That’s a year longer than last year’s model, but behind Apple’s five or more years of Samsung support.
Camera
The Xiaomi Camera app is relatively easy to use with multiple automatic, creative or manual modes preloaded and more accessible as downloads. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / Guardian
The phone has three 50-megapixel cameras on the back and a very capable 32-megapixel selfie camera that takes detailed photos, but by default has some degree of artificial skin smoothing, unless you turn it off manually.
The main camera is the best of the band, creating sharp, well-detailed images with excellent color balance and exposure, even in high-contrast scenes. The low light performance is strong and the video is also excellent. But the ultra-wide and 2x telephoto cameras are also good with constant color and exposure as you switch between the three cameras. However, 2x magnification is weak compared to competitors, who often have 3, 5 or even 10x optical zoom. Expanding beyond 2x with digital zoom quickly becomes full of artifacts.
Overall, the 12 Pro’s camera is generally very good, but disappointed with the limited optical zoom.
Price
The Xiaomi 12 Pro costs £ 1,049.
By comparison, the Google Pixel 6 Pro costs £ 849, the OnePlus 10 Pro costs £ 799, the Samsung Galaxy S21 + costs £ 949, the Oppo Find X5 Pro costs £ 1,049, the Galaxy S21 Ultra costs £ 1,149 and the iPhone 13 Pro Max costs £ 1,049.
Sentence
12 Pro is Xiaomi’s latest attempt to take the best of Samsung and Apple at the top of the premium market, which is performing in some areas while lagging behind in others.
It certainly looks like a part, feels great, works well and has the fastest charge available right now. The camera is also quite good, but it lacks advanced optical zoom, limited to 2x magnification, where others offer 3x or 4x for the same price.
Xiaomi’s Miui software is improving, but it still feels enthusiastic. The biggest problems with the 12 Pro are its relatively low battery life and high cost. The buyer simply gets less with Xiaomi than with similar phones from OnePlus, Google, Samsung or Apple.
Pros: good screen, top performance, super fast charging, nice design, good camera, good speakers, decent fingerprint scanner on the screen.
Cons: expensive, relatively short battery life, lack of extended optical zoom for the camera, guaranteed only four years of software support, without an official assessment of water resistance.
The lump of the camera protrudes slightly from the back, but makes a very interesting feature in an otherwise sleek design. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / Guardian
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