Xiaomi has finally launched the flagship 12S Ultra as a direct successor to the Mi 11 Ultra. The Xiaomi 12S Ultra is a powerful flagship device designed to bring out the company’s photography prowess in partnership with imaging specialist Leica. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset along with Xiaomi’s new “3D cooling system.
While the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra was undoubtedly one of the best Android phones last year, the top-notch Xiaomi 12S Ultra is ready to take over. It offers top-of-the-line hardware features making it an affordable Android alternative to the likes of Samsung and OnePlus.
Xiaomi debuted the Xiaomi 12 Series late last year, but the company has just launched three new phones as part of the latest Xiaomi 12S Series including the Xiaomi 12S, the Xiaomi 12S Pro, and the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. The Xiaomi 12S and 12S Pro are minor upgrades over the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro while the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is a major step up from the Mi 11 Ultra.
The latest Xiaomi 12S Ultra features a great display, impressive hardware performance, Harman Kardon-branded speakers, and IP68 dust and water resistance. Check out below for our Xiaomi 12S Ultra full review and price.
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Table of Contents
Xiaomi 12S Ultra Key Specifications
- Display: 6.73-inch LTPO2 AMOLED, 120Hz
- Resolution: 1440 x 3200 pixels
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
- Front Camera: 32-megapixel
- Rear Camera: 50-megapixel + 48-megapixel + 48-megapixel
- RAM: 8GB /12GB
- Storage: 256GB /512GB
- Battery Capacity: 4860mAh
- OS: Android 12, MIUI 13
Design and Display
The Xiaomi 12S Ultra design is a clear illustration of the company’s design prowess which puts it ahead of many rivals. Flipping through the phone you’ll be amazed at the huge circular camera bump that’s very noticeable just like the square module on the Mi 11 Ultra. However, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra lacks a second display option on the back. The phone’s display is curved at the edges to give it a flagship look and has a punch-hole cutout notch that houses the selfie camera.
The power button and volume rockers are on the right side of the phone, while the SIM card slot, the charging port and stereo speakers are on the bottom edge. Apart from the absence of a 3.5mm headphone jack (which is not even expected on a flagship device), the rest of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra’s designs are excellent and one of the best you can get for this price.
Other noteworthy features include an in-display fingerprint scanner, an X-axis linear vibration motor, symmetrical stereo speakers tuned by Harman Kardon, a USB Type-C port, and IP68 dust and water resistance.
The 6.73-inch AMOLED display is an LTPO2 panel that offers a native 10-bit color depth, 1500 nits peak brightness, and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. Also, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra has a 1440 x 3200 pixels resolution that’s among the highest on a smartphone. This introduces a wider viewing experience in day-to-day use with enhanced picture quality and better battery life.
Camera
The Xiaomi 12S Ultra comes with many improvements in the camera department. Xiaomi partnered with the camera giant Leica in developing one of the best Android phone cameras. The 12S Ultra camera consists of a 50MP Sony IMX89 sensor as the primary shooter, along with a 48MP ultra-wide lens, and another 48MP periscope telephoto camera. Upfront is a 32MP sensor for the selfie camera.
The camera department is arguably the most exciting feature of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and its primary camera supports 4-in-1 pixel binning to create 3.2 μm-wide pixels. Also, it features a lens edge ink coating, an eight-piece aspherical lens, octa-PD auto-focus, and multi-layer ALD ultra-low reflectance coating.
On the other hand, the 48MP ultra-wide lens has a macro mode support, dual-PD auto-focus, and a Leica Summicron aspherical lens. Meanwhile, the 48MP periscope telephoto lens features a PD auto-focus mode, HyperOIS, and 5x optical zoom.
Furthermore, Xiaomi has packed the 12S Ultra with a lot of software goodies to enhance its photography performance. This includes access to Leica Authentic Look and Leica Vibrant Look photography styles. Also, the device comes with Leica camera filters including BW High Contrast, Natural, BW Natural, and Vivid.
- The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is another great alternative
Performance, Storage, and Software
Powering the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 newest chipset. It’s a great upgrade over the Snapdragon 888 chip on the Mi 11 Ultra, so you’ll see a significant impact on performance in all scenarios. Also, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset offers 10% better performance than the non+ variant that’s on the Xiaomi 12 Pro.
Fortunately, Xiaomi paired this chipset with a new 3D cooling system which helps improve thermals in high graphics demanding games and applications. Also, there’s an Adreno 730 GPU that takes care of the graphic duties. In fact, this Qualcomm chip also comes with lots of AI capabilities and an impressive ISP to process videos and images.
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With the absence of storage expansion, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra has triple storage combinations to choose from. There are 8GB RAM /256GB, 12GB RAM /256GB, and 12GB RAM /512GB storage variants. As far as performance goes, this impressive Xiaomi device guarantees you a snappy performance notwithstanding the task.
The software here is Android 12, with Xiaomi’s newest MIUI 13 laid over the top. This is the same software that’s present in 2022 launched Xiaomi smartphones including the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G.
However, Xiaomi has not shared its software support commitment for the Xiaomi 12S series yet, but we expect up to 2 years of major Android software updates.
Battery Capacity and Charging
There’s a new 4,860mAh battery with 67W wired charging, 50W wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging. While it offers a bigger battery capacity, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra comes with downgraded fast charging support. This is below the 120W wired fast charging that’s on the Xiaomi 12 Pro.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra Review: Price in Nigeria and Availability
The Xiaomi 12S was officially launched on July 04 2022 and will go on sale in China starting July 08 with pre-orders already ongoing. The Xiaomi 12S Ultra will be available in Nigeria, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the rest of the world at the end of July or the beginning of August.
As for price, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is expected to be sold at ₦560,000 ($912) for the 8GB RAM /256GB model and ₦620,000 ($1,016) for the 12GB RAM /512GB variant.
- Check out the OnePlus 10 Pro review and price
Xiaomi 12S Ultra Full Specifications
General
- Brand: Xiaomi
- Model: 12S Ultra
- Release Date: Expected July 2022
- Operating System: Android 12, MIUI 13
- Weight: 225G
- Colours: Classic Black, Verdant Green
- Touchscreen: YES
- Type: LTPO2 AMOLED, 1B colors, Dolby Vision, HDR10+
- Display Size: 6.73-inches, 120Hz
- Screen Resolution: 1440 x 3200 pixels
- Dimensions: 163.2 x 75 x 9.1 mm (6.43 x 2.95 x 0.36 in)
- Facelock Support: YES
- In-display fingerprint scanner: Yes
- Sensors: Fingerprint (in-display)
Platform
- 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
- RAM: 8GB /12GB
- Inbuilt Storage: 256GB /512GB
- SD Card slot: No
Camera
- Rear Flash: Dual-LED Flashlight
- Rear Camera: 50MP f/1.9 (wide), 48MP f/4.1 (periscope telephoto), 48MP f/2.2 (ultra-wide)
- Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, 720p@3840fps, gyro-EIS, Dolby Vision HDR 10-bit rec. (4K, 1080p)
- Front Camera: 32MP f/2.5 (wide)
- Front Flash: —
Connectivity
- Wi-Fi: YES
- Bluetooth: 5.0
- USB: USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go
- GPS: YES
- WLAN: YES
Network
- SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
- Technology: GSM | HSPA | LTE
- 3G Support: Yes
- 4G/ LTE Support: Yes
- 5G Support: Yes
- Speed: HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A, 5G
Battery
- Capacity: Li-Po 4860mAh, non-removable
- Fast Charge: Fast charging 67W, Fast wireless charging 50W, Reverse wireless charging 10W
Price
- Price in Nigeria: ₦560,000
- Price in Dollar: $912
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