After much waiting Xiaomi finally presented on Monday (4) the new Xiaomi 12S series, betting on superior performance thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip and even greater prominence for the major camera updates present exclusively in the powerful Xiaomi 12S Pro and Ultra.
the new trio of smartphones brings a few updates to the Xiaomi 12S and Xiaomi 12S Pro, which are basically the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro with the updated processor.
The real star of the presentation stands for the extremely powerful Xiaomi 12S Ultra with its huge 1-inch size main sensor developed by Sony, more crystalline lenses designed in partnership with Leica, and exclusive software features.
Xiaomi 12S
The big shared update for the entire trio of smartphones goes to the processor. All equipped with Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip, the Xiaomi 12S, 12S Pro, and 12S Ultra gain up to 10% in performance and graphics, and up to 33% greater energy efficiency.
The Xiaomi 12S comes to market offering even known Xiaomi 12 design, including a 6.28-inch AMOLED display with Full HD resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, and biometrics under the screen.
Its triple camera set adopts a new Sony IMX707 main sensor with the same resolution of 50 MP and size of 1/1.28 inch. The company still promises faster snapshots with up to 30 frames per second for sharper photos on the go.
The 13 MP sensors for the ultrawide lens and the 5 MP sensor for the macro camera remain, as well as offering a 32 MP front camera.
The device maintains the same battery capacity as the original model, with a 4,500 mAh cell and 67 W wired charging system support, and 50 W wireless recharging from 0% to 100% in just 39 minutes.
Xiaomi 12S Pro
With a 6.7-inch display, the Xiaomi 12S Pro also retains features of the already known model, including an AMOLED display with 2K resolution (3200x1440p) and a 120 Hz rate with intelligent variation for better energy consumption.
The rear camera module with three 50 MP sensors is maintained, one main, one for the ultrawide lens, and the other for the telephoto lens, with Xiaomi, also implementing the new Sony IMX707 sensor from the Xiaomi 12S.
Its 4,600 mAh battery supports even faster charging 120 W, going from 0% to 100% in just 18 minutes, according to Xiaomi. Wireless charging is maintained with 50 W of power.
In addition to the Xiaomi 12S Pro, the manufacturer presented a special and cheaper edition equipped with the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 Plus processor, a chip manufactured in the process of 4 nanometers from TSMC resulting in a 5% faster CPU and GPU 10% faster than the previous generation.
Leica Photo Styles
The partnership with Leica extends from hardware also to software, with Xiaomi implementing exclusive photography features including “Leica Authentic” and “Leica Vibrant” filters for unique colors.
Smartphones also offer the Leica watermark, where a large white stripe is positioned below the photograph revealing details of the capture.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
Xiaomi dedicated much of the beginning of the presentation to talking about the novelties in software and hardware related to photography, reinforcing the new partnership with Leica for an updated image system, Image Signal Processor (ISP) more efficient and intelligent, as well as an image adjustment via more accurate software and updated drivers to optimize energy and increase performance.
The new Xiaomi 12S Ultra debuts the Sony IMX989 sensor with 50 MP resolution and a huge size of 1 inch, so such a large camera module for the device.
With 8 lenses designed by Xiaomi and Leica, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra’s main camera reduces the flash of lights, makes the captures sharper even in night environments, and adopts the same photographic styles and four color filters with the Leica watermark.
In addition to the huge main sensor, Xiaomi takes to the 12S Ultra camera system with an ultrawide lens equivalent to 13 mm, a field of view of 128 degrees, aperture of f/2.2, autofocus, and resolution of 48 MP.
Also with 48 MP, the dedicated zoom sensor adopts a periscope lens for a greater approach range (up to 120x zoom), with a lens equivalent to 120 mm, f/4.1 aperture, and a combination of electronic and optical image stabilization.
The smartphone comes to market with IP68 certification for greater resistance against water and dust, in addition to adopting a large 6.73-inch screen with an AMOLED panel of 2K resolution, type LTPO 2.0 for intelligent variation of the refresh rate, ranging from 1 Hz to 120 Hz for better energy consumption.
Its battery has 4,860 mAh, smaller than the expected capacity of 5,000 mAh. Xiaomi explains that engineers had to balance the large camera module and still maintain a thin body and large battery.
For fast charging, the device has a wired recharge of up to 67W (which reaches 50% battery in 15 minutes), 50W wireless (40% in 15 minutes), and a reverse recharge of 10W.
Prices and Release date
The new smartphones arrive exclusively in the Chinese market, with no date confirmed for the international launch. Xiaomi bets on competitive prices for the entire trip, with the high performance and focus on cameras not affecting the values as many might expect.
The Xiaomi 12S series is exclusive to China, However, it added that the partnership with Leica “will have long-term impacts beyond the scope of this series, into Xiaomi’s international markets.”
Nevertheless, expect the Xiaomi 12S Ultra to start at 5,999 yuan (~$896) for the base 8GB/256GB model, all the way up to 6,999 yuan (~$1,046) for the top-end 12GB/512GB option.
Meanwhile, the Xiaomi 12S Pro will start at 4,699 yuan (~$702) for the base 8GB/128GB variant, topping out at 5,899 yuan (~$881) for the 12GB/512GB model.
The standard Xiaomi 12S starts at 3,999 yuan (~$597) for the 8GB/128GB model, reaching a maximum of 5,199 yuan (~$777) for the top-end 12GB/512GB option.
Xiaomi 12S: fact sheet
- Screen: 6.28 inches, 120 Hz rate, OLED, Full HD resolution (2400x1800p) and 419 ppi
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1
- Front camera: 32 MP
- Rear camera: 50 MP (main, IMX707, f/1.79) + 13 MP (ultrawide, f/2.4) + 5 MP (macro)
- Battery: 4,500 mAh
- Charging: 67W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse
- Extras: NFC, 5G, Wi-Fi 6, on-screen biometrics
- Available colors: black, pink, green, and white
- Operating system: Android 12 under MIUI 13 interface
Xiaomi 12S Pro: fact sheet
- Screen: 6.73 inches, 10-120 Hz, OLED, LTPO type, 2K resolution
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 or MediaTek Dimensity 9000+
- Front camera: 32 MP
- Rear camera: 50 MP (main, IMX707, f/1.9) + 50 MP (ultrawide, f/2.2) + 50 MP (depth)
- Battery: 4,600 mAh
- Charging: 120 W wired, 50 W wireless, and 10 W reverse
- ExtraS: NFC, 5G, Wi-Fi 6, on-screen biometrics
- Available colors: black, pink, green, and white
- Operating system: Android 12 under MIUI 13 interface
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: fact sheet
- Screen: 6.73 inches, Samsung E5 AMOLED LTPO, 2K QHD (3200x1440p), 1-120 Hz rate, peak 1,500 nits
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 with 5G
- RAM: 8 and 12 GB
- Storage: 256 and 512 GB
- Front camera: 32 MP
- Rear cameras: 50 MP (main, Sony IMX989, 1″, f/1.9, 8P, OIS) + 48 MP (ultrawide, f/2.2, 13 mm, EIS, OIS) + 48 MP (telephoto, 120x, f/4.1, OIS)
- Battery: 4,860 mAh with a Surge G1 chip
- Charging: 67 W wireless, 50 W wired, and 10 W reverse with a Surge P1 chip
- Operating system: Android 12 with MIUI 13
- Extras: IP68, biometric reader under the screen, Leica cameras, Bluetooth 5.2
- Dimensions: 163.1 x 74.9 x 9.06 mm
- Weight: 225 grams
