Xiaomi 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S23
58
out of 100
VS
70
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.28-inch Xiaomi 12 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) that was released on December 28, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy S23, which is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and came out 1 year and 1 month after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 12
- Supports higher wattage charging (67W versus 25W)
- Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
- Has 2 SIM card slots
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- The rear camera has a 3x optical zoom
- Shows 38% longer battery life (22:02 vs 15:58 hours)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Delivers 34% higher peak brightness (1209 against 900 nits)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- 30% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1712K versus 1322K)
- More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 15
- The phone is 1 year and 1 month newer
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.28 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels | 1080 x 2340 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 419 ppi | 425 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (60-120 Hz) | Yes (24-120 Hz) |
| Max rated brightness | 500 nits | 1200 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1100 nits | 1750 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, HDR10+ | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | 480 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.3% | 88% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | - | 98.9% |
| PWM | - | 240 Hz |
| Response time | - | 1 ms |
| Contrast | - | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 152.7 mm (6.01 inches) | 146.3 mm (5.76 inches) |
| Width | 69.9 mm (2.75 inches) | 70.9 mm (2.79 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.16 mm (0.32 inches) | 7.6 mm (0.3 inches) |
| Weight | 180 g (6.35 oz) | 168 g (5.93 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | - | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Pink | White, Black, Gray, Green, Purple, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy |
| Max clock | 3000 MHz | 3360 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 3 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 1 core at 3 GHz: Cortex-X2 |
- 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
| L3 cache | 6 MB | 8 MB |
| Manufacturing | Samsung | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 730 | Adreno 740 |
| GPU shading units | 1024 | 1536 |
| GPU clock | 818 MHz | 680 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~1675.3 GFLOPS | ~2089 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 7989 | 9410 |
| Single-core score | 998 | 1987 |
| Multi-core score | 3638 | 5171 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 501164 | 587063 |
| GPU | 224623 | 434955 |
| Memory | 208718 | 275390 |
| UX | 387671 | 414985 |
| Total score | 1322176 | 1712393 |
| Samples | [10 tests] | [29 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | 92% | 76% |
| Graphics test | 4 FPS | 8 FPS |
| Graphics score | 590 | 1069 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 73% |
| Graphics test | - | 20 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 23 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 20 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 18 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 5348 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | 63% | 61% |
| Graphics test | 13 FPS | 21 FPS |
| Graphics score | 2255 | 3669 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 12213 | 15188 |
| Video editing | 7422 | 7873 |
| Photo editing | 28303 | 33939 |
| Data manipulation | 10164 | 12935 |
| Writing score | 14805 | 19390 |
Recent User Tests
Xiaomi 12
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-07-15 -> Aura_Test_King | GeekBench GPU | 3761 |
| 📘 2026-07-15 -> Aura_Test_King | GeekBench CPU | 839 / 2424 |
| 📘 2026-06-30 (Cyrus) | AnTuTu | 1293921 |
| 📘 2026-06-10 (Xiao) | AnTuTu | 1337912 |
| 📘 2026-04-29 -> BDC | AnTuTu | 1335003 |
Samsung Galaxy S23
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-09 -> Rafarobbie22 | AnTuTu | 1708074 |
| 📘 2026-09-09 (Rafa) | AnTuTu | 1708074 |
| 📘 2026-08-09 (Sevin) | AnTuTu | 1700056 |
| 📘 2026-08-02 (Trouble) | Battery life | SOT 6:42 / 16:34 |
| 📘 2026-07-24 (nemesistech) | AnTuTu | 1684546 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 15) | Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) |
| ROM | HyperOS 3 | One UI 8.0 |
| OS size | - | 29.7 GB |
| OS updates | - | 4 years |
| Security updates | - | 5 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 4500 mAh | 3900 mAh |
| Max charge power | 67 W | 25 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (50 W) | Yes (10 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Bypass charging | - | Yes |
| Fast charging | Yes (87% in 30 min) | Yes (57% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:46 hr | 1:16 hr |
| Web browsing | 06:17 hr | 08:12 hr |
| Watching video | 10:46 hr | 13:41 hr |
| Gaming | 04:42 hr | 05:20 hr |
| Standby | 71 hr | 109 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8160 x 6120 |
| Zoom | Digital | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 120FPS |
| Slow motion | 1920 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 123° | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Ultrawide: 13 MP 3) Macro: 5 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 10 MP 3) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.8 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX766 | Samsung S5KGN3 |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.57" (≈ 0.64 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 10 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 70 mm |
| Sensor | - | Samsung S5K3K1 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.94" (≈ 0.25 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Optical |
| Image resolution | 13 MP | 12 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 12 mm | 13 mm |
| Sensor | OmniVision OV13B10 | Sony IMX564 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.06" (≈ 0.33 inch) | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1.12 micron | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Image resolution | 5 MP | - |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | - |
| Focal length | 50 mm | - |
| Sensor | Samsung S5K5E9 | - |
| Stabilization | Optical | - |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 55 | 70 |
| Preview | 69 | 72 |
| Zoom | 72 | 126 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Xiaomi 12 from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Aperture | f/2.4 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | OmniVision OV32B40 | Samsung S5K3LU |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | No | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6E (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 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 3.2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | - | Yes, DP 1.2 |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | No |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 1 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | 20 | 20 |
| 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 | February 2023 |
| Release date | December 2021 | February 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $580 | $799 |
| Successor | - Xiaomi 17 | - Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus (Snapdragon) |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.96 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.3 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 67 W | Not included |
Further details
Notes on Galaxy S23:
- The 128GB version uses slower UFS 3.1 memory, while the 256GB and 512GB models have UFS 4.0.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S23 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 108