Xiaomi 12T Pro announced: Xiaomi's first 200MP phone is here

Xiaomi has a tradition of launching a T-series family of phones in the second half of each year, often featuring flagship power and big batteries. It’s that time again, and the company has just revealed the Xiaomi 12T and 12T Pro.

The two phones have a variety of features in common, such as a 6.67-inch 120Hz OLED screen (2,712 x 1,220, Gorilla Glass 5), in-display fingerprint sensor, a 5,000mAh battery, 120W charging via an included charger, dual speakers, and MIUI 13 atop Android 12 (no Android 13 here yet).

Xiaomi 12T Pro: All the megapixels

The 12T Pro is the more premium offering here, as the name implies. Its standout feature is a 200MP main camera (Isocell HP1, with OIS), making it Xiaomi’s first 200MP phone. The ultra high-resolution sensor is used for 2x “in-sensor” zoom, with Xiaomi saying this option is ideal for portraits. The sensor is also capable of pixel-binning, combining data from 16 adjacent pixels into one 2.56-micron pixel for improved light gathering capabilities.

Unfortunately, those expecting similarly interesting secondary cameras will be disappointed. You’ve got a budget-tier 8MP ultrawide camera (120-degree field-of-view) and 2MP macro sensor here. Meanwhile, a 20MP camera handles selfies.

Otherwise, the Xiaomi 12T Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset. This should come as no surprise as many high-end phones released in the second half of the year are equipped with Qualcomm’s latest Plus silicon. But the new processor should still deliver greater efficiency and sustained performance over the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

Other noteworthy features include Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6.

Xiaomi 12T: A little less for a little less

The standard Xiaomi 12T is no slouch, either. But it swaps out the 200MP main camera in favor of a 108MP Isocell HM6 main camera. This sensor is smaller and has smaller pixels than the 108MP sensor used on the likes of the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Nevertheless, nona-binning tech means the Xiaomi 12T is able to combine data from nine adjacent pixels into one, delivering the equivalent of a 1.92-micron pixel.

Otherwise, you’ve got the same ho-hum 8MP ultrawide camera and 2MP macro sensor pairing as the Xiaomi 12T Pro. A 20MP camera can be found in a punch-hole cutout upfront.

Xiaomi’s standard phone misses out on the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 SoC, using the MediaTek Dimensity 8100-Ultra processor instead. This is certainly a sheer horsepower and feature downgrade for the most part, but the chipset still delivers performance on par with older Snapdragon flagship processors.

Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6 rounds out the Xiaomi 12T package.

Xiaomi 12T series pricing and availability

Like the idea of a 200MP smartphone? Then you’ll be splashing out a starting price of €749 (~$736) for the 8GB/128GB Xiaomi 12T Pro, although there are 8GB/256GB and 12GB/256GB options available as well. Meanwhile, the vanilla device will set you back €599 (~$589) for the 8GB/128GB model, with an 8GB/256GB variant on offer too.

Xiaomi also launched two other products in Europe today, namely the Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro and budget-tier Redmi Pad tablet. Expect to pay €99 (~$97) and €279 (~$274) respectively for these devices.