Xiaomi Mi 12 detailed in a year-old patent?

We all should pay attention to Xiaomi. While Samsung and Apple are clenched in a fight for the US market share, Xiaomi quietly overtook Samsung for the number one spot in Europe with a market share of 25.3%.

The Chinese brand has an enormous portfolio of gadgets - from robot dogs to MicroLED smart glasses, and its smartphone business fares better than ever. Now, thanks to a recently unearthed patent filing, we might have a peek at the upcoming flagship of the company - the Xiaomi Mi 12.

The patent in question was filed back on September 25, 2020, and officially published just a few days ago, uncovered by our good friends at LetsGoDigital. And while it doesn’t specifically mention a model name or number, there are certain characteristics that suggest we’re talking about a flagship device.

If we take a look at the drawings in the patent filing we can immediately notice the curved display and the hair-thin bezels around the screen. The front of the phone looks very much like the Xiaomi Mi 11, with a punch-hole for the selfie camera in the upper left corner.

The display also seems to have rounded corners with more extreme curvature than the one seen in the Xiaomi Mi 11. More details can be found on the back, as this mysterious device sports a brand-new main camera layout.

The triple camera system is placed in the center in a pill-shaped elongated bump. The main camera sits on top and it seems to have a thick ring around it, although it might be just how the drawing depicts the camera (or a potential ring flash?).

Below the main camera lies a smaller circular camera that probably takes care of ultra-wide shots. Further down we find a rectangularly shaped object that is almost certainly a periscope zoom camera - there’s no other system that employs this specific shape of the lens.

At the bottom, we find what appears to be an LED flash or some kind of a sensor (ToF?) and if we look at the phone from the side, we can see that the main lens protrudes further away than the other two.

Xiaomi Mi 12 specifications

Earlier last month, a rumor started circulating the web, suggesting that the Xiaomi Mi 12 might get a 200MP sensor in its main camera. The rumor came from the Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station and was later confirmed by Android Central with the additional detail that the sensor in question might be the newly announced Samsung ISOCELL HP1 - the first to have ChameleonCell technology, touted to improve low-light performance.

The second main camera could be borrowed from Xiaomi’s current high-end phone, the Mi 11 Ultra, which uses a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL GN2 sensor. It seems that Xiaomi would phase the 108MP camera sensor out of its flagship phones and bring it to its midrangers.

Another leak from another Chinese source (Mydrivers) details some of the specifications of the new Xiaomi Mi 12 flagship. According to the information, the Mi 12 will come equipped with the latest top-of-the-line Snapdragon 895 processor, which has not even been released yet.

The leak also mentions a 200MP main camera which is in line with the previous rumors on the subject. Another interesting and exciting prospect about the Xiaomi Mi 12 is the fast charging capabilities of the phone.

We’re not sure if all the devices in the Mi 12 lineup will support the feature (or it will be reserved for the Xiaomi Mi 12 Ultra) but it looks like the next Xiaomi flagship will be able to charge wirelessly with up to 100 Watts of power, and wired at 120 Watts. That’s pretty amazing if true!

Last but not least, the display of the Xiaomi Mi 12 might feature the latest scream in the tech industry - an LTPO panel with a variable refresh rate between 1 and 120Hz.