After last year's Mi 11 Ultra, Xiaomi has taken a very different route for their current gen flagship, the 12 Pro. Unlike the 11 Ultra which boasted an outlandish spec-sheet, the numbers don’t tell the story when it comes to the 12 Pro. Yes, it is still powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 but that aside, there isn’t a lot by way of an Ultra-level phone. And maybe that’s because there might be a 12 Ultra on the way. But until then, the 12 Pro is the company’s flagship. The phone is built like a flagship when it comes to the quality of materials used and the construction. The metal rails on the side hold the 6.73-inch Corning Gorilla Glass 5 panel and the curved glass on the back. Overall, the phone feels premium to the touch while the matte finish resists fingerprints to an extent.
The camera module is metal and that stands out on the glass back. The display, as has been the norm with recent Xiaomi flagships, is outstanding registering 522ppi when it comes to sharpness. The 120Hz display rate along with the 480Hz sampling rate ensure that responses are quick as well. LTPO 2.0 means that the refresh rate can go as low as 1Hz saving battery in the process. The 12 Pro has a 4600mAh battery and comes with a 120W fast charger (along with support for 50W wireless charging) which is great to have. Battery life is excellent too. Performance is on par with its flagship rivals. Thankfully, there is no thermal throttling here even during extended gaming sessions playing Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9: Legends. A noteworthy addition here, when compared to other flagships, is the four-speaker setup in the grilles above and below the display. Tuned by Harman Kardon, the audio quality of the 12 Pro is exceptional and makes it an all-round great device for watching videos on.
In the camera department, the 12 Pro has three rear-facing shooters and unusually, all of them are 50-megapixel units. Selfies are taken care of by a 32-megapixel sensor. The main camera of the 12 Pro is the first to use Sony’s new 1/1.28-inch IMX707 sensor, which is a step-up from the IMX766 that most 2022 flagships are sporting. Images from the main sensor have high levels of detail and good dynamic range in good lighting. The telephoto camera also did a good job when it came to close-ups with decent sharpness high levels of detail. Xiaomi has come a long way when it comes to portrait mode and the camera was able to cleanly cut hair strands from the background. The selfie camera and the ultrawide do an okay job but aren’t exactly class leading. To sum up, the Xiaomi 12 Pro doesn’t try to take on the Ultras of the smartphone world and makes a strong case as a flagship for most people.
