Xiaomi Launches New 12 Series, Operating System, and Smart Watch

After months of leaks and rumors, Xiaomi’s 12 series has now officially been released with three entries – Xiaomi 12X, Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro.

Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun said at the beginning of the press conference: “Two years ago, we planned to invest 50 billion yuan in the next five years. Over the past two years, Xiaomi has invested more than 22 billion yuan in R&D and has more than 16,000 engineers. But this is far from enough. We will invest another 100 billion yuan over the next five years.”

Xiaomi 12

The smaller Xiaomi 12 ships with a 4,500 mAh battery with 67W wired fast charging, 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless top-ups. Xiaomi 12 series phones will ship with MIUI 12.5 out the box while the  newest version of the OS, MIUI 13 ,which was also announced on stage, will arrive as an update in January.

The Samsung-made 6.28-inch AMOLED panel supports FHD+ resolution and refreshes at up to 120Hz. Equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, Xiaomi 12 brings the familiar 50MP Sony IMX 766 sensor. The two auxiliary sensors are a 13MP ultrawide snapper and a 50mm equivalent 5MP tele-macro cam.

The Xiaomi 12 series will be available in black, blue and pink colors, but there will also be a special green vegan leather version for both phones.

The Xiaomi 12 will cost 3,699 yuan for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. That goes up by 300 yuan for 258GB storage and 4,399 yuan is the price for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.

Xiaomi 12 Pro

The Xiaomi 12 Pro weighs 205g and has a 6.73-inch AMOLED display, with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate and a huge 1500 nit max brightness.

The phone packs the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC and runs MIUI 13 based on Android 12. It also packs a 4600 mAh battery with support for 120W wired, 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging.

The triple rear camera unit on Xiaomi 12 Pro includes a 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 50-megapixel telephoto sensor, and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide sensor. There is a 32-megapixel selfie shooter on the front.

The Xiaomi 12 Pro is priced at 4,699 yuan for 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, which goes up to 4,999 yuan for 256GB storage and 5,399 yuan for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.

Xiaomi 12X

This model has a 6.28-inch screen, 50MP main camera, 4,500mAh battery, 67W charging, but is shipped with the Snapdragon 870 chipset, which is slightly less powerful than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It is priced between 3199 yuan to 3799 yuan, cheaper than the Xiaomi 12.​

Xiaomi Watch S1 & Xiaomi True Wireless Earbuds

The new smart watch has a 1.43-inch AMOLED screen, two crowns on the side, 117 sports modes and 5ATM protection. Its price starts from 1049 yuan.

Xiaomi’s new True Wireless Earbuds 3 has 40dB deep noise reduction, which was able to pass the authoritative test by the China Metrology Institute. the new headphones also enjoy a 32-hour battery life and a price tag of 449 yuan.

MIUI 13

Xiaomi has released the latest version of its custom operating system – MIUI 13, while also announcing a new version, the MIUI 13 Pad, for its tablets. According to the company, over 3000 apps have  already been developed to support the new features. The tablet OS version will have Pad-specific gestures such as dragging, pinch-to-resize, drag-and-drop, or opening an app directly into a small window.

SEE ALSO: Lei Jun: Xiaomi to Produce New Smartphones to Rival iPhone, Car Mass Production to Begin in 2024

Xiaomi promises its MIUI 13 is more secure than the previous MIUI 12.5, especially for facial recognition, and when sending information such as ID card photographs and credit card information. The new OS will be rolled out onto Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi Mi 11 series as early as January 2022 and will also reach several Redmi TVs at the same time.