The Xiaomi 12 device family goes global: Flagship specs at a price

Xiaomi today announces the global availability of its latest flagship phones, the 12-series, which consist of the Xiaomi 12 Pro, Xiaomi 12, and Xiaomi 12X. Building on the strong foundation established by last year's Mi 11 series, which simultaneously pushed the boundaries and struck a nice balance between pricing and features, Xiaomi is once again trying to outdo itself with this year's crop of spring chickens.

As mentioned, we get three devices, and here are the specs at a glance:

While prices will certainly vary by market, Xiaomi has revealed the MSRPs of its three new phones. The base version of the Xiaomi 12X, Xiaomi 12, and Xiaomi 12 Pro will start at $649, $749, and $999, respectively. As far as availability is concerned, we expect that Xiaomi will sell its newest wares on the markets it has established a foothold, and sadly, the US won't be among the list.

By the way, we already have our review of the range-topping Xiaomi 12 Pro up and running, and it's mostly a great phone with just a few issues. For example, we applauded the super-fast charging and good image quality, but Xiaomi needs to further work on MIUI's software quirks here and there, as well as the slight inconsistencies between the different cameras. What's more, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 seems to get a bit hotter on this particular device, to the point where the phone could overheat and crash in certain scenarios.

With its starting price of $999 for the 8GB/256GB version of the phone and considering its decidedly flagship features, the Xiaomi 12 Pro is up there with the very best flagships. It certainly has what it takes to challenge any of the top contenders in its category, and despite the high price tag, it surely feels like the phone is a good value for money.

It's got everything a modern Android flagship should have: super-fast charging, great camera, and a feature-rich interface. Still, I'd have loved a slightly better battery life, more consistent image quality when using the different cameras, and finally - better cooling.

You can check out our full Xiaomi 12 Pro review here.

The Xiaomi 12 comes with a slightly less impressive camera system and drops the quad-speaker setup in favor of a more standard dual speaker system. The 120W fast-charging is also nowhere to be found, having been substituted by a "slower" 67W charging solution. Wireless charging is still supported. The phone is a bit smaller and only gets a 6.28" FHD+ display, but it still offers a 120Hz refresh rate option. The Xiaomi 12 is also adding a lower-tier RAM and storage combination: you can have this phone with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, as well as the 8GB+256GB and 12GB+256GB versions.