“China’s Apple” as Xiaomi was once called, is most often known for high-end phones that undermine price competition. But the 12 Pro is different – a direct competitor to Apple and Samsung costs 49 1,049, which is so much, if not more, than the competitors. The icy gray back repels messy fingerprints and has a subtle glow that glows in direct sunlight. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian Definitely shows the piece. The 6.73-inch OLED screen is extremely bright, vibrant and sharp with a refresh rate of 120 Hz to keep everything smooth. The sides curve into a metal frame and a smooth glass back with a protruding camera piece in the upper left corner. The 12 Pro is a great phone, but it feels great, it is slightly lighter than some competitors and relatively easy to hold. There is a set of four speakers on the top and bottom of the phone, which are surprisingly good for a smartphone and are not as easy to lock with your hand when holding them as some competitors.
Standards
Screen: 6.73 inches QHD + OLED (522 ppi) 120 Hz Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 RAM: 12 GB RAM Storage space: 256 GB Operating system: Miui 13 based on Android 12 Camera: Triple rear camera 50MP: wide, ultra-wide, 2x telephoto lens. 32 MP selfie camera Connectivity: 5G, USB-C, wifi 6E, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2 and location Water resistance: none Dimensions: 163.6 x 74.6 x 8.2 mm Weight: 205g
Extremely fast charge but short battery life
The phone fully charges in just over 20 minutes with the 120 W power supply and the special “boost function”, but it gets very hot when it does. Normal fast charging operation takes about 30 minutes, which is still fast. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian The 12 Pro has the same top Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip as the Oppo Find X5 Pro, the OnePlus 10 Pro and most high-tech Android phones released in 2022 and it performs similarly, capable of handling demanding tasks and games with great capacity. Battery life is a bit short compared to competitors. The 12 Pro only lasted 30 hours between charges, while most phones last at least 35 hours. That included about two hours in 5G and active use of the screen for about four hours for mostly light tasks like messaging, browsing, music and taking some photos.
Sustainability
The on-screen fingerprint scanner is good, but not the fastest available on a smartphone. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian Xiaomi rates the battery for at least 800 full charge cycles, while maintaining at least 80% of its original capacity and can be replaced for about 12 £ plus work. The phone is generally repairable, with screen repairs costing around £ 180 plus labor. Its predecessor scored just four out of 10 in the iFixit repairability rankings. Xiaomi does not publish environmental impact assessments or offer marketing or recycling programs in the UK. The phone is not made from recycled materials.
Miui 13
The Miui 13 has many features and small additions, such as the sidebar that can be turned on, off, or customized to your liking. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian Miui 13 is the customized version of Xiaomi Android 12. It’s still a work in progress for the western markets, full of small differences and oddities compared to Samsung, Google and other common brands, and certainly not the best available Android version. It is highly customizable with options to change its appearance and function beyond what most competitors offer, from looking and working like an iPhone to the more traditional Android way. But it took a bit of menu searching and settings changes to work to my liking, and then it was pretty fast and appealing. Xiaomi will support 12 Pro, with software updates that include three major Android upgrades and a total of four years of phone security updates. This is one year longer than last year, but behind Samsung’s five years and more than six years of Apple support.
camera
The Xiaomi camera app is quite simple to use with many automatic, creative or manual functions preloaded and more available as downloads. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian The phone has three 50 megapixel cameras on the back and a very capable 32 MP selfie camera, which produces detailed photos, but to some extent predetermines artificial skin smoothing, unless you turn it off manually. The main camera is the best of the beam, producing sharp, detailed images with excellent color balance and exposure, even in high-contrast scenes. The low light output is strong and the video is also excellent. But ultra-wide and 2x telephoto cameras are also good with solid color and exposure as you switch between the three cameras. 2x zoom is weak compared to competitors, however, who often have 3x, 5x or even 10x optical zoom. Extending beyond 2x with digital zoom quickly becomes full of artifacts. Overall, the 12 Pro’s camera is generally very good, but disappointed by the limited optical zoom.
Price
The Xiaomi 12 Pro costs 49 1,049. For comparison, the Google Pixel 6 Pro costs 9 849, the OnePlus 10 Pro costs 99 799, the Samsung Galaxy S21 + costs 9 949, the Oppo Find X5 Pro costs £ 1,049, the Galaxy S21 Ultra costs £ 1,149 and the iPhone 13 Pro Max costs 49 1,049 £.
Verdict
The 12 Pro is Xiaomi’s latest attempt to get the best of Samsung and Apple at the top of the premium market, offering in some areas while lagging behind in others. Definitely the place to look, it feels great, it performs well and it has the fastest charge available right now. The camera is also very good, but does not have an extended optical zoom, limited only to 2x magnification, where others offer 3x or 4x for the same price. Xiaomi’s Miui software is improving, but it still feels enthusiastic. The biggest problems for the 12 Pro are the relatively weak battery life and high cost. The buyer just gets less with Xiaomi than with similar phones from OnePlus, Google, Samsung or Apple. Pros: good screen, top performance, extremely fast charging, nice design, good camera, good speakers, decent on-screen fingerprint scanner. Disadvantages: expensive, relatively short battery life, lack of extensive optical zoom for the camera, only four years of software support guaranteed, no official water resistance rating. The part of the camera protrudes slightly from the back, but creates a rather interesting feature in an otherwise smooth design. Photo: Samuel Gibbs / The Guardian
