Nobody can accuse Xiaomi of not trying to do things differently each year with its smartphones. Pushing its portfolio, the company in India has managed to reach flagship-level devices. Every year small but meaningful changes have been made to reach a new milestone — Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G. One expected the phone to have an exaggerated design; instead, verve and vigour reside inside. It’s a phone that looks deceitfully simple.
The most premium phone from Xiaomi has several things working in its favour while raising the level of competition at the top-tier level, competing with the likes of Samsung Galaxy S22+. The question is whether they have pulled it off as flawlessly as Samsung?
Big, bright and bold display
Like on any flagship phone, every department has been attended to, especially display and camera. There is practically no flagship feature missing on the display front, which is a 120Hz E5 AMOLED, 6.73-inch 2K, E5 panel. In short, E5 panel has good contrast ratio, saves a lot of energy and increases peak brightness substantially.
Xiaomi didn’t stop there — you get 480Hz touch sampling rate, HDR10+ support, a 10-bit display with LTPO 2.0. To put it in perspective, LTPO 2.0 helps with adaptive screen refresh rate while 480Hz touch sampling rate takes gaming to a new level. When you pinch out to zoom in while recording a video, there is a high degree of smoothness. The area where improvements can be made is colour calibration when editing photographs. For example, I correct a photo taking help of the display on Phone A and then post it on Instagram, the picture should look the same on Phone B, C and D. That kind of calibration is possible only on Samsung and Apple phones.
As important as the display is haptic feedback, which involves vibrations experienced while typing on the phone or playing games. Haptic feedback on this phone is among the best, thanks to the motor. Be it typing or unlocking the device or playing games, there is excellent feedback.
Xiaomi 12 Pro manages to capture a tricky aeriel shot, maintaining all the details
Good level of consistency
That Xiaomi is reinventing itself constantly is clearly seen on the camera front. Instead of varying megapixels on the rear cameras, it is all about 50MP. So, the main, ultra-wide and telephoto each come with 50MP power, ensuring a seamless performance. Thank goodness for the absence of macro.
The biggest feature in the camera department is motion capture and eye-tracking focus, both of which have been well implemented. The level of focus here is high and it helps while making videos. Motion tracking comes into play while documenting children or pets because of the high levels of movement. You won’t come away with unusable shots.
Having 50MP on each camera ensures colour science remains the same. Usually the ultra-wide camera is given a bad treatment and colours are not good enough. Not here. Also, night mode has been added to all three cameras. Regular photos, needless to say, come out well while portraits are quite good — sharp and with enough details.
What’s missing? I wouldn’t anything is badly amiss but on the front camera video maxes out at 1080p@60fps. That’s a substantial level on any other phone but we are talking about flagship here and the rear camera you can shoot 4K as well as 8K.
Processor and battery
Let’s talk about processor and battery, which go hand in hand. It’s always nice to know that the phone has the latest processor, which in this case is Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which we have seen on other flagship Android phones. Everyday tasks are managed without the phone heating up or stuttering. It’s flawless. Things get ever so slightly complicated while gaming for more than 30-40 minutes. Now, you can run every game Play Store has at the highest level of graphic setting but after 40 minutes of Genshin Impact you will notice the device warming up slightly, especially around the camera bump. Xiaomi cannot be blamed for this. Qualcomm has got it wrong when it comes to its latest processor — favouring peak performance over power efficiency. Working in favour of Xiaomi is the excellent cooling system that comes on the phone, keeping everything under control.
Next, battery. It’s a powerful device with a 4,600mAh battery. For those who use the phone sparingly, it’s a battery big enough to last the day but it could have been bigger because anybody buying a flagship phone will record more videos, play more games, do more video editing… all these tasks drain the battery. The good thing is that a 120W fast charger is in the box and it can power the phone up in 20-25 minutes. There is also AdaptiveCharge technology. In case the phone is charging while you’re asleep, the phone will pause charging at 80 per cent and one hour or so before you wake up (depending on the alarm), the phone will juice up completely. This is done to prevent battery damage.
Should you buy it?
Xiaomi has solved the problem of curved display by keeping the curve to a bare minimum, ensuring there are no accidental touches. After using this device, one will agree that Xiaomi can make flagship devices. The phone ensures that mid-segment Xiaomi users will not leave the brand when it comes to upgrading to a flagship phone. More the number of flagship options in the market, the better it is for consumers. Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G is about robust all-round performance.
Colours are slightly punchy
At a glance
Device: Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G
Price: Rs 62,999 (8GB+256GB)
High notes
• Flagship display
• Motion tracking and auto-focus are up to scratch
• Effective ultra-wide lens
• Superfast 120W charger in the box
Muffled notes
• No IP rating for dust or water resistance
• Battery could have been bigger