Xiaomi 12 vs iPhone 13: which compact flagship will rule 2022?

Date:
Wed, 02 Mar 2022 18:00:33 +0000

Description:
Apple hit first and hard with the iPhone 13, but the Xiaomi 12 is shaping up to be a high-value alternative.

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The Xiaomi 12 has arrived, not as a direct like-for-like replacement for the Xiaomi Mi 11 , but as a compact and affordable flagship option.

That brings it into competition with the iPhone 13 , which also supplies more-or-less flagship specs in a relatively small form factor.

So which pocket-sized powerhouse is best? We havent had a chance to go hands-on with the Xiaomi 12 yet, but heres how these two phones shape up on paper. Xiaomi 12 vs iPhone 13 price and availability

The Xiaomi 12 started rolling out to the Chinese market on December 31, 2021. Theres no solid date for a global launch at the time of writing, but February or March is looking likely.

As for the price, you currently need to stump up CNY3,699 for the Xiaomi 12
in China. That works out to around $580/ 430 /AU$800, though such currency conversions never turn out to be an exact science.

The iPhone 13, for its part, landed on September 24, 2021. It costs $799 /
799 / AU$1,349 for 128GB of storage, moving up to $899 / 879 / AU$1,519 for 256GB and topping out at $1,099 / 1,079 / AU$1,869 for 512GB.

Whatever the Xiaomi 12s global price proves to be, its likely to be a fair
bit cheaper than the iPhone 13. The iPhone 13 is an expensive phone (Image credit: TechRadar) Design

The Xiaomi 12 is pretty small for an Android phone at 152.7 x 69.9 x 8.2mm, but it still looms large over the iPhone 13.

Apples current champ measures 146.7 x 71.5 x 7.65mm, so its much shorter and slimmer, if a little wider. At 179g, the Xiaomi 12 is 5g heavier than its competitor, too.

One things for sure, the iPhone 13 sports a much more distinctive design, albeit one thats almost identical to the iPhone 12 . Apples move back to a flat-edged design hasnt yet been copied by many rivals, so it still looks relatively unique. A Xiaomi 12 (Image credit: Xiaomi )

By contrast, the Xiaomi 12 looks slightly drab. We were fans of the Xiaomi Mi 11s svelte and curvaceous design, in particular its curved camera module. But the Xiaomi 12 has reverted to a more generic rectangular slab.

Well reserve full judgment for the final hardware, but for now, Apples design gets the nod.

One element that is preferable in the Xiaomi is its punch-hole camera
cut-out, which is much less obtrusive than the iPhone 13s bulky notch. The latter may be 20% smaller than before, but its still an eyesore. Display

The Xiaomi 12 has a slightly larger OLED display than the iPhone 6.28-inches versus 6.1-inches but its not quite as sharp.

With a 2400 x 1080 (FHD+) resolution, it only manages a pixel density of 419ppi. The iPhone 13s screen is 2532 x 1170 and 460 ppi.

The iPhone display also gets slightly brighter, to the tune of 1200 nits. By contrast, the Xiaomi 12 hits 1100 nits. The iPhone 13 is stuck with a 60Hz screen (Image credit: TechRadar)

Despite this, the Xiaomi 12 display gets the major bragging rights with a 120Hz refresh rate. Apple chose to reserve such a feature for its Pro line, meaning its mainstream phone is stuck at 60Hz.

This isnt to diminish the quality of Apples display, and the difference between the two can be overplayed at times. But its also true that once youve sampled a good quality 120Hz display, its difficult to go back.

We wont call this a clear win for the Xiaomi 12 just yet, as we havent seen
or handled the phones display in person. On paper, though, it might just have a slight edge. Camera

The Xiaomi 12 packs in a triple camera while the iPhone 13 sticks with a dual camera, but that may be the only photographic advantage it holds over Apples phone.

Not that the Xiaomi 12 camera is a bad set-up, by any means, but in some
ways, it appears to be a step back from the Xiaomi Mi 11. That camera, in turn, simply wasnt as good at taking pictures as the iPhone 13. Few phones are.

The Xiaomi 12 is led by a 50MP 1/1.56-inch wide sensor with an f/1.9
aperture. Thats backed by a 13MP 1/3.06-inch ultrawide (123-degree) sensor with an f/2.4 aperture.

Its extra sensor comes in the form of a 5MP telemacro that lets you take close-up shots without having to put your phone uncomfortably close to the subject. There are three rear cameras on the Xiaomi 12 (Image credit: Xiaomi
)

The iPhone 13 gives you a pair of 12MP sensors covering wide and ultra-wide duty. Apple claims that the wide sensor captures 47% more light than the iPhone 12, while it also fits in the sensor shift stabilization system from the iPhone 12 Pro Max .

Combined with Apples brilliant Night Mode algorithms, the iPhone 13 is a bit of a low-light monster. Well be extremely surprised if the Xiaomi 12 can
match it.

Both phones lack a pure telephoto lens, so you wont be getting any
super-sharp zoom shots. But at least the Xiaomi 12 has that 50MP main sensor, which has more pixels to burn when cropping in.

Well hold off on a final verdict until weve had a chance to shoot with the Xiaomi 12, but Apples peerless camera know-how and the iPhone 13 cameras
sheer quality (it really is very good) leads us to predict a comfortable win for the latter. Specs and performance

The Xiaomi 12 won headlines for being the first phone to use Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. Were going to be seeing this chip an awful lot in 2022, but we saw it here first.

We havent reviewed any Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 phones at the time of writing. Initial benchmarks results posted on the internet suggest a very modest bump in CPU power over the Snapdragon 888, but a larger boost (as much as 30-40%) to GPU power.

With those initial specs in mind, were predicting a comfortable win for the iPhone 13 and its A15 Bionic chip. At launch, Apple claimed that its latest chip was 50% faster than its closest Android rival, which was likely to be
the Snapdragon 888. The iPhone 13 has a whole lot of power (Image credit: TechRadar)

The Xiaomi 12 comes with 8GB or 12GB of RAM, while the iPhone 13 gives you 4GB. It might have half or even a third of the RAM, but the more efficient
way iOS works means that a direct comparison is pretty much pointless.

Elsewhere, the Xiaomi 12 gives you either 128GB or 256GB of internal storage. The iPhone 13 gives you the same, plus a 512GB option.

Both phones give you a pair of stereo speakers, but only the Xiaomi 12s are tuned by audio specialist Harman Kardon. Battery

The Xiaomi 12 comes equipped with a 4,500mAh cell, which is much bigger than the iPhone 13s 3,240mAh battery.

Dont take that as a likely indicator of the Xiaomi 12s superior stamina, however. As we mentioned, iOS tends to be a more energy-efficient OS than Android.

Indeed, the Xiaomi 12s battery has actually shrunk a little since the Xiaomi Mi 11, while the iPhone 13s has expanded since the iPhone 12.

In our iPhone 13 review, we were usually left with 20% in the tank at the end of an intensive day of usage. The Xiaomi Mi 11 wasnt anywhere near as good,
so Xiaomi needs to have improved things considerably if its to compete. A Xiaomi 12 (Image credit: Xiaomi )

One area where were confident in giving the Xiaomi 12 the win, even at this early stage, is recharging. You get a 67W charger in the box, for a 0 to 100% charge time of just 39 minutes.

Compare that to the iPhone 13s support for a mere 20W, which only gets you to 50% in 30 minutes. And you dont even get a charging brick in the box.

Its a similar story on the wireless charging front, with the Xiaomi 12 supplying 50W support and the iPhone 13 a mere 15W. Takeaway

We cant come to a comprehensive conclusion until weve had a chance to live with the global model of the Xiaomi 12 for a while. As things stand, this is looking like a pretty close fight.

Apples iPhone 13 has what appears to be the clear advantage in camera
quality, design, and performance. However, the Xiaomi 12 gives you a larger and more fluid display and much faster charging at what will almost certainly be a much lower price.

Both are highly desirable and capable compact flagship phones, however, and
we cant wait to get our hands on both for a proper head-to-head. After alternatives? Check out the best smartphones



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/news/xiaomi-12-vs-iphone-13/


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