These days we are used to see new smartphones getting bigger and bigger equipped with the latest technology and updated specs. However, there are still phones available on the market who continued to develop small compact sizes especially if you’re introducing a family of flagship phones.
And that’s what Xiaomi did as the rapidly-growing Chinese company introduced its latest flagship phones the Xiaomi 12 series. You have the Xiaomi 12 Pro a much bigger display, powerful camera and fast charging feature. While the Xiaomi 12 has a relatively small form factor with a little lesser specs but still quite impressive.
For our review these coming months, we will explore and focus on the Xiaomi 12. First, we will do an unboxing and first impression of the Xiaomi 12 followed by our full review.
Both models are now available at Xiaomi stores nationwide, authorized distributors and online e-commerce stores on Lazada and Shopee. The Xiaomi 12 Pro (12+256) is priced at PHP48,999 and the Xiaomi 12 (8GB+256GB) at PHP39,999.
So, let’s find out more on the Xiaomi 12 and if it can stand a chance against the competition.
What’s in the box
The Xiaomi 12 is packed within an all-white matte paper box with a nice bronze metallic foil finish printed on the phone’s model name and the Xiaomi logo.
Inside you get the Xiaomi 12 unit, USB Type-C cable, Power Adaptor, SIM Eject Tool, Protective Case, and Documentations (Quick Start Guide, Warranty Card, Safety Information).
They also added a screen protector that’s already applied on the display of the phone.
Build Quality, Design and Display
The overall build quality of the Xiaomi 12 is brilliant.
The phone size of the Xiaomi 12 gets an ultra-compact design which weighs around 180 grams with dimensions of 152.7 x 69.9 x 8.16mm. It has a nice curved-edge display along the thin metal frame on the sides of the phone. The Xiaomi 12 just holds comfortably even with just one hand.
The rear panel is made of plastic with glass covered in Gorilla Glass 5 providing more resistance to drops. It also has a frosted texture effect or a smooth flat matte finish on the back cover that helps repel fingerprint smudges.
Colorways available on the Xiaomi 12 are grey, blue and purple. We got the purple color for our review unit and when we shift it from different angles radiates a light pink color with a little glittery effect.
On the front display Xiaomi added more protection on the glass layering it with Gorilla Glass Victus improving the protection of the phone further from both drop and scratches.
Sleep/Power button and volume rockers are placed on the right while the left has no buttons whatsoever. The top has a speaker grille with a Harman Kardon logo beside it, IR blaster and microphone. A USB Type-C charging port, microphone, SIM card slot and another speaker grille located at the bottom.
Expect from a flagship phone like the Xiaomi 12 to deliver vibrant colors, sharp details and impressive contrast on its display. It gets an AMOLED panel with a diagonal diameter of 6.28-inches with Full HD+ resolution at 2,400 x 1080 pixels.
The maximum refresh rate is 120Hz with a 480Hz touch sampling rate and maximum brightness of 1100 nits sufficient enough to use during outdoors or direct sunlight.
Battery Life
The Xiaomi 12 has a built-in 4500mAh battery which comes with a 67W USB power adaptor using a USB Type-C charging port to juice up the power quickly. There’s also a 50W wireless turbo charging and a 10W reverse wireless charging feature that makes the Xiaomi 12 as a charging pad to power other devices.
Hardware
On board the Xiaomi 12 it is powered with Qualcomm’s latest chipsets the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor paired with Adreno GPU. It has an 8GB LPDDR5 RAM storage and a massive 256GB UFS 3.1 storage with no expandable storage features for a MicroSD card.
It is designed to support two nano SIM cards with 5G standby support as well as for other network band provisions for 2G, 3G, and 4G. Other connectivity features on the Xiaomi 12 includes a Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6E.
Camera
The Xiaomi 12 gets a triple camera setup equipped with Sony’s IMX766 sensor making the quality shots of the phone better. The three rear camera lens comprises of a 50MP f/1.9 main camera, 13MP f/2.4 ultra-wide and 5MP f/2.4 telemacro lens. For selfies the front facing camera gets a 32MP f/2.45 with beautification mode and a slider to adjust the blur of your background available on the camera app.
The camera is also equipped with its all-new focusing technology called ProFocus assisting you in capturing moving subjects clearly.
If you want to record videos, the phone can do 8K at 24fps, 4K at 30fps/60fps, 1080p at 30fps/60fps and 720p at 30fps on the rear camera but on the front cam you have resolutions at 1080p and 720p only.
Here are a few samples captured on the Xiaomi 12.
Photo mode 1x
Photo mode – Ultrawide
Photo mode 2x
Selfie – Portrait mode
Telemacro
First Impressions
We were able to test and appreciate the features of the Xiaomi 12 even just a few days to share our initial impressions. This is really an excellent flagship phone by Xiaomi.
It’s one of the best ultra-compact phones today, despite the growing attention of buyers looking mostly on larger phone models nowadays. I like the overall build quality, feel and design of the Xiaomi 12 as well as the compact form factor. Users who does not want a bigger smartphone will be interested on this device.
It boasts of a worthy high-end specs such as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, 67W fast charging, wireless charging, and speakers tuned by Harmon Kardon.
The picture quality of the rear and front cameras look good with nice details and colors are vibrant. We did snapped some few photos and shared how it will look but don’t worry we will get more pictures plus showcase the different shooting modes available on the camera app.
So, stay tuned for the full review coming in just a few weeks and more on the Xiaomi 12.
