Xiaomi 12 is one of two flagship cellphones that Xiaomi has released on the market. Unlike the normal size Xiaomi 12 Pro, the Xiaomi 12 appears with tiny dimensions. Unusual for a current cellphone output in 2022.
Although small, the screen size is not very small really. Likewise the battery, for a cellphone of its size you can say that it has a very large capacity. So, how does the Xiaomi 12 perform? Come on, see the following reviews.
Design
With dimensions of 152.7 x 69.9 x 8.1 mm and a weight of 180grams, and a 6.28-inch screen, the Xiaomi 12 is actually not too small. But for the size of the current flagship Android phone, this is a very compact size. The user's finger does not need to be stretched too far to reach the edge of the screen.
Plus, the screen and rear body are quite curved making it comfortable in the hand (even though it's not comfortable to watch or play games). Thankfully Xiaomi doesn't follow the flat-edge design like in most other phones, including the Redmi Note 11 series.
Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro Specifications
This curve is relatively similar to its two predecessors, namely Mi 10 and Mi 11, two Xiaomi flagship phones that preceded Xiaomi 12. Then regarding color, the Xiaomi 12 color choice is more "mature" than the two, especially the gray color variant in the review unit we received. .
The rear body is made of metal that is not shiny and does not easily store fingerprints. In my opinion, the rear body on the Xiaomi 12 with the gray color is not slippery.
The camera module is also the main draw from the back of the Xiaomi 12 body. It has a rectangular shape, large dimensions, also with a very large lens circle, at least on the main camera, which happens because the main camera sensor size is indeed large, which is 1/1.56 ".
Oh yes, this Xiaomi 12 uses a fingerprint sensor under the screen. Not on the power button like other Xiaomi phone lines. At the bottom of the body there is a USB-C port, speaker and microphone holes, and slots for two SIM cards, without the presence of a microSD slot.
Then at the top there is a microphone hole and also a speaker (complete with a Harman Kardon label), and also an IR blaster which is the hallmark of Xiaomi. Oh yes, the speaker holes are at the top and bottom left.
So if used in a horizontal position, the bottom of the phone must be on the left so that the speaker hole is not covered by the hand. This position, in my opinion, is a bit unusual. What's more, it means that the camera module is a bit lumpy in the hand because it is quite thick.
Screen
As written above, the Xiaomi 12 screen is 6.28 inches with a resolution of 1080 x 2,400 pixels or FHD +. The panel is AMOLED with a maximum brightness of 1100 nits. The colors are bright, and the brightness level is qualified for use in hot conditions.
Other screen specs are 120Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling rate, and interestingly, 12bit color depth that can produce 68 billion colors. It seems that this is the first phone to use a 12 bit panel.
However, this panel can only be fully enjoyed with Dolby Vision status content, which fortunately is indeed supported by Xiaomi 12, including on Netflix. There's also HDR10+ support.
Unfortunately, because it's not an LTPO panel, there are only two refresh rate options, namely 60Hz and 120Hz. Unlike the Xiaomi 12 Pro, which has an adaptive refresh rate with a larger selection.
Battery
As I wrote above, the Xiaomi 12's tiny body stores a fairly large battery, which is 4,500 mAh. And for non-gaming daily use, this capacity is sufficient.
I tried this Xiaomi 12 with a refresh rate of 120Hz, the resolution is locked to the highest, using a cellular connection (4G). The activities carried out are relatively draining of the battery, such as taking pictures, using Google Maps (active GPS). The result? The battery can last all day without needing to be recharged in the middle.
Even if you need to recharge, the 67W charger is also fun because it can charge from empty to full in less than an hour. It's not as impressive as the Xiaomi 12 Pro which supports a 120W charger, but 67W is enough, really. The wireless charging support reaches 50W which I didn't try, and it can function to charge other devices wirelessly.
Performance
As a flagship phone, Xiaomi 12 also uses a flagship system on a chip as well. Namely Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which is indeed fast but also...hot. Similar to Snapdragon 888.
The benchmark score is certainly high. Can be seen in the image below. All types of games can be easily devoured, including Genshin Impact. Of course, as I said above, this Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 does produce high heat, and it will feel in the hand when playing games with a rather long duration, for example over an hour. Even though the performance has been throttled, which began to show after about 15 minutes of launching using benchmarks.
According to Qualcomm, the heat from Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 depends on how the settings and cooling system are used by the phone manufacturer. I don't know what kind of cooling system Qualcomm is referring to, hopefully it's not a large active cooler (using a fan) like in a laptop or PC.
MIUI 13 based on Android 12 is the default OS for Xiaomi 12. Not everyone likes the MIUI interface. But at least the performance of MIUI 13, even though it has a look similar to MIUI 12, is better. Process efficiency in the background is promised 40% better than before.
Xiaomi also promises better storage management, such as 60% better defragmentation efficiency so that performance is maintained in the long term. According to Xiaomi, most cell phone storage today has a 50% drop in performance after 36 months, and Xiaomi promises with MIUI 13 the performance drop in the same timeframe is only 5%.
Camera
On paper, the Xiaomi 12 camera specifications are very capable, at least the main camera. The sensor is Sony IMX766 which has a resolution of 50MP. Yes, resolution has nothing to do with image quality, but the sensor is also very large.
However, this sensor has a large size, 1/1.56 "with a pixel size of 1 micron. The lens supports 6P, OIS, and has an aperture of f/1.9. But today's cellphones don't just rely on hardware to produce good photos, but also image processing.
Like how many photos are "stacked" to produce images with a capable dynamic range. Also the lighting settings, whether to keep the shadows dark and the highlights bright, or can the shadows and highlights be made all bright. All can be done, and which one is better of course depends on the taste of the user.
Then how about the Xiaomi 12 shots? The photos look sharp, the details are preserved. The dynamic range is quite wide, as well as noise that is maintained. But for my taste, the resulting color saturation is a bit too high, and it seems that the Xiaomi 12 lowers the light a bit to make the photos more contrasting.
There are two things that I think should not be touched from the camera settings of the Xiaomi 12. The first is the AI mode, which makes the saturation even higher. The second is 50MP mode, which makes sharpness decrease and noise so pops up.
The ultrawide camera is decent, although the sensor is different and lower than the main camera, the resulting image quality is not too far off. At least in color reproduction, contrast and lighting.
But of course the dynamic range will lose, because the sensor size is indeed smaller. Likewise with sharpness and detail.
The quality of the macro camera is quite capable. The resulting detail is quite awake, the color and contrast are good. It's just that, Xiaomi simply 'hide' this macro mode, because the option to activate it is not in the main interface in the camera application.
Our Opinion
In a nutshell, the Xiaomi 12 is a small but uncompromising flagship phone. That is, the features remain complete, the specifications remain fierce, and most importantly, the battery remains large and lasts a long time (and can be recharged quickly).
If you only look at the specifications, the Xiaomi 12 is a very capable phone. But a cellphone is not only judged by its specifications, there are many other factors that determine it. Like the OS or interface used, because not everyone is compatible with MIUI. Or it could be because of the curved screen, which, although more comfortable to hold, is relatively useless for enjoying content and playing games.
But if you are looking for a compact phone, fast specifications, a large battery, and a camera that is quite capable, the Xiaomi 12 might be one of the choices.