Xiaomi 12S Launched, Specs & Price

Xiaomi has finally launched the much-anticipated Xiaomi 12S series. The company announced the three smartphone models which includes the vanilla variant, the Pro version and the top end model – Xiaomi 12S Ultra.

Xiaomi 12S Ultra Unveiled

Design

The new premium smartphone from the Chinese tech giant features a cow skin texture on the rear. Xiaomi 12S Ultra’s back also houses a large rectangular camera island that also houses a smaller circular module for the image sensors. This camera island even features the Leica branding, signifying the new partnership and is made to resemble an actual camera with a circular lens. Notably, the circular camera module’s bump is also made from 23K gold rim.

Notably, the leather is eco friendly in nature and is based on silicon. It will also not turn yellow overtime and is also dirt and wear resistant as well. Meanwhile, the front features minimal bezels and chin and has a center aligned punch hole camera at the top of the display. The handset also comes with IP68 water and dust resistance rating. The company has also placed an emphasis on its cooling system, with the thermal management using a design inspired by the veins on the leaves.

Specifications

The 12S Ultra is the top model from the new flagship series, thus, it features Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, which is based on the 4nm process. This chipset is paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. On the front, the new device sports a 6.73 inch LTPO 2.0 AMOLED display that has a 2K resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 1500 nits of peak brightness, and 521ppi pixel density. The screen also has a Dolby Vision and HDR10+ certification as well.

Notably, the display also houses an optical under display fingerprint scanner. It even arrives with Harman Kardon tuned stereo speaker system. Other features include, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, IR Blaster, Surge G1 power management chipset, and Android 12 OS based MIUI 13 custom skin out of the box.

Under the hood, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is powered by a large 4,860mAh battery pack that supports 67W fast wired charging. Although, it also supports 50W wireless fast charging and even 10W reverse charging as well. With wired charging, the device can reach 50 percent charge in just 15 mins, while wireless charging can help it reach 40 percent in 15 minutes.

Camera

Thanks to the new collaboration between Xiaomi and Leica, the 12S Ultra features a Leica Summicron lens system on the back. The device features a triple camera setup that consists of a primary camera, which is the Sony IMX989 sensor that has a large 1 inch sensor size and a 50 megapixel resolution. The main shooter also comes with HyperOIS and is capable of recording 8K videos as well.

Furthermore, it is paired with a 48 megapixel ultra wide angle lens that has 128 degree FOV, and another 48 megapixel telephoto lens that offers up to 120x magnification and supports OIS.

Xiaomi 12S Ultra Specifications

Network Properties

• 2G bands: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2
• CDMA 800
• 3G bands: HSDPA 800 / 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100
• CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
• 4G bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 19, 26, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
• 5G bands: 1, 3, 5, 8, 28, 38, 40, 41, 77, 78, 79 SA/NSA
• Speed: HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A, 5G

Launch

• Announced: 2022, July 04
• Status: Exp. release 2022, July 09

Design

• Dimensions: 163.2 x 75 x 9.1 mm (6.43 x 2.95 x 0.36 in)
• Weight: 225 g (7.94 oz)
• Build: Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), eco leather back, aluminum frame
• SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
• Colors: Black, Dark Green
• IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins)

Display

• Type: LTPO2 AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1000 nits (HBM), 1500 nits (peak)
• Size: 6.73 inches, 109.4 cm2 (~89.3% screen-to-body ratio)
• Resolution: 1440 x 3200 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~521 ppi density)
• Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus

Operating System

• Android 12, MIUI 13

Hardware

• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (4 nm)
• CPU: Octa-core (1×3.19 GHz Cortex-X2 & 3×2.75 GHz Cortex-A710 & 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510)
• GPU: Adreno 730
• Memory Card slot: No
• Internal: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM
• UFS 3.1

Cameras

• Main Camera: Quad
  • 3 MP, f/1.9, 23mm (wide), 1.0″-type, 1.6µm, multi-directional PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
  • 48 MP, f/4.1, 120mm (periscope telephoto), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom
  • 48 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, (ultrawide), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, Dual-Pixel PDAF
  • TOF 3D, (depth)
• Features: Leica lenses, Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama
• Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, 720p@3840fps, gyro-EIS, Dolby Vision HDR 10-bit rec. (4K, 1080p)
• Cameras: Single – 32 MP, f/2.5, 26mm (wide), 0.7µm
• Features: HDR, panorama
• Video: Yes

Multimedia

• Radio: No
• Loudspeaker: Yes, with stereo speakers
• Audio 5mm jack: No
• 24-bit/192kHz audio
• Tuned by Harman Kardon

Connectivity

• WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot
• Bluetooth: 5.2, A2DP, LE, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive
• GPS: Yes, with A-GPS. Up to tri-band: GLONASS (1), BDS (3), GALILEO (2), QZSS (2), NavIC
• NFC: Yes
• Infrared port: Yes
• USB: USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go

Features

• Sensors: Fingerprint (under display, optical), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, color spectrum, barometer

Battery

• Battery Type and Capacity: Li-Po 4860 mAh, non-removable
• Charging: Fast charging 67W, 100% in 41 min (advertised)
• Fast wireless charging 50W, 100% in 52 min (advertised)
• Reverse wireless charging 10W
• Quick Charge 4
• Power Delivery 3.0

Xiaomi 12S Ultra Price and Availability

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra comes in two color options, including a Black and Green variant.

It has been launched in multiple storage configurations, with its 88GB + 256Gb model starting from 5,999 Yuan (roughly 896 US Dollars). The 12GB + 256GB model costs 6,499 Yuan (roughly 971 US Dollars) and the 12GB + 512GB model costs 6,999 Yuan (roughly 1,045 US Dollars).