Xiaomi 12T Pro Review: 200MP camera, but so much more

Xiaomi’s well-loved T Series has two new members to add to the family – the Xiaomi 12T and the Xiaomi 12T Pro.

Introduced at Xiaomi’s Make Moments Mega global launch event that took place in Munich at the start of October, the two new devices cement the brand’s positioning of the T Series as a range of budget flagships with an emphasis on pro-grade camera capabilities.

Today, we’ve got our hands on the Xiaomi 12T Pro AKA the phone with the 200MP main camera that’s got people talking. Beyond the camera, the 12T Pro features a high-end 6.67-inch CrystalRes display, Harmon Kardon stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, a giant 5,000 battery with 120W HyperCharge, and more.

Sounds too gimmicky? Too good to be true? Let’s find out in our review.

Specifications

Body	163.1×75.9×8.6mm, 205g; plastic body, glass back, Gorilla Glass 5 front.
Display	6.67″ AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1220x2712px resolution, 20.01:9 aspect ratio, 446ppi, 1920Hz PWM dimming, 480Hz touch sampling rate.
Chipset	Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4 nm): Octa-core (1×3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 730.
Memory	128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
OS/Software	Android 12, MIUI 13.
Rear camera	Wide (main): 200 MP, f/1.7, 1/1.22″, 0.64µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120-degree, 1/4″, 1.12µm; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
Front camera	20 MP, f/2.2, (wide), 1/3.47″, 0.8µm.
Video capture	Rear camera: 4K@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
Battery	5000mAh; Fast charging 120W

In the box

Compared to most smartphone manufacturers, Xiaomi is pretty generous in terms of what they include in the package.

A 120W HyperCharge charger for the Xiaomi 12T Pro is included in the packaging along with a USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable and a nice transparent TPU case for the 12T Pro.

Design and build quality

The Xiaomi 12T Pro features a simple and classic design that hides no surprises. Standing at 163.1 x 75.9 x 8.6 mm, the phone weighs 205 grams, giving it a slight heft that feels good in the hands. The slightly-curved back panel also adds to the palm-friendliness of the device.

The back panel is also a little frosted, supposedly to keep fingerprints and dirt away. Unfortunately oil stains and fingerprints still appeared, so you might want to slap a case on the phone. Besides, you’ll want to cover the back with a case to hide the Xiaomi logo and product information printed at the back of the phone.

In terms of colours, Xiaomi decided to keep it classy with the 12T Pro. Available in Black, Silver, and Blue, each colour option comes with a matching camera island.

You’d not find any additional colour accents or hues on the phone. No colourful gimmicky designs, iridescent back panels, whatsoever – just a simple, classy design.

The rectangular camera configuration on the Xiaomi 12T Pro is similar to that of most Xiaomi phones. The camera bump is also not too jarring.

At the front, there isn’t anything to complain or rave about the design as well – you’ll find thin bezels around a flat display and a punch hole camera.

Overall, the simple and sleek design of the Xiaomi 12T Pro is matched by its solid build quality. However, eagle-eyed readers will find that the device does not have an IP-rating and its display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, a “downgrade” from the Xiaomi 12 Pro’s Gorilla Glass Victus.

Under the hood

Underneath the phone’s pretty design, the Xiaomi 12T Pro houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor that competes proudly with other leading smartphones. It can be ordered with either 8GB or 12GB of LPDDR5 memory, with the latter coming in versions with 128GB or 256GB of storage.

Controls and connectivity

The control scheme and layout of the Xiaomi 12T Pro is pretty straightforward. With no buttons on the left, the power button and volume rocker are on the right side of the device.

The 12T Pro has an optical under-display fingerprint reader that’s snappy and reliable. We have no complaints about the position and feel of the buttons and reader.

At the top of the device, you’ll find one of the two speakers, a secondary noise-canceling microphone and an IR blaster. At the bottom, you’ll find the other dedicated speaker, the main microphone, a Type-C port and the dual nano-SIM card slot.

In case you want to make a mental note of what’s missing, the Xiaomi 12T Pro does without a 3.5mm audio jack, expandable storage and a notification LED.

In terms of wireless connectivity, the Xiaomi 12T Pro supports 5G, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, as well as Wi-Fi 6.

Display and sound

The Xiaomi 12T Pro’s display is easily one of the phone’s best features. The device packs a giant 6.67-inch CrystalRes AMOLED display with a 2712×1220 resolution. Whichever way you view it, colours are rich, punchy, and vibrant. Blacks are deep and dark, and with a typical brightness of 500 nits and an max auto brightness of 900 nits, the phone gets plenty bright for daylight viewing.

The screen also supports Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and has adaptive HDR and reading modes. 

With a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, the 12T Pro’s screen is buttery smooth as you scroll snappily through your social media feeds. There’s also an adaptive refresh rate that switches between 30, 60, and 90 Hz to balance battery saving and smooth motion.

For those who are perpetually glued to their phones, this panel is worth considering for its SGS Low Visual Fatigue Certification. It also has an adaptive reading mode, which detects prolonged reading sessions so as to automatically reduce the amount of blue light coming from the display for more comfortable viewing.

The overall quality of this device is great too. The phone can get pretty loud, and speakers offer good mids for clear vocals. Coupled with the device’s Harmon Kardon dual speakers and Dolby Atmos support, the 12T Pro takes gameplay and Netflix binging to a whole new level of immersivity.

While some may complain that the speaker placements at the top and bottom of the phone may be hindered in landscape viewing, we feel that the “cupping” action from the hands serve to accentuate the audio quality of the phone.

Camera

The Xiaomi 12T Pro has a triple-camera setup on its back. One look at the specs sheet and you’ll find it has a mixed-bag of impressive and unimpressive specs. For starters, the 200MP primary camera is the star of the show, and it makes some big claims. Look further and you find a 8MP ultrawide, which is joined by a 2MP macro camera that’s almost anti-climactic. For selfies, we have a 20MP front camera with an f/2.24 aperture.

The camera app on the Xiaomi 12T Pro is familiar and easy to use. The system supports software upgrades for features like great portrait mode, excellent Night mode, and built-in beautify effects.

Xiaomi also offers creators a variety of vlog-based creation tools. By recording samples into a template and letting your phone combine them for you, you can quickly and easily create animated introductions to your vlogs. Additionally, there are a variety of eye-catching visual templates that can be used to quickly edit introductions and add eye-catching visual effects like cloning, slow motion, time-lapse, long exposure, and turning on both cameras for simultaneous video recording. A Xiaomi ProCut feature also aims to help you intelligently crop your photos.

Let’s see how the photos turned out in different modes and settings.

Daylight shots

The 12T Pro’s main camera’s daylight images have a somewhat recognizable Xiaomi aesthetic, with accurate color reproduction. Photos offer lot of detail and appear reasonably natural. There is little to no noise.

Overall, without switching to the Pro mode and changing the advanced options, daylight shots on the 12T Pro present vivid, rich and crisp photos.

We were also greatly impressed with the 200MP main camera. Snap a photo from afar and you can crop out and zoom in to see minor details in the background.

Just take a look at the example below:

You can read the words on the tiny signboard at the back (circled red), when zoomed.

Low-light shots

The Xiaomi 12T Pro has an Auto Night mode toggle that comes pre-enabled. So, low-light photos have Night mode processing applied by default in low-light settings.

With Night mode enabled, photos still appear natural-looking without overly dramatic brightening. Details remain sharp too. Night mode processing also does not take up much time – about a second per photo.

In an almost completely dark room, photos still turned out passable, although some details were lost, unsurprisingly.

Portrait shots

Portrait shots on the Xiaomi 12T Pro appear natural-looking with a nice default blur.

The only complaint we have is that Portrait mode only comes in 2X zoom – there isn’t an option for 1X zoom.

Close-up shots

The Macro mode on the Xiaomi 12T Pro is handled by a 2MP camera, so we weren’t exactly expecting much. Still, photos turned out decent, although they were a lot softer than we’d like. You’ll also need a great amount of light for decent shots.

Video recording

The Xiaomi 12T Pro can record video up to 8K in resolution at 24fps. In all resolutions and frame rates, stabilization is available, always on and works great. The same punchy colours from photos are apparent in videos as well.

There are also tons of fun modes to try out like this parallel world effect.

Battery

The Xiaomi 12T Pro comes with a large 5,000 battery which easily powers you through the day. If you do need to charge up the device, the phone’s 120W HyperCharger that comes in the box will be more than you need. We’re still slightly disappointed that there’s no wireless charging with this device, though.

Xiaomi claims that the phone will charge up to 100% in 19 minutes. On our test, our completely dead device took about 30 minutes to charge up to 92%. Not exactly like they claimed, but totally good enough. The phone also didn’t heat up in the process, perhaps thanks to its liquid cooling system.

Pricing and availability

Xiaomi 12T Pro comes with 12GB+256GB storage at an RRP of SGD1,099.

• Pre-orders are available from 6 to13 October at Xiaomi Stores, major Consumer Electronics Stores as well as 13 partners’ stores across Singapore.

• Customers who pre-order a Xiaomi 12T Pro can receive a Xiaomi Watch S1 Active (worth SGD229) and a Xiaomi Air Purifier 4 Compact (worth SGD159)

Pre-orders for the Pro version are also available via Shopee and Lazada starting from 5 to 12 October.

Pre-orders are also available at M1, Singtel and Starhub. Please visit their websites for more information and product availability.

Verdict

The Xiaomi 12T Pro is an incredibly well-rounded device. It checks a lot of the right boxes: It has an excellent display, great stereo speakers, an impressive camera array, quick charging, a solid battery life, a sleek design, and a high-performing chipset to match.

While there are some drawbacks, namely the lack of expandable storage, wireless charging and a proper IP rating, these aren’t dealbreakers for us. If the same goes for you, the Xiaomi 12T Pro is an easy recommend.