Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro Officially Announced, Both Sporting Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and 50 MP Main Cameras

Xiaomi has just announced three new smartphones, two of which happen to be cutting-edge flagships: the Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro! The third one — the 12X — while still powerful and exceedingly beautiful, isn’t nearly as alluring as its more potent brethren.

These three devices are the best Xiaomi has to offer at this point in time, and they’re all targeting noticeably different demographics: the first two are for those looking to get the latest and greatest piece of tech, whereas the third one is geared more towards the “budget-conscious” among us and those who are content with sporting an SoC that’s nearly one year old at this point.

Flagships Through and Through

These oft-leaked smartphones have now officially been unveiled and, needless to say, they’re a sight for sore eyes. Both will feature Qualcomm’s bleeding edge Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC and the exact same design, but that’s basically where their similarities end.

The biggest and most obvious difference is the size: the 12 has a fairly compact 6.28″ screen (OLED, 120Hz) whereas the 12 Pro comes with a 6.73″ LTPO AMOLED display with a variable refresh rate (1Hz—120Hz). The whole user experience will basically be the same but the 12 Pro is all but guaranteed to last longer on a single charge because of its ability to adapt based on what’s happening on screen.

It’ll also come with a slightly better camera system, a physically larger battery, and faster charging — 67W vs. 120W. This, in addition to a higher resolution display means it’s the better phone across the board, but it’s not like the regular Xiaomi 12 is unimpressive or insufficient in any which way. Far from it!

The Xiaomi 12 will also feature the well known Sony IMX 766 50 MP main sensor (with OIS) along with a 13 MP ultrawide and a 5 MP tele-macro (50mm). The 12 Pro, on the other hand, will feature a whopping three 50 MP cameras! We can only imagine the mind-blowing photographs this particular device will be able to make, although it’s safe to assume that it won’t be nearly as capable when it comes to shooting video.

There’s still no word on global availability and pricing, but the Xiaomi 12 starts out at CNY 3,699 ($581) in China and goes all the way up to CNY 4,399 ($691) if you opt for the 12GB/256GB variant. The 12 Pro is, naturally, a lot more expensive — it starts out at CNY 4,699 ($738) which, in all fairness, is still pretty darn cheap given its bleeding edge internals, stellar camera system, and jaw-dropping screen!

12X — Cheaper, But Still Sufficient

If we were to judge the Xiaomi 12X based solely on its outward appearance, it’d be nigh impossible to discern any kind of difference compared to the regular Xiaomi 12. What is different, however, is the SoC packed within its enclosure: it’ll sport the Snapdragon 870 5G instead of the novel 8 Gen 1. That’s not necessarily a bad thing seeing how the SD870 is still mighty capable and is, in fact, more evenly balanced than its more powerful brethren.

It doesn’t run nearly as hot and yet delivers a very similar experience, both on the daily and in gaming workloads as well. And, better yet, it’ll go on sale for a very acceptable CNY 3,199 ($500), making it one of the most alluring mid/high-end options on the market.

All three devices are expected to go on sale globally in Q1 2022.