What you need to know
- Xiaomi has confirmed that the Xiaomi 12 series will be refreshed next month.
- The Xiaomi 12S series will feature Leica-powered cameras on the back.
- Xiaomi says the upcoming phones will be this year's flagship standard.
Xiaomi has confirmed that it will introduce a refresh to the Xiaomi 12 models that launched earlier this year, and the upcoming Android phone series appears to pack significant upgrades over the earlier versions.
The Chinese phone maker has teased the July 4 launch of the Xiaomi 12S series, with Leica-powered cameras (via GSMArena). It will include the base Xiaomi 12S, 12S Pro, and 12S Ultra.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has also shared a render of the Xiaomi 12S Pro on Weibo, revealing the phone's design. It clearly looks like the Xiaomi 12 Pro, although details about the next-generation handset remain unknown at this time.
Nonetheless, the company said via a Weibo post that the 12S Pro is the new flagship standard for this year, while the 12S is its smaller high-end flagship. This implies that the upcoming phones will be vastly improved over the original models. While we don't know much about the Xiaomi 12S series, a new rumor may provide some hints.
According to tipster Mukul Sharma, Xiaomi will introduce a new model, which apparently shares a few specs with the Xiaomi 12 series, including a 120Hz screen refresh rate, 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and up to 256GB of internal storage. The rumored device is tentatively called the Xiaomi 12T, but it's a safe bet that it refers to the Xiaomi 12S range.
The Xiaomi 12T will purportedly be powered by a beefier Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, which will be found in tomorrow's best Android phones.
This means the phone will join other future models from ASUS, Black Shark, Lenovo, Motorola, OnePlus, OPPO, Xiaomi, and a ton of other Chinese brands that will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 refresh. The flagship processor is supposed to show up on smartphones as early as June.
If the rumor is true, the upcoming handset will be a significant upgrade over the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro. The latest Xiaomi models include a 4nm-based Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC.
Additionally, the Xiaomi 12T will purportedly have a faster charging speed at 120W. While the Xiaomi 12 Pro boasts the same speed, the Xiaomi 12 dwarfs in comparison, if the rumor is anything to go by. The latter (along with the Xiaomi 12X) comes with a 4,500mAh battery with 67W fast charging capabilities. This isn't to say that speed is underwhelming, but the addition of 120W charging marks a solid improvement.
Sharma also claims that the phone will include NFC support, OIS for its main camera, and MIUI 13 based on Android 12.
The Xiaomi 12 Pro features a striking design, high-quality internal hardware, a stunning 120Hz AMOLED screen with quad speakers, and 120W wired / 50W wireless charging.
