Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G review: Modestly priced all-round premium smartphone




continues to make strides in India’s premium smartphone segment, and it may have a winner this time. Case in point is the recently launched 12 Pro . From sleek design to power-packed performance and versatile imaging system, the 12 Pro has everything one expects from a premium flagship smartphone. There is a lot to like about the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G, but do things look good because of its starting price of Rs 62,999 (8GB+256GB)? Let’s find out:


Design





This is one area where Xiaomi barely shines, but the Xiaomi 12 Pro is an exception. Made of glass and metal, the smartphone has a premium construction. The glass on the front (Gorilla Glass Victus) and back (Gorilla Glass 5) has a two-sided curved profile with smooth corners and edges. The fine ergonomics are complemented by lightweight (205g) build that make the phone easy to handle and operate. Adding to the ease-of-use is the frosted texture on the rear glass panel that is resistant to fingerprint and smudges. That said, the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G handles everyday abuses without taking any dent or scratches. The only thing missing here is an ingress protection for water and dust resistance. Though Xiaomi said the ports and internals are sealed, and the phone is water and dust resistant equivalent to IP53, it is strongly advised not to intentionally put its ingress protection capability to test.


Display and audio


A good screen enhances overall user experience, and the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G has one. It is a 10-bit 6.73-inch 2K+ (3200 x 1400) LTPO 2.0 AMOLED screen of adaptive refresh rate (1Hz-120Hz), made of E5 material. It is one of the brightest screens with top-notch sunlight legibility and contrast. While the boosted brightness makes it easy to read in bright outdoor environments, the stellar contrast ratio enhances the overall experience – especially while watching high dynamic range (HDR) content. Speaking of HDR, the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G is among the few with support for Dolby Vision, besides HDR10+. Moreover, there is motion smoothing tech (MEMC), which interpolates additional frames to make content appear smooth and transitions lively. Rounding up the package is the 360-degree ambient light sensor and auto-colour calibration tech. The ambient light sensor automatically adjusts display brightness, and the auto-colour calibration tech adjusts the screen colour tone based on ambient lighting conditions. These value-added features come together to deliver a wholesome experience, which is on par with the best you get in any smartphone if not better.


Complementing the screen are the stereo speakers with dedicated woofer and tweeter at each side. The speakers are powered by Dolby Atmos and tuned by Harman/Kardon. Though clear and balanced, the speakers’ output is on the muted side. Yet, they are one of the best audio drivers in terms of audio quality simply because they handle lows and highs better than conventional stereo speakers do.


Camera


The Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G sports three cameras on the back, each of 50-megapixel resolution but different configurations. It is not new for a smartphone maker to use different sensors of the same resolution, but Xiaomi’s iteration is novel because it is geared for consistent experience. Here, the primary wide-angle sensor, ultra-wide-angle sensor, and the telephoto sensor have a focal length of 24mm, 14mm, and 48mm, respectively. The equivalent focal length ranging from 14mm to 48mm has benefits, but there are downsides too. It is because of the equivalent focal length the ultra-wide-angle sensor has a narrow field of view (FoV) of 115-degree wide. Likewise, it limits the telephoto sensor utility to portraits because the usable optical zoom peaks at 2x.


Details aside, the cameras are good and work well irrespective of lighting conditions. Importantly, there is a symmetry in colours, frame, and details across all three sensors. Therefore, the experience is consistent from the varied sensors of the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G. Complementing the performance are the tons of value-added imaging features such as Xiaomi ProFocus. This feature leverages computational imaging using artificial intelligence to keep the subject in focus, and it works for both photos and videos.  This feature is currently limited to the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G, and it works as intended. Aside from ProFocus, the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G gets all other imaging related value-added features of the predecessor such as 8K recording, HDR10+ recording, Short Video, Vlogs, Movie effects, etc.


Coming to the front camera, the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G has a 32MP sensor of an f/2.4 aperture. Like the rear cameras, the front camera gets a fair number of value-added features. It supports low-light portraits, beauty mode, portrait with depth control, and HDR10+ video recording. As for the performance, this sensor is good for selfies and video calls but not for portraits. Also, it peaks at 1080p videos at 60fps.


Performance


The Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 system-on-chip, paired with up to 12GB RAM (LPDDR5) and 256GB internal storage (UFS 3.1). It ships with Android 12-based MIUI13 interface. Be it smooth everyday experience, immersive multimedia experience, or playful gaming experience, there is no lack of performance for smooth overall experience. But, the phone heats up significantly and the performance throttles when used extensively for power tasks such as 4K video recording, playing graphic-intensive games, etc. This is common in powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.



Battery


The Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G is powered by a 4,600 mAh battery, which keeps the phone going for a day on regular usage with screen set to 120Hz refresh rate and dark mode enabled. The phone ships with a 120W fast charger, which takes about 25 minutes to power up the battery from zero to 100 per cent. The phone has a boost mode for charging in battery settings that is disabled by default. When enabled, it allows the charger to power up the battery from zero to 100 per cent in under 20 minutes. Besides fast wired charging, the phone supports 50W fast wireless charging. The phone also doubles up as a wireless charger to reverse charge wirelessly (10W) supported devices.


Verdict


The Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G is an all-round premium flagship smartphone. The phone cuts corners on a few things such as ingress protection, macro camera sensor, wired audio jack, etc. but compensates generously on other fronts to balance out the equation. That said, the Xiaomi 12 Pro 5G is not exactly an undersell but a modestly priced premium smartphone better than many of its peers.





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