Xiaomi 12 Pro: Get it while it's hot or wait and see?

In our review, Xiaomi flexes its muscles and presents the Xiaomi 12 Pro as a powerful flagship smartphone. The modern AMOLED display is particularly impressive and, on top of a high maximum brightness, offers an adaptive adjustment of the screen's refresh rate between 10 and 120 Hz as well as a high 1440p resolution. This is complemented by an accurate color representation. The triple camera comes with not one, but three 50-MP sensors and takes good pictures with the ultra-wide-angle camera being a notably good performer. Unfortunately, the manufacturer has not decided to equip the telephoto optics with an OIS.

The wired charging rate is extremely fast and capable of recharging the 4600-mAh battery in record times. Fans of wireless charging will be pleased with the up to 50-watt wireless charging rate.

Regretfully, the Xiaomi 12 Pro cuts corners in a few areas. While the missing headphone jack and microSD expansion appear to have become almost obligatory omissions within this device class, the lack of an IP certification is a headscratcher. There is also no UWB chip inside the Xiaomi smartphone. The cooling solution, which has been touted as highly effective, also turned out to be insufficient.

Now, is an import of the Xiaomi 12 Pro from China worth it? Or would prospective buyers be better served by waiting for the global launch? This is certainly a question of your technical expertise. Those who are no stranger to the English language and capable of installing external APKs or even flash an entirely different ROM can save a lot by importing. However, if that all sounds Greek to you, waiiting for the international version from the manufacturer may be a better course of action, even though you will be paying a price premium.

We expect the official starting MSRP to be somewhere around 1100 USD. While the launch of the Xiaomi 12 Ultra is also upcoming, it is almost certainly going to be significantly more expensive.