Xiaomi 12X Detailed Review Part-II | Camera Quality and Competition

The triple camera is excellent:

The Xiaomi 12X sports the same camera as the Xiaomi 12 and is quite similar to what the Xiaomi Mi 11 has – a high-resolution primary with OIS, a standard ultrawide shooter, and a 5MP camera with a tele-macro lens for high-quality closeup images.

A 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor is used in the primary camera. It measures 1/1.56″ in diameter and has a 1.0m Quad-Bayer RGGB (2×2) filter. With such a filter, the primary camera combines four nearby pixels, yielding photographs with a resolution of 50/4=12.5MP.

The sensor is combined with a stabilised 6-element 24mm lens with an f/1.88 aperture.

A 13MP OmniVision OV13B10 sensor with 1.12m pixels and a 14mm f/2.4 lens is used in the ultrawide camera. The focus has been set. A 5MP Samsung S5K5E9 1/5 macro camera is used “sensor with 1.12 million pixels and telemacro lens of 50mm f/2.4 Autofocus is available and operates at distances of around 3cm to 9cm.

A 32MP OmniVision OV32B40 1/3-inch selfie camera is included. “With 0.7m pixels, it’s a tetra-pixel sensor. It’s framed with an f/2.45 lens. The focus has been set. Despite Xiaomi’s claims of 4-in-1 binning, the default output is 32MP.

The camera app is straightforward and intuitive. To begin, sideswipes (on the modes scroller) are used to change methods, and you can also tap on the modes you see to switch to them directly. The toggle next to the shutter release is the only way to switch between the front and rear cameras; up and down swipes don’t function.

By going to the More tab and browsing the edit button in the main Rolodex, you can add, remove, and rearrange modes, and you can also do so from the settings menu.

Additional Options:

Additional options and modes, including Super Macro, can be found in the hamburger menu at the bottom of the screen and the icon to enter the settings. A flash mode switch, an HDR switch, an AI toggle, a shortcut to Google Lens, and a magic wand with beauty effects and filters are all located next to the hamburger menu.

You can use the primary and ultra-wide cameras in an enhanced Pro mode (for all three back cameras) to change the shooting parameters yourself. There’s a manual focusing slider (with peaking as an option, which is a rare sighting), shutter speed (1/4000s to 30s, 20s for macro), and ISO control with the range depending on which camera you’re using. There’s also a manual focusing slider (with peaking as an option, which is a rare sighting), shutter speed (1/4000s to 30s, 20s for macro) and ISO control with the range depending on which camera you’re using. A small live histogram and a zebra toggle in the hamburger menu are offered.

All primary cameras include night mode, and there’s also an Auto Night mode choice in the menu that’s enabled by default. Eye-tracking focus, which is likewise enabled by default, was another option that attracted our attention.

The More tab also has several extended exposure photo settings and movie-like video options.

Daylight Photo Quality:

The primary camera defaults to 12.5MP, which produces outstanding photos. We enjoy how areas of random detail are portrayed well instead of the over-sharpened messes we’ve seen recently, and they offer lots of resolved detail and balanced sharpness. Everything looks good: foliage, grass, and architectural elements.

The white balance in all photographs is perfect, and the colours are vibrant. The contrast is firm but not excessive, and the dynamic range is adequate and realistic.

Finally, the noise has been thoroughly removed, and no traces of it can be found in the photographs.

The Xiaomi 12X doesn’t include a telephoto camera, and there’s no mention of lossless zoom. Nonetheless, the viewfinder has a specific 2x zoom shortcut, which we expected to enable a simple digital zoom.

But we were mistaken. While the 2x digital zoom isn’t lossless, it does require some stacking and processing, which frequently results in better photographs than basic upscales. It is not the finest, but it is adequate to justify its use when necessary.

The Xiaomi 12X has a 50MP option, but it’s not one of the most potent high-resolution settings. While the photographs aren’t a straight upscaling of the 12.5MP defaults, they’re also not very well processed. The detail is average, but everything else is up to par with typical photographs.

We tried resizing them to 12MP and discovered that the results were equal to the output from the primary Photo shooting mode. As a result, shooting in 50MP mode is a waste of time.

Ultra-wide Camera:

 

The ultrawide camera’s 13MP images are also impressive. The processing is respectable, and it extracts as much detail as possible from such a sensor and lens, as well as provides excellent distortion correction. The sharpening isn’t overdone; on the contrary, it’s well-balanced and contributes to a natural appearance throughout all photographs.

High contrast, realistic dynamic range, and largely true colours characterise the ultrawide photographs. For a camera in this class, the noise is surprisingly minimal.

The 12.5MP portraits taken with the primary camera on the back are fantastic! Thanks to a mild sharpening and effective noise reduction, the subjects are wonderfully detailed and have a lovely natural look. The colours are true to life, and the contrast is excellent.

Even though there is no specialised depth sensor on the back, the bokeh is gorgeous, and the separation is practically faultless.

The Selfie Camera:

The selfie camera is supposed to save 8MP photographs, but the Gallery instead has 32MP selfies. We couldn’t change it in any case, the 32MP selfies are superb. There’s enough detail for a selfie camera. The subject is always adequately illuminated, HDR kicks in when needed, and the dynamic range is always good but not at the price of contrast.

The colours in all of the selfies are vibrant and realistic, the noise is well-managed, and we enjoyed these photos overall. They are, however, quite large, weighing in at 10MB or more, and we would have preferred them at 8MP and smaller file size.

You can also take selfie portraits. Although HDR isn’t available in Portrait mode, and subject separation isn’t as good as it is on the back camera, these are still good portraits. We noticed attractive separation, believable bokeh, sufficiently complex topics, and acceptable colours.

Note that if the lighting isn’t optimum, the selfie’s sharpness and quality will drastically deteriorate, and the likelihood of blurred photographs will skyrocket.

The photo quality in low-light situations:

Auto Night Mode is activated by default on the Xiaomi 12X. It’s the same way Apple’s Night Mode works: the camera app selects when and where to utilise Night Mode and the exposure time. When Auto Night Mode is activated, you have no control over any of this in the usual Photo mode.

The primary camera is in Night Mode; however, if the algorithm detects enough light, it will not capture a Night Mode photo. When Night Mode was activated, it felt slightly faster (a second or less) than when we manually selected it.

 

The Auto Night Mode photos with Xiaomi 12X’s primary camera are fantastic. They’re straightforward and detailed, with subtle but effective noise reduction, vibrant colours, good contrast, and realistic exposure.

When Night Mode is used, it helps to keep the highlights under control.
Overall, the primary camera’s automated Night Mode performs admirably, and we recommend leaving it on.

Finally, let’s talk about the ultrawide camera:

With the default Auto Night Mode option selected, all images taken with the ultrawide camera use HDR instead of Night Mode, regardless of the scene. The photographs aren’t exceptionally bright – in fact, they’re darker than they should be – but they don’t have any clipped highlights, the noise is well cleaned, and the resolved detail is acceptable for such a camera. The colour saturation is also excellent.

Video Capturing:

The Xiaomi 12X has a lot of video recording choices and a lot of innovative features. The primary camera can record 8K videos at 24 frames per second and 4K films at 60 frames per second. The ultrawide camera can shoot in 4K at 30 frames per second, while the macro camera can shoot in 1080p at 30 frames per second.

The primary camera has optical stabilisation, while electronic stabilisation is always on and available on all snappers save the macro.

Then there’s the primary camera’s Super Steady Mode, which focuses on stabilisation rather than quality, as an action camera would. Super Steady Pro mode, which uses the ultrawide camera and significant cropping for even more stabilised footage if needed, is also available.

The video bitrate for 8K is 100Mbps, and for 4K, it is 50Mbps, while audio is always recorded in stereo at a high bitrate of 320kbps.

With the primary camera, the first video was shot in 8K@24fps. It has accurate colours, fantastic contrast, and an excellent dynamic range, but the resolved detail is ordinary, and the picture is soft because the video appears to have been upscaled from 4K.

The 8K field of view is larger than the 4K since there is no electronic stabilisation when shooting in 8K; instead, the camera depends exclusively on optical stabilisation.

The 4K recordings from the primary camera are fantastic; there’s lots of resolved detail, and the crispness is just right for a well-balanced and natural-looking video. The videos are noise-free, the excellent white balance, and the colours are vibrant and authentic. The dynamic range is fantastic.

Crop and upscale are used to create a 2x 4K video, which means the video won’t be sharp, but it will appear excellent on a phone, PC, or even TV. You should utilise the zoom option if you need a zoomed video.

The ultrawide camera’s 4K clips are also impressive. For a camera of this sort, the image is clear and detailed, has low noise, and has adequate dynamic range. Although the colours are a little brighter and more relaxed than they should be, these 4K ultrawide films are the best we’ve seen.

The competition:

The Xiaomi 12X is a fantastic tiny smartphone with a one-of-a-kind premium OLED screen, excellent performance and stability, excellent photo and video quality, and excellent battery life and charging speed. Its price is also not half bad: the 8GB/256GB model will be available for €699, while the 8GB/128GB variant will be available for €649 soon.

This year, 2022, is not going to be the best because the world is experiencing various issues, including resource shortages, pandemics, wars, and an unstable economy around the world. Everything increased in price, including the phones, and it’s only reasonable that they cost more than their 2021 counterparts did a year ago.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 5G, with its 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen and IP68-rated build, is the first smartphone that comes to mind. It includes a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU and a 3x optical zoom telephoto camera. It’s also worth noting that the 10MP selfie camera with AF is preferable. The S22 8/128 model starts at €820, but you can get water resistance, optical zoom, and greater power for an extra €120-170. The Xiaomi 12X, on the other hand, features a superior Dolby Vision screen and charges significantly faster. And, of course, it is less expensive.

The Realme GT2 Pro is a fantastic replacement for the 12X. It sports a bigger 120Hz OLED screen with 10-bit colour, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, a more powerful triple camera with a 50MP primary camera, a 50MP ultrawide camera, and a 3MP microscope. The 8GB/128GB Realme GT2 Pro is €50 cheaper than the Xiaomi 12X’s 8GB/256GB model, and it’s worth considering its unique camera setup and Realme UI.

The Zenfone 8:

The Zenfone 8 is priced similarly to the Xiaomi 12X. It’s entirely waterproof, with a smaller 5.9-inch 120Hz AMOLED display, and relies on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 5G chipset. The 64MP OIS primary camera, the 12MP ultrawide secondary with AF for closeups, and the front 12MP selfie camera with autofocus and 4K video capture provide a better overall camera experience. You sacrifice support for Dolby Vision, but you gain greater power, a better photo and video experience, and a smaller form size. Indeed, it appears to be a terrific deal.

The Sony Xperia 5 III:

The Sony Xperia 5 III is worth considering because of its compact and waterproofed chassis, speedier hardware (SD888), superior triple camera with 12MP OIS primary, and 12MP telephoto with 3x and 4.4x optical zoom capabilities, and a 12MP ultrawide camera with AF for macro images.

The Xiaomi 12 128GB variant costs €100 more than the Xiaomi 12X 256GB model and adds the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU and 50W rapid wireless charging to the 12X feature set. The chipset throttles within the 12’s small shell, and it’s an overkill for a 1080p screen, so we don’t see any reason to pay the extra. If you want to use rapid wireless charging, you’ll have to pay a little more for the proprietary charger.

The Poco F3:

The Poco F3, which is half the price of the Xiaomi 12X and is still widely available, must be mentioned. Even with conventional 8-bit colour support, the Poco F3 has a 120Hz AMOLED display and works on the same Snapdragon 870 5G CPU. The primary and ultrawide cameras on the rear are inferior to those on the 12X, and the charging speed is reduced by half. However, if you don’t care about photo quality and can live with 33W fast charging, you can save a lot of money by opting for the Poco F3.

The verdict:

The Xiaomi 12X is a fantastic smartphone with a fantastic display, the first to include native 12-bit colour and genuine Dolby Vision. It has flagship-level performance and connectivity and a great speaker, long battery life, and quick charging. We’re also pleased with the overall camera quality.

The Xiaomi 12X lacks ingress protection and zoom capabilities, which we would have expected from a €700 smartphone. Sure, we didn’t expect to get both at this price this year, but one of these features would have made the Xiaomi 12X a no-brainer.

Even if its display is unrivalled, there are better phones than the 12X. The Xiaomi 12X is a brand-new phone, but as is customary, older flagships are now cheaper and occasionally a better buy than the Xiaomi 12X.

Nonetheless, the Xiaomi 12X is an excellent smartphone with reasonable pricing in 2022, and we believe it has all the makings of a best-seller. We recommend that you exhaust all possibilities in the €650-€700 price range, assess the benefits and drawbacks and then choose what best suits you. If you decide to purchase the Xiaomi 12X, we are confident that you will like it as much as we did. Even at this low price, we recommend this phone.

Pros:

• The design is appealing, and the model is small and light.
  Super bright 120Hz OLED display.
• Excellent communicators.
• Battery life is consistent, and charging is lightning fast.
• Performance that is on par with a flagship and a high level of stability.
• The photo and video quality are excellent.

Cons:

• Unlike Xiaomi 12, it is not based on the current Android 12.
• There is no water resistance rating.
• There is no zoom camera or lossless zoom.
• The selfies could have been more professional.
• At first, it was a little pricey.