The Xiaomi 12T Pro is the first 200MP camera phone from the company that has brought us the My Note 10, which was the world’s first 108MP camera phone. Xiaomi has also released the Xiaomi 12s Ultra, one of the first phones to arrive with a 1-inch sensor. Now, in this case, Motorola has surpassed them, as its excellent Edge 30 Ultra was the first to have a 200MP camera. That said, that doesn’t mean that the Xiaomi 12T Pro is an eye-catching alternative.
At a lower price than the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra, the Xiaomi 12T Pro still packs flagship power thanks to a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip, a 120Hz Fluid AMOLED display, a large 5,000mAh battery, and powerful 3000mAh charging. 120W wired.
Xiaomi has made cuts to be able to sell the Xiaomi 12T Pro at this good price, and it has done it specifically in design, compared to the Xiaomi 12 Pro. The Xiaomi 12T Pro, which was launched together with the Xiaomi 12T, has a plastic frame and a flat screen, instead of metal and curved glass. Its secondary cameras are also relatively weak on paper, with low resolutions and smaller sensors.
But can the 12T Pro be up to the job of attracting people looking for a cheaper alternative to the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra, or will it fail due to undercutting?
We were able to try it and we will tell you what we think.
Xiaomi 12T Pro: price and availability
The Xiaomi 12T Pro is available in Spain in three variants: 8GB+128GB, 8GB+256GB, and 12GB+256GB, and its price is €749, €799.90 and €849.90 respectively. This means that it is good value for money compared to other competing devices at that price point.
The Xiaomi 12T Pro will go on sale on October 13 but you can book it now, and if you do it by October 12 you can have the Redmi Pad tablet as a gift, worth €329 (if you buy it on the Xiaomi website).
It should be noted that although Xiaomi Spain has said in its press release that there is this lower variant of 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, it is currently not available on its official website or Amazon.
Xiaomi 12T Pro: design
If you have had the opportunity to use the Xiaomi 11T Pro, you will remember its silver and glossy finish. It was a fun design, but not a particularly refined one, and that’s something that has changed in the Xiaomi 12T Pro. The new model has a curved glass back with a frosted finish that subtly diffuses light and where fingerprints don’t stick too quickly.
The Xiaomi 12T Pro is relatively large, with its 6.7-inch screen, and it’s not light, weighing 205 grams. However, compared to the 240-gram iPhone 14 Pro Max, it’s manageable.
Despite looking like a flagship when you look at it from behind, the fact is that when you have the mobile in your hand, you will be impressed by its plastic frame and flat screen, which instantly detract from the premium look. Next to the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra, it looks less refined, even if it looks more robust.
At the base of the phone, there is a USB-C port and a slot for the two SIM cards. All buttons are on the right side, and there is an infrared emitter at the top. The phone has speakers on the top and bottom that deliver sound tuned by Harmon Kardon, and on the back is the prominent camera module.
Xiaomi 12T Pro: display
With its 6.7-inch screen and 20:9 aspect ratio, the Xiaomi 12T Pro is a large mobile. It has a selfie camera at the top center of the screen, and there’s also a pre-installed screen protector, sitting atop a flat-screen protected by Gorilla Glass 5.
Xiaomi has not provided the 12T Pro with a 120Hz screen. It is an AMOLED dot display with an adaptive refresh rate that automatically switches between 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz, and 120Hz which is promising from a battery-saving perspective. It also benefits from a 480Hz touch sampling rate, so it’s a great responsive display and should make the 12T Pro an ideal phone for mobile gamers.
The truth is that the only thing that doesn’t convince us about the Xiaomi 12T Pro screen is its brightness level. With a maximum limit of 500 nits when set manually and 900 nits in high brightness mode, it falls behind several rivals in the market.
However, with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ credentials, plus an in-display fingerprint reader, the 12T Pro’s display has enough flagship flourishes to make it stand out.
Xiaomi 12T Pro: cameras
The most notable feature of the Xiaomi 12T Pro is its 200MP camera, and that’s pretty impressive, both on paper and in practice. At 1/1.22-inch in size, its sensor is physically larger than the new primary sensor in the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is very shocking and impressive given the price difference between the two phones.
A large sensor usually means better low-light photography, as well as shallow depth of field, and in the short time we’ve spent with the 12T Pro, it ticks the box for the latter. Your photos of objects less than 40cm away are loaded with beautiful background blur.
Going more into the specifications, the main camera sensor of the Xiaomi 12T Pro is a Samsung ISOCELL HP1 with pixels with a size of 0.64 microns. If you understand cameras, it may seem small (and that’s not good), but given the huge number of pixels on the sensor, the system is capable of combining 16 pixels into one (via pixel-binning) to create one huge super-pixel 2.56 μm, which allows you to take high-quality 12 MP photos.
The main camera lens has an aperture of f/1.69 and a field of view of 85°. More impressive is the fact that the Xiaomi 12T Pro’s main camera incorporates OIS (optical image stabilization) and can record videos in up to 8K resolution.
Xiaomi 12T Pro: Software
The Xiaomi 12T Pro runs Android 12 out of the box, with the MIUI 13 customization layer, so anyone who has used a Xiaomi, Redmi, or POCO in the last 12 months will know what to expect from the 12T Pro’s new software.
The fact that the phone runs Android means app support is excellent, and you can expect a basic level of security from Google. Unlike Huawei phones, Xiaomi 12T Pro comes with Google Play Store so you can easily download any app you want.
Xiaomi rounds out the Android experience with a UI that borrows some elements from iOS, like the Control Center and adds other features to the mix too, like a virus scanner that runs whenever an app is installed.
Although it is clear that Xiaomi intends to place more value on its interface, those who like a rather simple interface may prefer the iPhone’s iOS system or the stock Android (the purest) over the Google Pixel or Motorola phones. The Xiaomi 12T Pro can be updated to the latest Android version, Android 13.
Xiaomi 12T Pro: Performance
In Spain, you can buy the Xiaomi 12T Pro with 128GB or 256GB of storage, which gives you plenty of room to store all your files, photos, games, and more. On the other hand, you can opt for 8GB or 12GB of RAM, which will let you multitask smoothly.
Another eye-catching spec is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip that powers the 12T Pro. It’s the same processor found in the ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro; what are our favorite gaming phones today?
The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is much better than the original 8 Gen 1 when it comes to heat management, which could make the 12T Pro the best Xiaomi phone for gamers.
Xiaomi 12T Pro: Battery
With a 5,000mAh battery, the Xiaomi 12T Pro should guarantee a full day of charging without problems, especially considering the relatively low brightness level offered by the phone.
With super-fast 120W wired charging, Xiaomi claims you can charge the 12T Pro in just 19 minutes, plus you’ll find a fast charger in the box. The one thing we’ve been missing here is wireless charging, but if the idea of having a battery that lasts all day and being able to recharge in a matter of minutes is all you care about, look it up. Xiaomi 12T Pro should be your best option.
Xiaomi 12T Pro: first verdict
Our first impression is that the Xiaomi 12T Pro is a banger for money, thanks in part to its 256GB storage capacity for €799.99 and the power of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip. Now, it’s not cheap and some cuts have been made. For example, it doesn’t have wireless charging and its plastic frame along with a flat screen doesn’t make it look as premium as phones with curved screens and metal frames.
It should be noted, however, that the photographic system can be improved: the ultra-wide angle and the macro are, on paper, between mediocre and poor. That said, the 200MP main camera could make up for everything else; any image defects. It has a massive sensor size, and very high resolution, and after our first few tests, it delivers very powerful results.
We think the Xiaomi 12T Pro will be a great gaming phone and an affordable option for anyone who wants to take some great photos with the main camera. Additionally, Xiaomi’s photo processing is generally more natural than Motorola’s, so we’re optimistic that the 12T Pro will also be an excellent camera phone.
