Best display and powerful performance
In the detailed test of smartphones by the German professional testing agency CHIP, the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro is in two aspects: its OLED display and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8Gen1 processor have performed best among the 204 smartphones tested so far, with a perfect score of 1.0. In addition, the excellent speakers are also commendable. However, dustproof and waterproof are not certified, the quality of the photos does not rise and fall, and the battery life is quite mediocre, which is not commensurate with a high-end mobile phone. Therefore, the price of thousands of euros is really a bit high.
merit
- The best display
- Optimal chip performance
- Excellent brand speakers
shortcoming
- Insufficient configuration
- Sometimes there is a problem with overheating
- Mediocre battery life
Assessment score
- Performance: 1.0 (Excellent)
- Configuration: 1.7 (Good)
- Battery: 2.4 (Good)
- Screen: 1.0 (Excellent)
- Camera: 1.4 (Excellent)
- Application: 1.0 (Excellent)
- Overall: 1.4 (Excellent)
- Price: From 889 euros (¥4699 in China).
- Value for money: very low
Ranked 31st on the 204 smartphone list
The test results are Chinese compared to the legend, and the ranking is outdated
The above sub-test results show that the three top Android flagship machines equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8Gen1, including Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro, Oppo Find X5 Pro and OnePlus 10 Pro, have fully reached the level of Apple's iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, so they have obtained a full score of 1.0; the display of Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro has also received a full score of 1.0, even better than the screen king Samsung (Galaxy S21 Ultra, S22 Ultra and S22+ displays were rated 1.3, 1.2, and 1.1, respectively), which is truly surprising.
A flagship phone with exquisite manufacturing skills
The manufacturing process of the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro is excellent
Overall, the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro is well-made, of high quality and noble in design. With its rounded edges, this medium-sized smartphone is perfect for holding in your hand. The logo on the top side shows that the speaker is from Harman Karton, and its sound is indeed good, worthy of the masterpiece. The rear triple camera is arranged in a flat rectangular module. The Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro is available in gray, black and purple colors, each with two memory capacities to choose from.
The fast Snapdragon delivers powerful performance, but sometimes overheats
Playing games is fine, but heat management can be done better
As the flagship of the new phone, the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro is equipped with the most powerful Qualcomm processor currently available, namely the Snapdragon 8Gen1, with 8 CPU cores and clock frequencies up to 3000 MHz. On running memory, you can choose 8 or 12 GB, where 8 GB of memory is also enough to run multiple applications at the same time. In the PCMark benchmark, the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro scored over 13,000 points, so it is definitely one of the best performing Android smartphones. It loads huge PDF test files quickly in 2.6 seconds. So, you don't have to worry about any stuttering when running a normal application.
In the 3DMark benchmark, however, the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro was a bit stuttered: in a single run, xiaomi achieved very good results, i.e. 77 frames per second, reaching the ideal state for a graphics-intensive game to run smoothly; but in several consecutive runs, 3DMark interrupted the test and reported an error because the device was overheating. Smartphones usually switch to a lower clock frequency when they reach a certain temperature to maintain a comfortable feel, but Xiaomi phones can be uncomfortable hot. The problems that existed in this previous model are obviously not solved. Still, playing games is no problem, but the thermal management doesn't exactly meet the requirements of high-end smartphones.
Excellent display very bright and clear
Adjustable display refresh rate
The Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro's OLED display is one of the best in the phones out there. The diagonal 6.7-inch screen has a resolution of 3200×1440 pixels and displays extremely sharp images with pixel densities of up to 521 ppi. The 20-to-9 format makes the screen ratio reach about 85%. Thanks to the 120 Hz refresh rate, the touchscreen reacts quickly and smoothly.
The maximum brightness measured by the lab is 1182 candela per square meter, which is at a very high level, ensuring that you can easily read even in direct sunlight. The 156-to-1 checkerboard contrast is also very good. The color space is perfectly represented: 100% coverage of the extended DCI-P3 color space, 152% coverage of the standard RGB color space. As a result, you will get bright colors, especially when playing HDR content.
May be waterproof, but not certified
There is a fingerprint scanner under the display
The configuration of the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro, while up to most standards, is not entirely satisfactory: with Wi-Fi 6, you get a fast wireless LAN (802.11ax), dual SIM slots are available for 5G, bluetooth 5.2, USB-C and NFC are also among them. In addition, Xiaomi also has a built-in infrared emitter as before, so that the phone can be used as a remote control. There is a fingerprint scanner under the display for biometric unlocking. Particularly flattering is the excellent sound quality of the four built-in speakers, which definitely does not live up to the name of sound expert Harman Kardon (printed on the top of the phone). In addition, the speakers support Dolby Atmos.
The Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro comes with 256 GB of internal storage (this model does not offer larger or smaller storage capacity), which does not have an SD card slot, so the memory is not scalable. Like the previous model, all slots on the Mi 12 Pro case are rubber-sealed, so the device is considered waterproof and dustproof. However, it is confusing why Xiaomi does not certify its dustproof and water resistance. In other words, Xiaomi lacks the IP68 protection that most high-end smartphones have – the highest level of waterproof and dustproof.
The quality of the photos is not as good as the previous generation
The Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro takes good photos, but not as well as its predecessor
The Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro's triple camera consists of a main camera, an ultra-wide lens, and a telephoto lens for zoom (all 50-megapixel sensors). A built-in optical image stabilizer helps improve image quality. When taking a photo with a 50-megapixel sensor, "pixel merging" is used by default, so the final photo is reduced to 12.5 million pixels. Of course, you can also change the default settings and abandon "pixel merge". The front camera is up to 32 megapixels, but unfortunately, Xiaomi once again does not provide a useful autofocus function for selfies.
Whether in good lighting conditions or in dim lighting, the photo quality is at a good level, but the sharpening effect in the later stages is obvious. In terms of the clarity and detail of the photos, the Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro does not reach the level of the previous generation. You can shoot 8K video at 24 frames per second with the main camera. If the resolution is lowered, it can reach 60 frames per second. You can also achieve super slow motion recording at 480 frames per second.
The battery life was pretty bad, but it charged quickly
It takes less than 30 minutes to fully charge the battery
The energy efficiency of Snapdragon's latest high-end processor is not good, which affects the endurance of many mobile phones. The Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro is no exception, with a battery of up to 4600 mAh not meeting the expectations of test engineers: in a standard test with a fixed screen brightness, the Xiaomi lasted 09:15 hours. This is quite a bad performance for a high-end smartphone. However, Xiaomi partially makes up for this with its fast charging feature: the included 120-watt "supercharger" takes only 28 minutes to fill up the depleted battery. Of course, you can also charge the device inductively.
Test Summary: (Too) expensive flagship machine
The Xiaomi Mi 12 Pro, which has 256 GB of storage and 12 GB of running memory, is listed for around 1150 euros. The version with 8 GB of RAM is slightly cheaper. This means that Xiaomi is asking for the same price for its new flagship as Samsung, Oppo or Huawei. However, the price is really (too) high compared to its performance, because the powerful alternative is 400 euros cheaper than it.
Test data sources
Comparative & Objective Testing in Europe for Safety & Trust e.V. (COTEST) Collects Tests to Seek the Truth (COTEST) / Quality and Safety European Testing Association (COTEST) Poly Testing for Truth...