Xiaomi 12 Pro First Impressions: A Slim and Stylish Premium Smartphone

The Xiaomi 12 Pro seems like a solid contender in the premium smartphone segment.

By Sheldon Pinto | Updated: 27 April 2022 14:02 IST

Xiaomi 12 Pro First Impressions: A Slim and Stylish Premium Smartphone

Xiaomi's 12 Pro is priced from Rs 62,999 in India

Highlights

Xiaomi 12 Pro has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC
It looks and feels quite premium but lacks an IP rating
The phone supports 120W wired charging

Xiaomi's flagship smartphones have so far been about big numbers and bragging rights. Last year's Mi 11 Ultra (Review) was a perfect example of this. With the new Xiaomi 12 Pro, the company seems to have taken a more subtle approach to a flagship phone. The design of the 12 Pro appears more mature and refined, and there are no headline-grabbing numbers for the cameras or even battery capacity. Xiaomi claims to have worked on delivering better consistency instead. So does this slim and stylish premium smartphone from Xiaomi check all the boxes for a 2022 flagship? Let's take a closer look.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro is available in two variants. There's a base variant with 8GB of RAM priced at Rs. 62,999 and a second 12GB RAM variant priced at Rs. 66,999 in India. Both have 256GB of internal storage and there's no microSD card slot for expansion.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro's body has a slim metal frame sandwiched between two sheets of glass. The display uses Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus, and the back panel is made of Gorilla Glass 5. Both glass panels have curved sides, making it easy to grip this device. At 205g, the 12 Pro surprisingly does not feel too heavy.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro has a 6.72-inch WQHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz peak refresh rate

The 6.72-inch WQHD+ E5 AMOLED display has mild curves on the left and right. It has a 120Hz peak refresh rate that can drop down to 1Hz, thanks to the LTPO 2.0 technology. The display is also HDR10+ and Dolby Vision certified, which should make this phone well suited to streaming HDR video. There's also a quad-speaker setup that has been tuned by Harman Kardon.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro runs MIUI 13, based on Android 12. In my limited time with the phone so far, it seems to have most of the Android 12 features in place, but I did notice some preinstalled third-party apps.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, which has been used in nearly every recently launched flagship. There's also a 4,600mAh battery which Xiaomi claims can be fully charged in just 18 minutes when using the included 120W charger in Boost mode. The 12 Pro also supports 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro has three rear-facing cameras

The camera setup on the Xiaomi 12 Pro is unique because all three of its rear cameras have 50-megapixel sensors. The primary camera features optical image stabilisation (OIS), the ultra-wide-angle camera has a 115-degree field of view, and the telephoto camera enables 2X optical zoom. A 32-megapixel front-facing camera is in charge of selfies.

As a premium smartphone priced starting at Rs. 62,999 in India, the Xiaomi 12 Pro sure looks the part of a proper flagship. It seems premium and classy, but it's missing one important feature, which is an official IP rating for dust and water resistance. It's a little odd considering some of Xiaomi's budget phones do have IP ratings. This alone could be a deal-breaker for some buyers. I'm also interested to see how Xiaomi's Android 12 implementation compares to Samsung and OnePlus' flagships. If you are interested in this premium smartphone from Xiaomi, stay tuned for my full review, which will be out soon on Gadgets 360.

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Xiaomi 12 Pro

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Great build quality
Crisp 120Hz AMOLED display
Quick 120W wired charging
Powerful speakers
Good camera performance

Bad
No official IP rating
No macro camera or shooting mode
Gets hot while recording video

Read detailed Xiaomi 12 Pro review

Display 6.73-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1

Front Camera 32-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 50-megapixel + 50-megapixel

RAM 8GB, 12GB

Storage 256GB

Battery Capacity 4,600mAh

OS Android 12

Resolution 1,440x3,200 pixels

More Xiaomi mobiles Xiaomi mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Xiaomi, Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G, Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G price in India, Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G specifications, Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G design, Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G cameras

Sheldon Pinto

Email Sheldon Pinto

Sheldon Pinto is based in Mumbai, and has several years of experience in reviewing smartphones and gadgets. As a Senior Reviewer at Gadgets 360, you will always find him deeply immersed in his reviews, switching from one phone to another. When the battery dies out, Sheldon is always browsing the web for a good sci-fi movie or reading up on cars and bikes. He also loves creating lists of interesting places to eat and travel. Sheldon is available on Twitter at @shellshocd, and you can mail him at ...More