The Xiaomi 12T Pro has an ace up its sleeve – a 200MP camera. Unfortunately, the only other cards it has tucked up there are an 8 and a 2. That’s not a strong hand and potential buyers are divided on whether this phone is a good pick.
Interestingly, some commenters under last week’s poll look at the 12T Pro as an affordable Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 phone that is a solid choice for gaming. The fastest Android chipset of 2022 is paired with the “biggest-ever” vapor chamber on a Xiaomi T-series, also there is a large 5,000mAh battery for long gaming sessions that only needs you to pause for around 20 minutes before you can go again thanks to the 120W charging system.
Also, this phone offers a display that is sharper than most in its class – it splits the difference between FHD+ and QHD+ and it has the expected 120Hz refresh rate and 480Hz touch sampling rate. Not bad for a €750 phone, right?
But as a €750 camera phone the Xiaomi 12T Pro was found lacking. Some are prepared to live with the basic 8MP ultra camera and only digital zoom, others are not and the two camps being roughly equal in size.
At a glance: Xiaomi 12T Pro • Xiaomi 12T
The poll was equally divided on the question of Xiaomi 12T vs. 12T Pro. There was a slight preference for the Pro, but only a slight one. Still, there is no shortage of Xiaomi phones with 108MP cameras that are available at various price points and with various chipsets – Dimensity, Snapdragon, take your pick.
And at €600 it is just too pricey for a Dimensity 8100 gaming phone – basically the same chip is available in the Poco X4 GT for under €400 and you get a 144Hz LCD to boot. Perhaps unsurprisingly most people lean towards taking a pass on the 12T.
Xiaomi stuck with 8MP ultrawide cameras (also featured on the 11T duo from last year), even though the 10T models from 2020 had 13MP sensors. Going with 13MP again wouldn’t have been a major difference, but it would have helped the new Model Ts better sell themselves as camera phones.
