Rumor | The Xiaomi 12 Ultra will launch in April 2022 at the earliest

This Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra made it onto a stage at the end of March 2021, thereby inviting speculation that its alleged successor the 12 Ultra might replicate this feat the following year. However, it now seems the putative super-premum device might not debut quite yet.

In fact, the reliable leaker Digital Chat Station now asserts that Xiaomi had had the 12 Ultra (also thought to go by the internal code-name L1) at a stage of "testing" called NPI (an acronym slated to mean "New Product Investigation") as recently as March 8, 2022. These new comments do make it sound like the device is not even close to a launch at present.

They might also be taken to mean that the Ultra might not have the design hinted at in a slew of leaks and renders, some of which might suggest case OEMs have already gone with it in making their accessories for the phablet.

However, Digital Chat Station also notes that Xiaomi is still forging ahead with the look, thought to involve a new and extra-large ring-shaped camera hump, in general, although it might yet make some subtle tweaks prior to the Ultra's eventual launch. It is now projected to take place sometime in the second quarter of 2022.

This may not be an altogether bad or unexpected thing, as it may allow the OEM to concentrate on the upcoming global launch for the 12 Ultra's smaller, yet still flagship-level, siblings. In addition, it might improve the chances of the top-end model having a potentially upgraded Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ chipset.