Xiaomi has just lifted the veil on three new high-end smartphones, the Xiaomi 12, 12 Pro and 12X, this Tuesday, December 28, exactly one year after the arrival of the Xiaomi Mi 11. Price, technical sheet, release date… We tells you all about new generation devices.
The new Xiaomi 12, 12 Pro and 12X have been the subject of numerous leaks in recent months, and we now know everything about the Chinese manufacturer’s new smartphones. The first two should arrive in France, while the Xiaomi 12X, which offers a more modest technical sheet, would remain exclusive to China.
This year, Xiaomi wanted to better separate each of its Xiaomi 12 by adopting different sizes. While Xiaomi Mi 11, Mi 11 Pro and Mi 11 Ultra were all the same size, the Xiaomi 12 sees its format become more compact, to be able to compete directly with the Galaxy S22 from Samsung.
The Xiaomi 12 is now smaller than the Mi 11, but still just as interesting
As Xiaomi had confirmed a few days ago, the Xiaomi 12 is equipped with a smaller 6.28 inch 120 Hz AMOLED display, a far cry from the 6.81 inch of the Xiaomi Mi 11. Therefore, Xiaomi has reduces the definition of the screen, which goes to simple FHD + (2400 x 1080 pixels), which is more than enough for such a small size, in addition to allowing the smartphone to offer better autonomy. According to Xiaomi, the screen is provided by TCL, and it offers a high contrast ratio, 12 bit color depth and a maximum brightness of 1100 nits. Finally, it is protected by a glass Gorilla Glass Victus.
For its part, the Xiaomi 12 Pro uses a 6.73-inch 2K (3200 x 1400 pixels) screen. The screen is signed Samsung, and it offers LTPO 2.0 technology which dynamically varies the refresh rate from 1 Hz to 120 Hz, as well as AMOLED E5 technology which promises reduced power consumption. The slab would also offer a maximum brightness of 1500 nits, and is also protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. The Xiaomi 12X takes again the characteristics of the screen of the classic Xiaomi 12. We also find on all models a fingerprint sensor under the screen, as well as Harman Kardon stereo speakers.
The Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro are powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
The Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro inaugurate Qualcomm’s new high-end SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The next-generation processor uses the ARM V9 architecture, which promises up to 34% more performance compared to the Snapdragon 888. The CPU uses a total of 8 cores, of which 1 high-performance Cortex-X2 core at 3.0 GHz, three Cortex-A710 cores at 2.50 GHz as well as 4 energy-efficient Cortex-A510 cores at 1.8 GHz.
On the GPU side, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 uses a Adreno 730, which offers a significant performance gain of around 50% compared to the Adreno 660 of the Snapdragon 888. The Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro are therefore now among the most powerful Android devices on the market. Xiaomi also promises an AnTuTu score of 1,070,000 points. With so much power, the cooling had to be up to par. Xiaomi has opted for a “super large” 2600mm² vapor chamber on its Xiaomi 12, a 3-layer motherboard and a cobalt-lithium oxide battery.
The Xiaomi 12X is satisfied with a Snapdragon 870, a slightly more powerful version of the Snapdragon 865+ from 2020. It is the same chip found in smartphones such as the POCO F3 or the OPPO Find X3.
50 MP photo sensors for better night shots
The Xiaomi 12 abandons the 108 MP sensor that has now been used for several generations to a 50 MP Sony IMX766 main sensor, the same that of the OPPO Find X3 Pro. It is slightly smaller since it measures 1 / 1.57 inch and offers 1 micron photosites, but has the advantage of offering very good performance in low light. He is accompanied by a 13 MP ultra-wide-angle sensor and a 5 MP macro sensor. Xiaomi therefore sticks to its positions and still refuses to offer a telephoto lens on its base model. The selfie part is provided by a 32 MP sensor on all models. The Xiaomi 12X offers the same characteristics in terms of the photo.
The Xiaomi 12 Pro also offers a photo configuration with three cameras, but sees it big. Indeed, we find a 1 / 1.28 inch Sony IMX707 50 MP main sensor with 1.22 micron photosites. It is a derivative of the famous IMX700, used in high-end Huawei smartphones. So you can expect top performance, day or night. He is accompanied by a 50 MP ultra wide-angle sensor Samsung JN1 and a 50 MP JN1 telephoto lens offering a 2X optical zoom. As a reminder, Samsung launched its JN1 sensor last summer, it is the smallest 50 MP sensor on the market with photosites of only 0.64 microns.
Smaller batteries that recharge faster
This year, Xiaomi has decided to reduce the size of the batteries of its Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro. Indeed, while the Xiaomi Mi 11 and Mi 11 Pro offered batteries of 4600 mAh and 5000 mAh, the Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro are content this year with 4500 mAh and 4600 mAh, respectively. This does not necessarily mean that smartphones will offer less autonomy, since the Xiaomi 12 is more compact, and the LTPO 2.0 screen of the Xiaomi 12 Pro will greatly improve its energy efficiency.
In return, the Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro see the power of their fast charging increase. the Xiaomi 12 now offers 67 W wired fast charging, against 55 W for the Xiaomi Mi 11. For its part, the Xiaomi 12 Pro even offers fast charging of 120 W, which will be intelligently controlled by a homemade Surge P1 chip. Two charging modes will be available. One that will limit the heat to 37 degrees and take 24 minutes, while the other will fill your battery faster in just 18 minutes. Fast wireless 50 W and reverse 10 W charging will also be found on both models. Note that Xiaomi 12X does without wireless charging.
Smartphone prices and availability
The Xiaomi 12, 12 Pro and 12x will be available in China from today, while we will have to wait many more weeks before hoping to see the first two models arrive in France.
Here are the different smartphone prices in China. As a reminder, we must keep in mind that we will have to add taxes to obtain European prices.
- Xiaomi 12 8GB + 128GB : 3699 yuan (513 euros)
- Xiaomi 12 8GB + 256GB : 3,999 yuan (513 euros)
- Xiaomi 12 12GB + 256GB : 4399 yuan (610 euros)
- Xiaomi 12 Pro 8GB + 128GB : 4699 yuan (651 euros)
- Xiaomi 12 Pro 8GB + 256GB : 4999 yuan (693 euros)
- Xiaomi 12 Pro 12GB + 256GB : 5,399 yuan (748 euros)
- Xiaomi 12X 8GB + 128GB : 3199 yuan (443 euros)
- Xiaomi 12X 8GB + 256GB : 3499 yuan (485 euros)
- Xiaomi 12X 12GB + 256GB : 3799 yuan (527 euros)