Just six months after its previous flagship launch, Xiaomi today announced a trio of family-looking smartphones to mark the start of its partnership with Leica. The new 12S series includes Android 12-based MIUI 13 and runs on Qualcomm’s supposedly more efficient flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, with the 12S Ultra header including a 1-inch, 50.3-megapixel Sony IMX989 head sensor. This translates into a generous 1.6 um pixel size, which is then doubled to 3.2 um by grouping pixels for supposedly increased color accuracy and low light performance. And unlike the Sony Xperia Pro-I, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra apparently uses all part of its 1-inch sensor.
According to CEO Lei Jun, Xiaomi was involved in the development of the Sony IMX989 and the $ 15 million cost was also shared equally between the two companies. Interestingly, the sensor will not be exclusive to Xiaomi; Lei added that it will be made available to its local competitors after the launch of the 12S Ultra, in order to “promote together the advancement of the mobile image”.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
Xiaomi
As for the Leica part in the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, you get a “Leica Summicron 1: 1.9-4.1 / 13-120 ASPH camera system” that covers the three rear cameras: the aforementioned 50.3-megapixel main camera ( 23mm, f / 1.9), along with the 48-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera (13mm, f / 2.2) and the 48-megapixel (120mm, f / 4.1) periscopic camera. Both 48-megapixel cameras use a 1/2-inch Sony IMX586 sensor. The entire island of the circular camera, now with the shared brand “Leica”, benefits from a bit of coating magic to mitigate lens glare and improve image consistency on each lens. Oh, and here’s a 23K gold border too.
In addition to some Leica filters, users will be able to switch between two photo styles: “Leica Authentic Look” for natural-looking photos with stronger three-dimensional depth, and “Leica Vibrant Look” which adds Xiaomi’s contribution on vitality while preserving authenticity (somehow). You can also change the watermark banner at the bottom of your photos, which will add the iconic red Leica logo, photo metadata, and location coordinates on the right, along with your phone model and the time stamp on the left.
Xiaomi
On the other side of the phone is a 32 megapixel selfie camera powered by an unknown RGBW sensor. Most of these cameras are capable of recording and playing Dolby Vision HDR videos (up to 4K @ 60fps), making the 12S Ultra the first Android device with these features. Some also use engine-based “HyperOIS” for more stable images. In terms of still photographs, the entire 12S series supports the 10-bit RAW format calibrated by Adobe Labs, with color correction metadata embedded in the files to facilitate post-production with Adobe Lightroom.
The 12S Ultra also carries two proprietary Xiaomi Surge chips: a Surge P1 fast charge chipset and a Surge G1 battery management chipset. These offer support for a 67 W cable fast charge, a 50 W wireless fast charge, and a 10 W reverse charge for the 4,860 mAh silicon oxygen anode battery. Note that some fast charging solutions use a dual cell battery to split the current charge, so it’s good that the Surge P1 can handle an output current of up to 16 A here and apparently with an efficiency of 96.8% conversion. Like recent Oppo and ASUS phones, the 12S Ultra also offers adaptive charging, which supposedly increases the number of charge cycles by 25 percent.
Keeping your phone cool is also key to a healthier battery, not to mention more stable performance during games. The Xiaomi 12S Ultra is equipped with a “three-dimensional cooling pump” that moves the coolant through warm surfaces using a capillary mechanism similar to that of the blades. This apparently significantly improves thermal conductivity, compared to conventional steam cooling modules.
Xiaomi
The rest of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is a standard flagship issue. For the screen, get a 6.73-inch (3,200 x 1,440, 522ppi; LTPO 2.0) Samsung E5 AMOLED panel, with a maximum brightness of up to 1,500 nights, an AdaptiveSync Pro refresh rate of 1-120 Hz, 10-bit native color depth. and support for the P3 color range. As you can see in the camera features, the screen can handle Dolby Vision as well as HDR10 +, HDR10 and HLG; these will go well with Harman Kardon speakers that also support Dolby Atmos audio. The device has an IP68 rating, which means it should survive accidental dives into sinks and pools. You’ll also find a remote infrared port at the top to control appliances.
Options include up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, with FBO (File-Based Optimization) storage technology developed by Xiaomi, which supposedly maintains the same read / perform performance. writing for at least four years (and Law). added that FBO has already been written to the next-generation UFS 4.0 storage specification). Buyers can choose between a “Classic Black” and a “Green Verdant,” both wrapped in vegan skin.
Xiaomi 12S Pro
Xiaomi
The smaller Xiaomi 12S Pro shares the same 6.73-inch display and Surge P1 set of fast-charging chips as the 12S Ultra, though it does support a huge 120W cable charge for its smaller 4,600-inch battery. mAh, but has no 10 W reverse charge. It features a 1 / 1.28-inch Sony IMX707 main sensor and 50 megapixels more common (but apparently still expensive), which is a variant of the IMX700 that was previously in Huawei’s Mate 40 Pro series. This still offers a good pixel size of 1.22 um (or 2.44 um after pixel grouping) and matches the resolution of its ultra large camera (14 mm) and telephoto camera (50 mm). ), all adjusted by Leica as well, of course.
As for the “basic” Xiaomi 12S, it has the same main camera as the 12S Pro and the same fast charging features as the 12S Ultra, but with a smaller 4,500 mAh battery in a more user-friendly body with the palms under it. 6.28 inches. 120 Hz screen. According to Lei, it seems that there is still a significant demand for small flagship phones.
The Xiaomi 12S series is now available for booking in China ahead of the retail launch on July 6th. The 12S Ultra is priced from 5,999 yuan (8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage; about $ 900) to 6,999 yuan (12 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage; about $ 1,000). The 12S Pro is cheaper, asking for 4,699 yuan (8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage; about $ 700) to 5,899 yuan (12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage; about $ 880). The 12S is the most affordable option here, starting at 3,999 yuan (8 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage; about $ 600) and up to 5,199 yuan (12 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage; about 780 $). We will be on the lookout for international availability later.
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