New Xiaomi 12 Hands-on Review – Unboxing

Introduction:

The Xiaomi 12 Series is a little different this year. Xiaomi’s Mi 8 was the company’s last premium phone with a similar screen diagonal. In the same range, Xiaomi is selling two nearly identical phones, and the Xiaomi 12 is the company’s first tiny flagship solution in a long time.

The Xiaomi 12 and the Xiaomi 12X are two nearly identical devices. The latter opts for an older, less powerful Snapdragon 870 SoC and does not support wireless charging. It is, however, a practical near-flagship option with several high-end characteristics.

At a Glance: Xiaomi 12’s Spaces:

• Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass 5), metal frame; 152.7×69.9×8.2mm, 179g
  Display: 6.28″ OLED, 12-bit (68B colors), 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1100 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 419ppi, Display: 6.28″ OLED, 12-bit (68B colors), 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1100 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 419ppi
• Adreno 730; Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510); Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.00 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.50 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.
• Memory: UFS 3.1; 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, and 256GB 12GB RAM.
• Android 12 and MIUI 13 are the operating systems and software.
• 50 MP, f/1.9, 26mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0m, PDAF, OIS; Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 26mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0m, PDAF, OIS; 13 MP, f/2.4, 12mm, 123, 1/3.06″, 1.12m; Macro: 5 MP, 50mm, AF; Ultra wide angle: 13 MP, f/2.4, 12mm, 123, 1/3.06″, 1.12m; Macro: 5 MP, 50mm, AF
• 32 MP, f/2.5, 26mm (wide), 0.7m front camera
• Rear camera: 8K@24fps (HDR10), 4K@30fps (HDR10+), 1080p@30/120/240/960fps, 720p@1920fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps (HDR10+), 1080p@30/60fps, 720p@120fps, gyro-EIS;
• 4500mAh battery; 67W fast charging, 100% in 39 minutes (advertised), 50W fast wireless charging, 100% in 53 minutes (advertised), 10W reverse wireless charging, Power Delivery 3.0, Quick Charge 4+
• Miscellaneous: Fingerprint scanner (optical, behind the display); Infrared port; Virtual proximity sensing

However, the focus of this review is on the Xiaomi 12, which has most of the same features as the Xiaomi 12 Pro except for the telephoto camera and ultra-fast charging. The Pro, of course, has a larger display. So, in 2022, if you’re seeking a premium and tiny Android solution, the Xiaomi 12 might be the phone for you.

It will be challenging to compete with some of the industry’s great brands that provide tiny devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S22 and the iPhone 13 mini, which fall within the same price bracket.

We believe the 6.28-inch Xiaomi 12 has a modest advantage over its competition for several reasons. For starters, the phone’s display quality is unaffected, and it also features a substantially larger battery with support for both wired and wireless charging.

The Xiaomi 12 is Unboxing:

The Xiaomi 12 arrives in typical packaging with all of the necessary user instructions, a USB-A to USB-C cable, and the appropriate 67W charger.

A complimentary case is also included in the box, which is unusual with flagship bundles.

Design, construction, and Ergonomics:

We were initially blown away by the phone’s ergonomics and build quality. The size may be deceiving us, but we believe there’s more to it. Something about the Xiaomi 12 seems solid and robust in hand. The front and back panels’ rounded edges meet the mainframe without creating protrusions or edges. The handset’s whole surface is smooth and homogeneous.

Xiaomi claims that Gorilla Glass Victus protects the front panel, while Gorilla Glass 5 protects the rear. The frosted coating on the latter makes it feel a little like plastic; that’s how the Pink choice feels. The good news is that it has a slightly more grippy finish than your typical soft-touch glass paint job or glossy rear panel.

The back camera module is extensive, with sharp edges, and the entire module protrudes noticeably. The primary sensor protrudes significantly further on a flat surface, causing the phone to wobble. With all of that hardware, the phone is also a little top-heavy.

The power button and volume rocker are located on the right side of the side frame, which is rounded on all sides. Both are within reach of the thumb.

Under-display Fingerprint Scanner:

Similarly, the under-display fingerprint scanner is a little awkwardly situated, being too close to the bottom edge and needing some finger gymnastics.

The dual SIM card tray, USB-C port, and speaker grille are located on the bottom edge. Unlike most of its competitors, Xioami’s audio arrangement includes a full-fledged secondary speaker on the top frame and an IR blaster and a Harman Kardon plaque.

If you’re used to holding your phone horizontally with the USB connector on the right, you’ll have to try it the other way around because the top speaker naturally slides into your palm and becomes muffled.

We have a discretely curved front glass with small bezels all-around on the front. The ones on the sides and at the bottom appear to be symmetrical. The bezels appear thinner due to the side curvatures. On the other hand, the top bezel is noticeably thinner, owing to the lack of a loudspeaker.

This is also the point at which we should mention that the device uses virtual proximity detection rather than a hardware sensor, and as a result, it may misbehave at times, most notably during calls.

Even though the Xiaomi 12’s chassis isn’t very noteworthy, the displayed design hits all the right notes. Xiaomi reduced the bezels surrounding the display as much as possible, while the curved panels and frosted back create a tight grip. Except for the fingerprint scanner’s wrong placement, Xiaomi didn’t leave much to be desired. It would have been nice if it had been a little higher.

OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate that is small and bright:

Even though the Xiaomi 12 isn’t the company’s top flagship model in the series, it doesn’t skimp on display quality.

The 6.28-inch OLED panel has a standard resolution of 1080 x 2400px, a 120Hz configurable refresh rate, a 480Hz touch sampling rate, a 360-degree ambient light sensor, and a 12-bit colour depth. The Xiaomi 12 and 12X are the first smartphones to feature 12-bit displays, and they should be capable of showing up to 68 billion colours with the correct content. Netflix is pleased to stream Dolby Vision-enabled video to the phone, and HDR10+ is also supported. Even while Dolby Vision is compatible with 10-bit monitors, one of its advantages is that it helps 12-bit colour, which HDR10 and HDR10+ do not.

Of course, we did our standard testing on this screen, and we’re pleased to report that the brightness levels are excellent. The panel reaches 494 nits when the slider is set to maximum in manual mode. When the brightness option is automatic, it can get a staggering 896 nits, a fantastic result for a flagship phone. Consumption of content in direct sunlight should not be a problem. With our 75 per cent APL, we didn’t attain the stated 1100 nits, but at lower APL, the panel might as well go over that barrier.

Screen Testing:

Of course, we did our standard testing on this screen, and we’re pleased to report that the brightness levels are excellent. The panel reaches 494 nits when the slider is set to maximum in manual mode. When the brightness option is automatic, it can get a staggering 896 nits, a fantastic result for a flagship phone. Consumption of content in direct sunlight should not be a problem. With our 75 per cent APL, we didn’t attain the stated 1100 nits, but at lower APL, the panel might as well go over that barrier.

For comparison, we’ve included additional Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered smartphones, and it turns out that almost all phones with that SoC score higher with a similar battery capacity. In every test, the Samsung Galaxy S22+, with its 4,500 mAh battery and significantly larger screen, outperforms the Xiaomi 12. Only the Realme GT2 Pro and the iQOO 9 Pro employ the energy-efficient LTPO2 OLED panels; thus, we feel the problem is with the software.

Charging Rate:

The Xiaomi 12 is competitive when it comes to charging. The included 67W charger can restore 87 per cent of the battery in 30 minutes, while a complete charge from the flat takes 46 minutes. We noticed that the storm reached the “completely charged” condition a few minutes after the 39-minute mark, close to the claimed 39-minute figure.

The temperatures and battery design are the most excellent features. The phone’s surface remained relatively calm while charging, related to the battery architecture. The Xiaomi 12 Pro has a single-cell battery with a higher density than dual-cell batteries and charges more quickly. Xiaomi managed to execute 120W charging on the 12 Pro. While the company doesn’t officially state that the same battery technology is used on the regular Xiaomi 12, we have reason to suspect it is, albeit at 67W.

The temperatures and battery design are the most excellent features. The phone’s surface remained relatively calm while charging, related to the battery architecture. The Xiaomi 12 Pro has a single-cell battery with a higher density than dual-cell batteries and charges more quickly. Xiaomi managed to execute 120W charging on the 12 Pro. While the company doesn’t officially state that the same battery technology is used on the regular Xiaomi 12, we have reason to suspect it is, albeit at 67W.

Android 12 and MIUI 13:

The Xiaomi 12 series is the company’s first handsets to ship with MIUI 13 out of the box and Android 12. A polite reminder that MIUI upgrades are not bound to Google’s OS version, which is a good thing because Xiaomi frequently uses MIUI to deliver some of the most recent Android features to its older phones without upgrading to the next major Android version. The Xiaomi 12X also operates on Android 11 + MIUI 13, likely due to the older Snapdragon 870 processor. Some extra tweaking is required before Android 12 is sent to the handset.

The new MIUI 13 isn’t much different from the previous version in terms of UI design. It will be simple to navigate if you are familiar with MIUI. This time around, the distinction between the notification panel and the fast toggles is enabled by default. The control centre is the latter, and it offers a more streamlined experience than the quick toggles.

In terms of Android 12-intrinsic features, Xiaomi appears to have overlooked a few of them. The so-called Privacy Dashboard is missing, but you can share approximate or precise location data with apps. A green dot also appears when an app accesses one of the cameras. We also didn’t come across the redesigned widget interface that the Chinese version of the ROM included. However, Xiaomi has a history of doing things differently, such as not including notification history, introduced with Android 11.

Xiaomi claims:

Anyway, Xiaomi claims that MIUI has been overhauled, even though the interface and design look and feel identical to MIUI 12. However, the new version focuses on resource distribution and should handle processor, RAM, and storage utilization more intelligently.

For example, MIUI 13 is expected to keep track of how much processing and RAM is being used and suspend any currently superfluous tasks to free up resources and provide more fluid performance. Xiaomi claims a 40 per cent increase in background process efficiency over the previous edition.

What sounds incredibly intriguing and relevant for modern devices is liquid storage. According to Xiaomi, storage performance in most phones is half in 36 months due to improper storage management. And that’s where MIUI 13 comes in: it’s 60 per cent more efficient at defragmenting than MIUI 12 and its competitors. According to their calculations, the storage performance reduction over 36 months should be only 5%. This appears to be an impressive addition, so let’s hope it lives up to the expectations.

Power management is the final optimization made within MIUI’s core; the new version’s optimization should result in a 10% reduction in power usage compared to MIUI 12.

A new Smart Toolbox (also known as a Sidebar) allows for even more seamless multitasking with pop-up programs. And several features, some of which are unique, have been added to improve privacy.

Consistent Performance:

Despite its small size, the Xiaomi 12 includes a large cooling pad that aids in heat dissipation. According to the manufacturer, the device is said to have a 2,600mm2 vapour chamber and 10,000mm2 graphite for added support to the vapour chamber. However, our stress testing indicates that the cooling solution is ineffective.

The phone’s frame was scorching hot, and you could barely hold it. We did our regular CPU throttle test for an hour, and the system throttled down the CPU to roughly 60% of its full speed before the 15-minute mark. And it remained relatively constant for the next 45 minutes, with 57 per cent being the lowest point at which the CPU throttled.

We ran the 3DMark Wild Life stress test, which is GPU-intensive mainly after the phone had rested for a while and temps had returned to normal. The device, to our surprise, was unable to complete all loops, and the system had to shut down the program numerous times to prevent hardware damage. We could not continue the test because the side frame was too hot to endure.

It’s crucial to remember that stress tests aren’t meant to simulate real-world use. No game would use the CPU and GPU at 100% for such extended periods. However, it’s a solid metric to use for evaluating long-term success.