Xiaomi announced the 12, 12X and 12 Pro in China at the end 2021, launching in Europe in March 2022. Xiaomi has since expanded the range further with the launch of the Xiaomi 12T and 12T Pro, as well as Xiaomi 12S models - the 12S, 12 Pro and 12S Ultra.

The Xiaomi 12X and 12T sit at the bottom of the range, while the Xiaomi 12T Pro takes pride of place at the top from the most recent launch in Europe, with the 12S Ultra acting as the ultra premium hero for the Xiaomi 12 family - so there's now eight devices in the range.

But what's the difference between all these devices and which should you buy?

Price

The 12 Pro is the most expensive of the older devices starting at $999 / €1099.99 / £1049. The 12 comes in behind from $749 / €799.99 / £749 and the 12X is the cheapest of the three models, starting at $649 or €699.99. It doesn't look like the Xiaomi 12X is going to be available in the UK.

With the 12T series, Xiaomi took a very different approach, steering well clear of the price points dominated by the big name manufacturers. So despite being more powerful, they're cheaper than the 12-series at £499 for the 12T and £699 for the 12T Pro.

The 12S series hasn't launched outside of China, so there are no official prices for those in western markets.

Design

  • Xiaomi 12T Pro: 163.1 x 75.9 x 8.6 mm, 205g
  • Xiaomi 12T: 163.1 x 75.9 x 8.6 mm, 202g
  • Xiaomi 12S Ultra: 163.17 x 74.92 x 9.06mm, 225g
  • Xiaomi 12S Pro: 163.60 x 74.60 x 8.16mm
  • Xiaomi 12S: 152.70 x 69.90 x 8.16mm
  • Xiaomi 12 Pro: 163.60 x 74.60 x 8.16mm, 205g
  • Xiaomi 12: 152.70 x 69.90 x 8.16mm, 180g
  • Xiaomi 12X: 152.70 x 69.90 x 8.16mm, 176g

The Xiaomi 12, 12T and 12S series look very similar in terms of design, except for the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, which looks completely different.

Most models - apart from the 12T family - feature an aluminium frame with lovely soft curves and they all come with the same camera housing in the top left corner - so whether you're choosing the Xiaomi 12 or Xiaomi 12S devices, the looks are similar - except for the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. The 12T models have a plastic frame.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra has a leather-like back with a pronounced camera unit that sits in the centre of the phone at the top, dominating the design with a massive central lens, but with other lenses built into the design and all covered with protective glass. This is ringed with a 23-carat gold rim. It has an IP68 waterproofing rating.

On the other devices, the camera housing is rectangular and comprised of a large lens at the top, along with two smaller lenses and a flash, with each in a separate section, making for quite a nice design. You'll notice that the Xiaomi 12S models carry Leica branding, while the older Xiaomi 12 models and 12T series do not.

On the front, there is a centralised punch hole camera at the top of each of the displays, with all models offering an under-display fingerprint sensor.

The real takeaway on the design is that the Xiaomi 12, 12X and Xiaomi 12S are the same size, while the 12 Pro is larger and heavier - which also applies to the Xiaomi 12S Pro and Xiaomi 12S Ultra. The 12T and 12T Pro are practically identical. Most look the same, apart from the 12S Ultra which is different, with a much more premium design.

Display

  • Xiaomi 12T Pro: 6.67-inch, AMOLED, 2612 x 1220, Adaptive 120Hz
  • Xiaomi 12T: 6.67-inch, AMOLED, 2612 x 1220, Adaptive 120Hz
  • Xiaomi 12S Ultra: 6.73in, AMOLED, 3200 x 1440, Adaptive 120Hz
  • Xiaomi 12S Pro: 6.73in, AMOLED, 3200 x 1440, Adaptive 120Hz
  • Xiaomi 12S: 6.28in, AMOLED, 2400 x 1080, 120Hz
  • Xiaomi 12 Pro: 6.73in, AMOLED LTPO, 3200 x 1440, Adaptive 120Hz
  • Xiaomi 12: 6.28in, AMOLED, 2400 x 1080, 120Hz
  • Xiaomi 12X: 6.28in, AMOLED, 2400 x 1080, 120Hz

The Xiaomi 12T and 12T Pro are a little different to the other models, in that they don't offer an industry standard resolution. Instead, Xiaomi went with the unusual 2612 x 1220 resolution. Brightness hits a peak of 900 nits on these two. They're also adaptive up to 120Hz, although they can only switch between 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz.

The Xiaomi 12 and 12X and now 12S all come with a 6.28-inch AMOLED DotDisplay, offering a Full HD+ resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. The devices all offer a peak brightness of 1100 nits and they come with features like TrueColour, as well as a low blue light certification.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro, 12S Pro and 12S Ultra have a larger display, coming in at 6.73-inches, and it ups the resolution to Quad HD+ at 3400 x 1440 pixels. It is also slightly brighter at 1500 nits (max) and rather than just blue light certification, it offers SGS Eye Care Display Certification.

The 12, 12X and 12S have a 120Hz refresh rate, though it is not adaptive, while the 12 Pro, 12S Pro and 12S Ultra offer an LTPO display for an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. All models offer Dolby Vision and HDR 10+ support.

Hardware and specs

  • Xiaomi 12T Pro: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, 5000mAh, 120W charging
  • Xiaomi 12T: MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Ultra, 5000mAh, 120W charging
  • Xiaomi 12S Ultra: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, 4860mAh, 67W charging
  • Xiaomi 12S Pro: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, 4600mAh, 120W charging
  • Xiaomi 12S: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, 4500mAh, 67W charging
  • Xiaomi 12 Pro: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 4600mAh, 120W charging
  • Xiaomi 12: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 4500mAh, 67W charging
  • Xiaomi 12X: Snapdragon 870, 4500mAh, 67W charging

The Xiaomi 12S family runs on the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, - as does the 12T Pro - meaning more power and greater efficiency, so it should offer some performance gains over the Xiaomi 12 models. The 12S Ultra also has a new 3D cooling system that's said to offer 100 per cent performance boost in cooling over the vapour chamber system in the other models. There's also the Surge G1 and Surge P1 chips to manage battery performance and charging.

The Xiaomi 12 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, as does the Xiaomi 12 Pro, so still flagship level, but a slight step behind the new 12S models.

The Xiaomi 12X meanwhile, opts for the Snapdragon 870, which is still a powerful and capable processor, but a step down from the rest of the devices.

Perhaps the most curious choice is that Xiaomi went with the MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Ultra on the regular 12T. It's the only phone in the range with a MediaTek chipset.

When it comes to battery, the newest models have the biggest capacities and the fastest charging. Both the 12T and 12T Pro have 5000mAh with 120W wired charging. That means a full charge in under 20 minutes.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra has a 4860mAh battery, with 67W charging and 50W wireless charging - the larger battery designed to support the more advanced camera.

The 12S Pro and 12 Pro have a 4600mAh capacity with 120W charging - the fastest of the lot. The Xiaomi 12S, 12 and 12X have a 4500mAh capacity cell with 67W wired charging.

There is 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging on all models except the Xiaomi 12X, 12T and 12T Pro. They all run on MIUI 13 with Android 12.

Camera

  • Xiaomi 12T Pro: Triple rear (200MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP telemacro), 20MP
  • Xiaomi 12T Pro: Triple rear (108MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP telemacro), 20MP
  • Xiaomi 12S Ultra: Triple rear (50.3MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto), 32MP front
  • Xiaomi 12S Pro: Triple rear (50MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto), 32MP front
  • Xiaomi 12S: Triple rear (50MP main, 13MP ultrawide, 5MP telemacro), 32MP front
  • Xiaomi 12 Pro: Triple rear (50MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto), 32MP front
  • Xiaomi 12: Triple rear (50MP main, 13MP ultrawide, 5MP telemacro), 32MP front
  • Xiaomi 12X: Triple rear (50MP main, 13MP ultrawide, 5MP telemacro), 32MP front

One of the biggest talking points here is the Xiaomi 12T Pro's mega 200MP sensor from Samsung, which enables you to crop in far without losing detail and without needing a dedicated zoom lens. It's disappointing, however, that's it's been joined by low resolution second and third lenses. The same is true of the regular 12T with its 108MP primary sensor.

The Xiaomi 12S series introduced a new partnership with Leica, promising Leica-style images. The hero is the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, which uses a 1-inch Sony IMX989 50.3-megapixel main sensor with f/1.9 aperture, providing a much larger sensor designed to boost photo quality. It's supported by 48-megapixel ultrawide and telephoto lenses - offering a massive 120x zoom. It supports Dolby Vision video capture.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra should offer better imaging quality than any of the other models in the Xiaomi 12 and 12S range, but the Xiaomi 12S and 12S Pro move to the IMX707 for the main camera, again a step-up in size over the Xiaomi 12 - as well as offering a 30fps burst mode for fast photo capture. The 12S then offers lower-resolution ultrawide and macro lenses, but the 12S Pro has 50MP ultrawide and 2x telephoto lenses, so it's a better offering overall.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro also has a triple-lens system comprised of a 50-megapixel wide lens with f/1.9 aperture, a 50-megapixel ultrawide lens with f/2.2 aperture and a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with f/1.9 aperture, but the main camera sensor isn't as large as the Xiaomi 12S Pro - and there's no Leica integration on this older model.

The Xiaomi 12 and 12X both feature the same camera setup on their rears. They both have a triple-lens system with a 50-megapixel main camera with f/1.88 aperture, a 13-megapixel ultrawide lens with f/2.4 aperture and a 5-megapixel telemacro lens.

On the front, all models have a 32-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.45 aperture and features including HDR10+ recording, AI portrait video and Selfie Night Mode.

Conclusion

Xiaomi's 12T series is an unusual one. It's not an ultra-premium family like the Xiaomi 12 before it. Instead, Xiaomi stripped out some features like wireless charging, premium build materials and quality second and third cameras to bring the cost down. That makes them really good value for money, because they still deliver flagship performance and have big batteries with fast charging.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra stands separate from the other devices, with a different design and leather-like back, while the new camera system is designed to appeal to those who want the best photographic performance.

The Xiaomi 12S Pro is close to the Ultra in core hardware, but has different cooling and a different camera setup - but comes with the advantage of faster 120W charging. The Xiaomi 12S is just as powerful again - but smaller and a step down in the camera system. Of course, all these models have the Leica integration, which the older models don't.

All the Xiaomi 12S models sit above the Xiaomi 12 models, with the 12S and 12S Pro offering a core hardware update and a new main camera - but otherwise being very similar in what they offer. In that sense, the Xiaomi 12 Pro is still a really impressive option.

The 12X sits at the bottom of the series, dropping down to slightly older hardware - though still capable, and it misses out on a couple of features, like wireless charging and some of the camera features.

Of all the models, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra obviously looks the most attractive when it comes to photography, but the Xiaomi 12S Pro is a powerhouse with that fast charging - so it could be really popular.