Xiaomi 12 Pro vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.73-inch Xiaomi 12 Pro (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) that was released on December 28, 2021, against the Apple iPhone 12 Pro, which is powered by Apple A14 Bionic and came out 15 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the gadgets.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 12 Pro
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Comes with 1785 mAh larger battery capacity: 4600 vs 2815 mAh
- Has a 0.63 inch larger screen size
- Modern USB Type-C port
- 37% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (999K versus 727K)
- Delivers 31% higher peak brightness (1059 against 809 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.2)
- Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
- Fingerprint scanner
- Uses a faster type of memory: LPDDR5 3200 MHz
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- 13% higher pixel density (521 vs 460 PPI)
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 12 Pro
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- Shows 17% longer battery life (29:49 vs 25:27 hours)
- Apple releases software updates and supports their phones a few years longer than Xiaomi
- 29% faster in single-core GeekBench 5 test: 1619 and 1251 points
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
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Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Performance
CPU/GPU performance in apps and games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview score
Final comparison evaluation
Value for money
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Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.73 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1170 x 2532 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 521 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Max rated brightness | 970 nits | 800 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1500 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Ceramic Shield |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.6% | 86% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 99.6% |
| PWM | 367 Hz | 277 Hz |
| Response time | 5 ms | 3.6 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.6 mm (6.44 inches) | 146.7 mm (5.78 inches) |
| Width | 74.6 mm (2.94 inches) | 71.5 mm (2.81 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.66 mm (0.34 inches) | 7.4 mm (0.29 inches) |
| Weight | 204 g (7.2 oz) | 189 g (6.67 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Green, Pink | Silver, Gold, Gray, Blue |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | No |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | Apple A14 Bionic |
| Max. clock | 3000 MHz | 3100 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 3 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 1 core at 3 GHz: Cortex-X2 |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Icestorm - 2 cores at 3.1 GHz: Firestorm |
| L3 cache | 6 MB | - |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 5 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 730 | Apple GPU |
| GPU clock | 818 MHz | - |
| FLOPS | ~2236 GFLOPS | - |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 9
| CPU | 224894 | 185695 |
| GPU | 435932 | 285023 |
| Memory | 159561 | 118389 |
| UX | 177347 | 131689 |
| Total score | 999603 | 727322 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Stability | 67% | 76% |
| Graphics test | 55 FPS | 44 FPS |
| Graphics score | 9310 | 7395 |
| PCMark 3.0 score | 13009 | - |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 2 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 128, 256, 512 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 | iOS 14.1 (Can be upgraded to iOS 16.2) |
| ROM | MIUI 13 | - |
| OS size | 26.5 GB | 14 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4600 mAh | 2815 mAh |
| Charge power | 120 W | 18 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (50 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 8 min) | Yes (59% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:21 hr | 1:30 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:48 hr | 09:54 hr |
| Watching video | 10:04 hr | 12:40 hr |
| Gaming | 04:53 hr | 05:32 hr |
| Standby | 89 hr | 104 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8700 x 5800 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Optical, 2x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 1920 FPS (720p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 115° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (50 MP + 50 MP + 50 MP) | 4 (12 MP + 12 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens | - 50 MP - Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 24 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/1.28", Sony IMX707 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/1.6 - Focal length: 26 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4", Sony IMX372 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens | - 50 MP - Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 48 mm - Pixel size: 0.64 micron - Sensor: 1/2.76", Samsung JN1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.0 - Focal length: 52 mm - Pixel size: 1 micron - Sensor: 1/3.4" (CMOS) - Phase autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens | - 50 MP - Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 14 mm - Pixel size: 0.64 micron - Sensor: 1/2.76", Samsung JN1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) |
- 12 MP - Aperture: f/2.4 - Focal length: 13 mm - Sensor: 1/3.6" (CMOS) |
| Depth lens | - | Yes |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Xiaomi 12 Pro from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 12 Pro from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 4290 x 2800 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.7 microns | - |
| Sensor type | CMOS | Exmor-RS CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.14" | - |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE, A2DP |
| USB type | USB Type-C | No |
| USB version | 2 | - |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max. loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | December 2021 | October 2020 |
| Release date | December 2021 | October 2020 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.99 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
If the display, performance, battery life, and connectivity are more important to you, then choose the Xiaomi 12 Pro. But if the software, design, and sound are more of a priority – go for the Apple iPhone 12 Pro.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 49