Qualities in photo and a contained price, sufficient arguments to crush its competitors?

It’s not always easy to navigate the plethora of smartphones on the market. And there is now not a week without its share of novelties. In their frantic quest for market share, Chinese manufacturers like Oppo, Honor or Xiaomi are also fighting with technical arguments to seduce. With its 12T Pro, a 5G Wifi 6 smartphone, it is precisely Xiaomi which highlights a 200 megapixel sensor, as well as a load of 120 Watts to make the difference. Is this smartphone as good as it claims? 20 minutes checked it.

Hull (almost) fake and apps galore

In gray, black or blue, the Xiaomi 12T Pro does not stand out for its design. Fairly common (although elegant) with its thick rectangular rear photo block, the Chinese manufacturer’s smartphone does not renew the genre. Its plastic shell even has the defect of perfectly catching fingerprints and scratching easily. Tip: do not put the terminal in a pocket with a key or coins, you might regret it! With the IP53 standard only, it is resistant to dust and rain. Remember that currently the IP68 standard is the best, guaranteeing the possibility of immersion of the devices.

Once configured, we see that the manufacturer did not hesitate to impose certain unsolicited applications. OK for Tik Tok, Facebook, Snapchat, Netflix or Spotify which one may need. But the “apps” Shop Amazon, Booking or Agoda (to book flights) give the impression of wanting to force through. Cleaning done, we can immediately take advantage of the excellent 6.67-inch AMOLED screen of the smartphone.

Ready for Fortnite Mobile

Dolby Vision and HDR10 + (and 120 Hz, non-adaptive), offering striking contrasts and beautiful brightness, the on-board panel is likely to delight fans of videos on the move, but also to gaming.

The 6.67” AMOLED screen of the Xiaomi 12T Pro is perfectly suited for viewing video content and gaming. – Christophe Séfrin/20 Minutes

At the maneuver, the Snapdragon 8 + Gen 1 processor supports even the most demanding games. Lovers of Fortnite Mobile, to your screens! The Harman Kardon-branded stereo speakers on board the smartphone do a pretty good job (as much as smartphone speakers can). But obviously, it’s on the side of the photo* and the 200 megapixel sensor of the Xiaomi 12T Pro that we want to take a closer look.

200 megapixels in the viewfinder

Our numerous tests reveal excellent quality images, especially when it is sunny. Using the process known as pixel binding (which, here, brings together 16 pixels of the sensor to become one) in order to gain in brightness and detail, the smartphone takes photos in 12.5 megapixels by default. However, it is possible to opt for 50 or even 200 megapixels (at the risk of generating very large files). But the result is there, blatant, with extremely detailed shots. It is possible to zoom in considerably to perform cropping, but also to print them with an extremely convincing result. Note, however, that Motorola and its Edge 30 Ultra had preceded Xiaomi by a short head in the field of 200 megapixel smartphones…

We do not really understand why Xiaomi has ignored an optical zoom: only a digital zoom x10 can be operated. Ditto for the on-board ultra-wide-angle sensor: why not go beyond the 8 megapixels offered? This can result in photos with sometimes disparate results when it comes to software processing. For its part, the 2-megapixel macro sensor does extra work (but this is a constant on smartphones that are equipped with it!). It will be able to reassure buyers, anxious to have a versatile terminal, failing to offer really efficient results.

If the 12T Pro is stunning for the general quality of its images, extremely sharp and with well-respected textures, it also has its limits… and certain shortcomings.

Beautiful details, but greens that turn fluorescent and macro that makes up the numbers.
Beautiful details, but greens that turn fluorescent and macro that makes up the numbers. – Christophe Séfrin/20 Minutes

And as usual with the manufacturer, the colors of the shots are a little too saturated. In this spring when the trees reveal their foliage, some of the photos we took are slightly fluorescent green… The self-portraits are made in 20 megapixels. The cropping of the subject for the now famous effect bokeh (with soft focus on the back) is overall good. And Xiaomi offers a full panoply of filters to apply: Harvest, Bloom, Rhodium, Bud, B & W… There are so many that we have given up counting them! On the video side, the terminal films up to 4K at 30 frames / second, and even up to 8K at 24 frames / second. Not sure that 8K still interests many people…

120 watts, who says better?

Remains among the strong arguments of Xiaomi, the load of 120 Watts of its 12T Pro. With its imposing (and heavy: 180 grams!) charging block provided, the smartphone is fully charged with energy in about twenty-five minutes. Who says better ? So, if the 5,000 mAh battery of the 12T Pro runs out as expected after a good day of use, we know that we can quickly leave in the evening until late, without risk. to run out of energy, and this, the time of a simple small charge on the sector. However, wireless charging is not offered.

The 120 watt recharge of the Xiaomi 12T Pro is one of the arguments of the smartphone.
The 120 watt recharge of the Xiaomi 12T Pro is one of the arguments of the smartphone. – Capture

Launched at 799 euros, which was still quite expensive, the price of the Xiaomi 12T Pro has already started its classic price drop. We have already spotted it at 649 euros, new, at Baker in 256 GB. And refurbished offers are starting to flourish: 539 euros at Rakutenfor example, even 519 euros at rebuy.frstill in 256 GB. Despite its concessions, it is at this price that you can now adopt a high-end smartphone… at the price of a mid-range one!

* Rear: Front: 200 megapixels (23mm equivalent; f/1.7, with optical stabilization); 8 megapixel ultra wide-angle (120°; 11 mm; f.2.2); 2 megapixel macro (f/2.4). Rear: 20 megapixels (f/2.2).

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