Content
- Video review
- Equipment and design
- Software
- cameras
- Performance and Benchmarks
- findings
Two-thirds of the Xiaomi 12 line-up introduced last year were unexpectedly compact smartphones, although Xiaomi hasn’t released any since 2019, when the Mi 9 SE came out. The younger of the two models turned out to be more interesting: the Snapdragon 870 under continuous load competes almost on an equal footing with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, its price is lower, and the lack of wireless charging is a small loss. But is everything so clear? Let’s take a closer look at Xiaomi 12X and try to answer this question.
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Specifications Xiaomi 12X |
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| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G | ||
| Firmware | Android 12 with MIUI 13 | ||
| Screen | 6.28″, 20:9, 2400 x 1080 pixels, 419 ppi, 120 Hz, 480 Hz touch, 1100 nits, 5,000,000:1, AMOLED, Gorilla Glass Victus | ||
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 , 7 nm CPU: 1 x A77 x 3.2 GHz + 3 x A77 x 2.4 GHz + 4 x A55 x 1.8 GHz GPU: Adreno 650 |
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| RAM | 8 GB LPDDR5 |
12 GB LPDDR5 |
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| ROM | 128 GB UVS 3.1 |
256 GB UVS 3.1 |
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| SIM and memory card | Two nano SIM cards | ||
| Camera | Triple Primary: 50 MP (-> 12.5 MP), Sony IMX766, 1/1.56″, f/1.88, 1 µm (-> 2 µm), OIS, 6 lenses, 24 mm EGF, 4320p video recording @24fps Wide-angle: 13 MP, f/2.4, 123-degree capture angle, 12 mm EGF, video recording 2160p@30fps Macro: 5 MP, f/2.4, focal length 3-7 cm, EFR 50 mm, video recording 1080p@30fps |
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| Selfie | Center hole , 32 MP (-> 8 MP), 0.7 µm (-> 1.4 µm), 80.5 degree capture angle, 1080p@60fps video recording | ||
| Battery | 4500 mAh | ||
| Charger | USB Type-C, 67W | ||
| Wireless interfaces | WiFi 802.11 6 Bluetooth 5.1 A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC |
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| NFC | There is | ||
| Biometrics | Fingerprint scanner (on screen) | ||
| Sound | stereo speakers | ||
| Waterproof | Not declared | ||
| Dimensions and weight | 152.7 x 69.9 x 8.16mm 176 g |
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Video review
Equipment and design
Xiaomi 12X comes in China with a very concise kit – a silicone case, a SIM needle and documentation. But, according to our data, the global version of the smartphone will have a full package – with 67-watt charging and a USB cable. But we have a Chinese version with an “empty” box on the test. The silicone case is not bad, with sides, but over time it will turn yellow and loosen – so look for a replacement for it for a long time.
Xiaomi 12X has three colors: black, blue and light purple. The third option, which I got to test, is very cool – unusual, calm, a little mysterious. But I haven’t seen the others live, so I can’t specifically recommend this 12X performance. Housing materials – aluminum and frosted glass.
The main thing in Xiaomi 12X is ergonomics. The feeling of compactness is enhanced by the neat circle of the ends, in which the curved screen flows smoothly into the aluminum frame, which flows into the glass back. In general, the smartphone resembles the Samsung Galaxy S21 or Meizu 18, winning in terms of convenience from most modern flagships. But putting it on a par with the iPhone 13 mini or Sony Xperia Ace 2 (this is a budget for Japan) is still not worth it, they are even smaller. Plus, the 12X is quite long (albeit shorter than most others), so if you want to easily reach the top of the screen, look elsewhere.
Let’s go through the ends, start from the bottom. There, from left to right, are a multimedia speaker, a USB Type-C port, a microphone, and a slot for two nano-SIMs. You heard right: the speaker is on the left. This means that when holding the phone horizontally to play games or watch videos, you will most likely cover it with your palm. And the top speaker too, because it is also on the left. But if you take it in your hands in some other way, you can feel a very good stereo, since the top speaker is only slightly inferior to the bottom one. There is also an infrared port and a microphone on top, a lock button and a volume rocker on the right, and empty on the left.
The 6.28 ″ screen has a completely standard resolution of 2400×1080 pixels and, as I said, is bent at the edges. The bend is small, far from a “waterfall”, so I won’t swear much. The refresh rate is 120Hz, but DC Dimming is only available at 60Hz, so I ran at a low frequency all the time. 24% with DC versus 42% with PWM), and at high it even increases if you turn on DC Dimming. But I was really more comfortable with the option turned on, so I preferred to lose hertz. Touch – 240 Hz in the interface and 480 Hz in games .
With Motorola Edge X30 (Edge 30 Pro)
And two more invisible components worth mentioning. First: the fingerprint scanner in the screen is reliable, but not very fast, since it is optical. Ultrasound was not even delivered to 12 Pro, alas. Second: vibration motor. He is great here, he can do a lot, and MIUI 13 contains a lot of gestures that accompany his work. MIUI Haptics is a theme.
Software
So we gradually moved on to the software side of Xiaomi 12X, but here, in principle, there is nothing interesting: MIUI 13 differs from MIUI 12 only in small things, such as the aforementioned Haptics. I didn’t find anything particularly interesting, so I just share screenshots and move on. The screenshots, alas, are in English, since there is no Russian language in the Chinese firmware – but Google Play is installed without problems, there is certification. You can use “Chinese” without problems if you are not afraid of unfamiliar words.
cameras
Xiaomi 12X is equipped with a triple camera. The main lens uses the popular IMX766 sensor (50 MP, 1/1.56″) and is equipped with an optical stabilization system. But the other two cameras came straight from … POCO F2 Pro: 13-megapixel wide without autofocus (OV13B10 sensor) and 5 -Mp telemacro camera with it (sensor S5K5E9) Well, at least they didn’t bring a 2-megapixel plug from POCO two years ago, and thanks for that.
In the early days of testing Xiaomi 12X (and all other devices in the series), we encountered the problem of fogging up the cameras in the cold, which made it almost impossible to take pictures. We informed Xiaomi about this problem, and the company was very surprised – no such cases were noticed in China, and more than a dozen such devices were found in Russia, however, intended for the Chinese market. But it is understandable – in most of China there is no cold weather, and in the north, in Manchuria, the air is usually very dry, which greatly reduces the amount of condensate. Most likely, the problem is caused by a violation of the conditions during the assembly and will be fixed for the international release, and besides, with normal use, it goes away on its own within a week. For example, we have passed and now we can evaluate the photo capabilities of a smartphone.
The main camera shoots very well. You might be able to get slightly better results with other smartphones, but it’s hard to find fault with the Xiaomi 12X. Even night shots in auto mode are good – IMHO, even better than in night mode. Only one shot of all that I took, I did not like – the phone could not cope with the reflection of the sun in the window. Shirik shoots well during the day, badly at night, but it will do in night mode. The Xiaomi telemacro camera is traditionally on top, you can take cool pictures. We praise it almost every time, just starting with POCO F2 Pro.
The 32 megapixel front camera is not bad, but I can’t especially praise it. Autofocus wouldn’t hurt her.
Video can be recorded at 4320p@24fps or 2160p@60fps on the main camera, 2160p@30fps or 1080p@60fps on the wide-angle camera, 1080p@60fps on the front camera, and 1080p@30fps on the macro camera (fun feature!). The main camera, thanks to OIS + EIS, shoots cool both during the day and at night, sound recording is also implemented with dignity. But the wide angle only works well during the day, and the same goes for the Steady Video Pro mode, which crops video from a wide-angle camera. Switching between the main camera and the wide camera is available, but the front camera and the macro camera shoot video only by themselves.
Performance and Benchmarks
The Xiaomi 12X is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 chipset, an improved version of the flagship chip from two years ago. Then, two years ago, a smartphone on a two-year-old chip (that is, on 845) would have been perceived very strange, but now I can only praise Xiaomi for this decision. After all, as we know, the well-implemented Snapdragon 870 is more powerful than most Snapdragon 888 implementations, and even with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 it can compete on equal terms, if we take into account not only performance, but also other factors, such as heating and measures to prevent it. . Benchmarks:
The situation in games is extremely simple – all games work perfectly. Yes, in the first minutes in Genshin Impact and a couple of titles similar in terms of resource consumption, models on 888/8G1 will be somewhat smoother, but then they will equalize. All other games are running great. And not only in terms of performance: here, high hertz is supported in a number of games, and the touch is very responsive (you just need to go into the settings and unscrew all the parameters to the maximum), and the stereo is good. In long gaming sessions, the phone noticeably heats up and drops brightness, but without discomfort. In general, if you are ready to play at 6.28″ – welcome.
Despite the compact and rather thin body, Xiaomi fit a 4500 mAh battery into the 12X. The results for autonomy are excellent – you can expect at least seven hours of screen time within 1.5-2 days of use. I can’t say more precisely because of the features of the MIUI interface; the most informative screenshot I have is 2:40 of the screen at 70% battery. In synthetic tests (60 Hz, 100% brightness, no sound), the results are as follows: in two hours of showing a video, the smartphone was discharged by 11%, in an hour in Shadowgun Legends – by 13%. Both are very good numbers, which are rarely seen in powerful smartphones. The combination of a large battery and a small but modern screen pays off.
We do not have a complete Xiaomi 12X charger, so we could not test the charge speed, saying that it all depends on what kind of charge you will charge it with. But, as I said, the global version will have a complete charger, and it will be the same 67-W unit as Xiaomi 12. And since we have Xiaomi 12 on the test, why not measure through its unit? Measured – 46 minutes. Not a record, but good. Half charged in 16-17 minutes, and this can last until the end of the working day.
The set of wireless communications is excellent: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, all possible navigation systems (literally everything : there is not a single civilian system that the 12X would not support) and even an infrared port. The Chinese version does not have all the LTE bands, so there may be problems with its use in Russia, but this will not affect the global version. However, there will still be difficulties with voice communication: there is again no proximity sensor, so the screen does not always turn off during a call (and sometimes turns off on the speakerphone).
findings
Good compact smartphones are now in short supply, but Xiaomi has made just such. Yes, I would like even less (after all, it is quite long, and you can’t call a weight of 176 g small), yes, at the start they messed up with fogging cameras, yes, not the best screen without full-fledged DC Dimming. But on the other hand, there is a powerful and stable filling, excellent autonomy, high-quality cameras and a nice design. The only question is the price: I don’t understand why in 2022 you have to pay almost the flagship price for a device that in many respects resembles the POCO F2 Pro (even without taking into account exchange rate fluctuations).
© Oleg Lazarev. mobile phone
