A few moments ago, Xiaomi officially launched the new Xiaomi 12 series smartphones on European markets. priority testing. And since there is no time to waste and the mobile phone is already publicly available, here is our first, general review of this piece. In the second separate part, I will focus on photography and comparing it with the competitive flag from Samsung in a few days.
Xiaomi 12 Pro
Package contents
Although Xiaomi has been trying to jump into the wave of inquiries in materials and accessories in recent months, at least in the case of this year’s flag series, comfort has won. The mobile phone is therefore available “in full field”. The box contains not only the device itself, but also a charger, cable and even a transparent silicone case.
In the case of the charging adapter, this is an uncompromising 120W power supply, which corresponds to the maximum power consumption of the phone. Here, the Chinese company really did not take napkins and, for example, the owners of a competitor Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (those who do not fully share the environmental motives of manufacturers) may envy. Of course, there is also the presence of a pin for sliding the drawer on nanoSIM cards.
design phone
As the mobile has already been introduced in other regions, its appearance is no secret at all. In reality, it holds very well in my hand and I find it much less slippery than the Galaxy S22 Ultra, for example. This is due to the matt aluminum frame and a slightly less smooth glass back. From the front, it is a classic mobile phone with rounded edges of the display on the longer sides, of which there are many on the market.
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Around the perimeter is the aforementioned SIM drawer, two speaker grilles, microphones, USB-C connector, and lock / power and volume buttons. On the back is a photo module, which is, for example, narrower than the Xiaomi 11T, more visually decent and “sharper”, which I like, but its height (due to the special elevation of one of the lenses even two-story) is not completely comfortable. Controlling the mobile phone while lying on the table is downright suffering due to swaying.
Like Samsung in the S21 series, Xiaomi has chosen a module that is not a uniform straight part of the back, so the edges and slots are an unpleasant collection of dust or even hair particles. You can also tell from the photos I took after cleaning with a microfiber cloth, but obviously a brush would also like that. Many people may be discouraged from buying that their cell phones do not have official IP resilience certification.
MIUI fast system 13
At this point, I must admit that I had a Xiaomi phone in my hand for longer testing after a really long time. As a result, I am not fully able to assess the intergenerational leaks between the various versions of the MIUI superstructure. According to official materials, however, the latest releases currently boast, for example, faster application, smoother animations and security.
While I couldn’t easily verify the latter, the speed of the system is very noticeable. For example, unlike One UI from Samsung, everything “walks” more naturally and without jitter, similar to, for example, EMUI from Huawei. Just switching between the individual application screens suggests that there is a left bar here. Even the applications themselves start up and then run faster. The overall impression of fluidity is probably enhanced by the animations, but it looks really good.
At the same time, I notice a few differences in the system from other superstructures that do not suit me at all. Although the expansion of the upper blind is divided into two halves, such as the EMUI, the transition between the left and right side is no longer so intuitive. On the desktop, for example, it is a bit more difficult to work with widgets, which need to be “shaken” to resize.
Most importantly, I don’t understand at all why the screen with running applications doesn’t close them completely after pressing the cross, but lets the last one run. The user then has to turn it off manually by dragging his finger, which I think is a completely unnecessary extra step. Other superstructures do not do this.
Uncompromising performance
The word “uncompromising” in this case does not put the phone somewhere at the top of the performance charts (although this is partly the case), but comes across the mere fact that Xiaomi also delivers uncompromising phones to Europe with the top Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. interested people will actually hear, and the Chinese company is stalking Samsung from a distance, which, as we know, has a different policy with processors.
The presence of the greatest strongman from Qualcomm is known. Whether during normal work and the already mentioned switching between applications and multitasking, or when taking photos that the phone does not burden extra. I’m adding images from Geekbench 5 to the gallery.
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I will also add a display to the performance, which contributes a lot to the overall impression. It is a top AMOLED panel that you can manually switch up to WQHD + resolution (with a luxurious dot density of 521 ppi) and let it oscillate dynamically up to 120 Hz. When your phone is running low, you can not only return to a lower resolution, but also manually set a lower frequency. There is a 60Hz and 90Hz value. From a screen perspective, this is really the highest level that can be offered.
Shooting with a triple fifty
Xiaomi’s 12 Pro bet on three 50Mpx sensors, each with a different task. These are the main lens, ultra-wide lens and telephoto lens. The resolution of the main sensor is not surprising or exceptional, but the other two are no longer the case. While fifty megapixels is really above standard in ultra-wide shooting, it’s not so famous anymore with a telephoto lens.
The “zoom” lens only has a double optical zoom, which is simply not enough for a similar flagship mobile phone. Although the real size of the photos allows you to take a better quality uncompressed section, this limit is not convenient right at the time of taking the picture. However, Xiaomi 12 Pro badly does not take photos and in my opinion he defends his position with regard to price and market position.
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Xiaomi 12 For photo portrait reviews
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Overall, I can praise, for example, the speed of the photo application and also the focus or switching of individual functions. Even with premium phones, this is not always a matter of course. In the gallery you will find a few basic pictures. I will deal with photography with this phone in even more detail in the future comparison with the competition.
Average endurance and flash charging
In terms of endurance, it is an “all-day” phone, but probably like the competitors in the Galaxy S22 series. With a little effort, it is not necessary to charge the mobile phone several times a day, but it is certainly not without fear of an evening discharge. The slightly thinner body and lower weight were obviously given priority thanks to the smaller battery, and the overall endurance is to be matched by the ability to charge quickly. And that’s really happening.
If the user does not have a problem jumping to the socket once in a while, the 120W adapter is really a guarantee of extra fast power replenishment. A full charge in about 20 is really not a problem. Although it is now not possible to assess the impact of such a fast charge on battery life so quickly and evaluate other negative impacts, so far this combination of smaller battery + higher charging power seems to be effective.
The advantage over Samsung is the fact that in this case it is a really huge value and the charger is really straight in the package with the phone. Only time will tell if the batteries in Xiaomi phones will die much faster.
Price and availability
Xiaomi 12 Pro is available from March 31 in a variant of 12 GB + 256 GB for CZK 27,999, for example in the official Czech e-shop and until April 13, you will also receive a Xiaomi Watch S1 on your phone. In addition, all Xiaomi 12, Xiaomi 12 Pro and Xiaomi 12X users can use the free screen change service within 6 months (180 days) from the date of purchase, and bonuses include 3 months of free YouTube Premium.
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Final evaluation
To answer the question in the title: Yes, the Xiaomi 12 Pro can really be a killer of flagship models, because it definitely is one of them. With its combination of decent equipment (although sometimes quite compromising) and prices, it certainly attracts many customers from other brands. If the applicant is willing to accept several concessions, for example, the price from Xiaomi can prefer the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra or even the Plus variant thanks to the price.
Pros
+ power
+ fast system
+ ultra fast charging
+ price
+ top display
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Cons
– without IP certification
– the strangeness of the MIUI superstructure
– compromises on cameras
– without microSD slot
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How do you like Xiaomi 12 Pro?
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