Xiaomi 12T Pro review: Much more than a 200 MP camera

On this occasion, Motorola has won the game by launching its excellent Edge 30 Ultra a few days ago, preventing the new phone from the Chinese brand from being able to boast of being the first smartphone with this gigantic resolution sensor among the details of its data sheet. But that does not mean that it does not have another incentive such as being the cheapest phone that mounts a camera with these characteristics.

Still, we can’t just look at the camera, because the smartphone, despite the fact that it doesn’t change much more than its predecessor, has a really amazing list of specifications. Proof of this is found in its processor, the best manufactured by Qualcomm to date and with plenty of power, in an ultra-smooth 120 Hz AMOLED screen , in its large 5,000 mAh battery and in a 120 W cable charge .

With these characteristics, we are facing a top of the range of the firm , cheaper than the Xiaomi 12 Pro but with equally cutting-edge features. It is put on sale in Spain starting at 799 euros and few smartphones are capable of overshadowing the team. Let’s not forget that the Pro model launches alongside the 12T, which has a plastic design, a lower resolution camera and a less powerful MediaTek processor.

Is the phone’s camera as spectacular as it can be guessed by its technical characteristics? Can the smartphone with everything? Is it true that it loads so fast? All these doubts and many more are what we are going to solve in this analysis of the Xiaomi 12T Pro.

Full features of the mobile and price

We have already advanced some of the features of the phone, but in this table you can see at a glance everything that the company’s new high -end offers.

The Xiaomi 12T Pro launches in Europe with different memory configurations. On the one hand, we have models with 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of storage, and on the other, a more powerful version with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal memory.

In Spain we can buy the Xiaomi 12T Pro with 8 + 256 GB for 799.99 euros and the model with more RAM for 849.99 euros.

If you hurry up and pre-purchase the phone, you get a Redmi Pad tablet as a gift (valued at 329 euros in its 4GB RAM + 128 GB storage version) from October 4 to 12.

Changes with the Xiaomi 11T Pro

Before going on to analyze the device in its entirety, it is appropriate to highlight what has changed and what remains the same between the smartphone and last year’s model.

As you can see in the table , the dimensions are somewhat smaller in the newer phone, despite the fact that the size and features of the screen are the same. Both mobiles have a 6.67-inch 120 Hz AMOLED panel, although in the case of the Xiaomi 12T Pro we have a slightly higher resolution that implies a higher pixel density.

The battery is also the same , with 5,000 mAh and 120W charging on both phones. Of course, the new processor of the recently presented phone allows you to enjoy a slightly higher autonomy.

As for the connectivity options, we see that the two terminals are well loaded with NFC, GPS, 5G, WiFi6, Bluetooth 5.2 and everything you need for day to day.

The first big change is in the hardware of the device , where we find two Qualcomm processors, but a jump of two generations between them. This makes the 12T Pro more powerful and more efficient.

The second difference is in that 200 MP sensor that replaces the 108 MP lens present in the Xiaomi 11T Pro camera. We are talking about a sensor with almost double the resolution that helps us to get better photographs both during the day and at night. the night. In addition, we cannot forget that this main sensor has OIS, which allows us to enjoy greater speed when it comes to focusing and giving life to better videos. The bad thing is that the rest of the sensors do not accompany and the Ultra wide angle is the same as last year, the macro being a lower resolution sensor. Sacrifices that must be made to be able to boast of the latest of the latest.

Finally, we cannot forget the cost of the device. The most basic model last year cost 649.99 euros, while this year the version with 8 + 256 GB of memory costs 150 euros more . It is the price, forgive the redundancy, that we have to pay for being able to boast of key technologies such as the camera and the processor and live in a time where inflation is so rampant.

Analysis of the Xiaomi 12T Pro

Once we know everything that the smartphone offers and what are the changes that the device integrates with respect to its predecessor, launched a year ago, it is time to know how these specifications behave in real life and what is the best of the smartphone, as well as in which sections it falters.

Slightly updated design

If what you want is to know first-hand what the new Xiaomi smartphone looks like, go to a store of the firm and take a look at the Xiaomi 12 and the Xiaomi 11T Pro (or well, since you’re there, check it out for yourself) .

At first glance, the phone is very similar to the firm’s top of the range , maintaining clean lines and the large camera module seen in the rest of the family. Of course, although they weigh the same (205 grams) it feels somewhat rougher and its casing does not have the same premium materials as the more expensive model. The back has been developed with an anti- glare glass that prevents fingerprints from sticking to it and can be purchased in a range of three fairly discreet colors (black, silver, blue).

Although in hand the Xiaomi 12T Pro is heavier than we would like, the truth is that it holds well in the hand, but its flat OLED screen makes the edges of the front part more accentuated than we would like. On the right side we have the power and volume button, at the top is one of the speaker grills and the IR sensor, with the other grill, the USB-C connector and the SIM tray located at the bottom of the 12T. Pro .

Don’t expect to find either a headphone jack on the phone or a MicroSD card slot . Nor is it a great misfortune, since, as we have said, in Spain the two models with more capacity will be sold, that is, with 256 GB. With so much space available, we doubt that you will miss the possibility of expanding the memory.

We do not forget the screen, which is perforated, as in almost all the manufacturer’s phones launched on the market this year, and which has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the front, so you must be sure that it does not it will scratch easily

Higher resolution screen

Do you like curved screens? The Xiaomi 12T Pro panel is not based on these. If you prefer a high-quality flat panel , the brand’s smartphone meets everything you’re looking for.

We are facing one of the mobiles that join the fashion of showing flat screens, but maintaining a certain curvature in the back cover. This means that, as we said before, the smartphone grips quite well. The 12T Pro has a 6.67-inch AMOLED display that’s almost identical to last year’s, save for its higher resolution of 2,712 x 1,220 pixels . It has a good level of contrast and a maximum of 1200 nits in its highest brightness mode, which means that it can be viewed without much problem both outside and inside the house. The viewing angles are quite good and the 120 Hz refresh rate still seems perfect for a terminal with these characteristics. To this we add a 480 Hz touch response system that means that touches on the glass are responded immediately in applications.

The mentioned rate of 120 Hz is adaptive, but not as much as we find in other smartphones, where it can be lowered to a minimum of 1 Hz when we see still images. Here the minimum is 30 Hz, which should help squeeze a little more life out of the battery.

The series look good, the games look great and the multimedia section is complemented by Harman Kardon sound , with Dolby Atmos-certified speakers that are somewhat noisy, but without distorting what we are seeing.

Awesome 200 MP camera

We arrived at ‘the mother of the lamb’. The rear camera housing, again rectangular, is where you’ll see the biggest change for the 12T Pro, with a mark warning that the phone boasts a 200MP lens. just like this sensor is impressive, the 8MP Ultra Wide is the same as last year, and the 2MP Macro sensor is worse than the 11T Pro’s 5MP. Too many sacrifices to house the sensor? so high resolution? Let’s talk about him.

We are facing a 1/1.22″ Samsung ISOCELL HP1 size sensor that works with a 2x zoom on the screen . We’ve tested it in every possible situation and it delivers fantastic, detailed photos that look amazing anywhere, anytime. And it is that not only during the day we are going to get spectacular scenes, since at night the mobile behaves really well. Thanks to the 16-in-1 super pixel technology, the 8P lens, the OIS (much appreciated) and the Xiaomi Night mode, you will realize how easy it is to take photos when the light falls without the need for a tripod.

Of course, we’re still talking about the 200 MP main camera, focusing precisely where it’s needed, capturing lots of detail with good color and sharpness , and coming very close to smartphones costing $400 more.

On the opposite side of the scale we have that UGA + macro combo which doesn’t add much to the experience . It is true that with good light they offer acceptable results, but when night falls it is better that you forget about them. It is better to move away a bit to get a larger field of view with the main sensor than to force the machine and get worse results just for comfort. And with the macro, three quarters of the same thing happens.

The results of the front camera are also good , since the brand is becoming more western and stops forcing the machine so much in its beauty mode for selfies. We can blur the background, focus on the details and not apply such an aggressive treatment to our face as in other brand phones.

As for video recording, it is very good in favorable lighting conditions, with image stabilization that works effectively even in 8K or 4K resolution at 60fps. Of course, we can record in slow motion as long as we reduce the recording quality to 1080p and make use of the many creative modes present in the phone, such as the possibility of recording short clips to upload to social networks, the Vlog mode to alter the colors of the scene, the dual video options to record with the two mobile cameras at the same time or tools of the Xiaomi 12 such as the continuous focus of the moving subject.

Same battery from last year

Here the only change we find in the phone is given by the processor. The Snapdragon 8 + Gen 1 is more efficient than last year’s phone and, thanks to this, the duration of the smartphone on is longer, approaching 14 hours. But the cell is still 5,000mAh and charging is still 120W . And, despite the fact that it is from last year, it is still amazing, since it has the ability to go from 0% energy to 100% in just 21 minutes , which is something amazing especially when cell phones have just been launched on the market. almost 2000 euros that are charged at less than 30W.

Of course, it is a function that is most appreciated when you have to quickly charge your phone before going out, especially if you have forgotten to charge it during the night, which is when, in general, we all connect the mobile to the power and these figures they become less spectacular.

In the box you will find the aforementioned 120 W charger along with the charging cable, which is very welcome at a time when the big brands choose to do without these accessories. What you are not going to find anywhere is wireless charging, which is still reserved for the company’s most ‘top’ phones.

Exaggerated performance

You have already seen it in the specification table. The Xiaomi 12T Pro works with the latest and best mobile processor from Qualcomm, that is, the Snapdragon 8 + Gen 1. We are talking about a chipset that has already proven its good performance and is capable of reaching the highest scores in benchmarks such as Antutu or Geekbench. In fact, it is in sixth place in the reference test par excellence, not bad.

Even though it still gets hotter than desired, it never gets to the heat issues encountered with the immediately preceding processor, so this is an extremely capable CPU, enough to handle just about anything we run on the phone. without major problem. We’ve played CoD Mobile keeping a dozen apps open in the background and haven’t encountered any issues . Interestingly, Google Chrome has been closed on a couple of occasions.

As we have said, you can choose to buy the phone with 8 or 12 GB of RAM, but the storage will always be the same in Spain, 256 GB. The good thing about having so much space available is that you can dedicate part of it to converting it into virtual RAM from the MIUI 13 memory settings.

And speaking of the phone’s operating system… it’s still based on Android 12 , which is appreciated, but there’s a lot of bloatware installed by default on the device, something that’s quite common for the firm. There are many apps that may not interest you on the home screen of the mobile as soon as you turn it on, but it is not that it takes too long to eliminate them.

Our opinion

Unlike our first impressions with the device, where we hardly had time to test the smartphone, now we have been able to spend a long time with the Xiaomi 12T Pro in our hands. Thanks to this we can say that it is a very, very recommendable terminal, especially for those who want to work or play with their mobile.

Its power is beyond doubt and having one of the best cells, both in terms of capacity and charging speed, is a wonder. If we add to this a high-quality screen to view our content and incentives such as that 200 MP main camera , perfect for taking photos in any light situation, we can hardly criticize the terminal since it costs much less than other top of the range that exceed the 1000 euros, long.

But not everything shines the same. For example , we miss a wireless charging system that allows us to forget about cables when charging the device, even if it is slower. Similarly, while its 200 MP sensor is very eye-catching , the Ultra Wide and Macro lenses that flank this main lens fall short of expectations. They are a couple of steps below in terms of quality and performance and it shows that both components have had to be cut in order to boast the 200 MP camera.

If we overlook these two drawbacks, you have a smartphone that will last you many years, with the ability to take great photos day and night, with which you can play for hours and hours and that you can charge in a sigh. Is there someone who gives more?