Xiaomi is all set to launch the Xiaomi 12S series next week. The lineup will consist of three models, namely Xiaomi 12S, Xiaomi 12S Pro, and Xiaomi 12S Ultra.
The former two will be an upgraded version of Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro, which were unveiled at the end of December. Whereas, the latter will be the successor of the Mi 11 Ultra from last year.
Here in this article, let’s take a look at the two cheaper models. We have compiled everything that’s known about them ahead of their official announcement.
Xiaomi 12S, 12S Pro Launch Date
The Xiaomi 12S and the Xiaomi 12S Pro are scheduled to launch in China on July 4. They will be accompanied by the company’s most premium slab smartphone of 2022 – Xiaomi 12S Ultra. The firm will be also announcing the Xiaomi Book Pro 2022 and the Xiaomi Band 7 Pro at this event.
The Xiaomi 12S series launch conference will be live-streamed on multiple platforms like Weibo, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Xiaomi Community, and Mi.com. It will kickstart at 7 PM GMT+8.
Xiaomi 12S, 12S Pro Design
Xiaomi has officially disclosed the design of the Xiaomi 12S Pro. The smartphone will be identical to the Xiaomi 12 Pro. Hence, the Xiaomi 12S is also expected to be a lookalike of the Xiaomi 12. The only major difference between the two lineups will be the presence of the ‘Leica’ branding on the new one.
The two phones will sport a centered punch-hole curved display on the front. The right side will house the power button and the volume rocker, while the left side will be empty.
The top part of the handsets will consist of an IR blaster, secondary microphone hole, speaker grille, and Harmon Kardon branding. Whereas, the bottom will comprise a SIM card slot, primary microphone hole, USB Type-C port, and another speaker grille.
Like any other premium smartphones, they will feature a glass sandwich design with a metal frame. The rear matte glass panel will house a rectangular island on the top left corner with one giant camera, two small cameras, an LED flashlight, and ‘Leica’ branding.
Finally, the bottom left side of the back panel will include the Xiaomi branding. The devices are expected to arrive in White and other color options.
Xiaomi 12S, 12S Pro Specifications
The Xiaomi 12S and the Xiaomi 12S Pro are said to retain the specs from Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro, respectively with some minor changes.
Chipset
The new models will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset instead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. Xiaomi will be also offering a variant of the Xiaomi 12S Pro with a Mediatek Dimensity 9000 chip.
Cameras
Further, the handsets have been confirmed to come with a 50MP Sony IMX707 primary camera sensor. This sensor is already present on the Xiaomi 12 Pro but the Xiaomi 12 has a 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor. Hence, only the smaller model will be getting a camera hardware upgrade.
Xiaomi is yet to reveal the remaining two rear cameras and the front camera of these devices. But since the devices are near identical to Xiaomi 12 series, they may have the same secondary and front-facing cameras.
If this is true, then the Xiaomi 12S and the Xiaomi 12S pro will nest a 32MP selfie camera in the punch-hole on the front. The former will sport a 13MP ultra-wide camera and 5MP telemacro camera, while the latter will come with a 50MP ultra-wide camera and a 50MP 2x telephoto camera.
Unlike the Xiaomi 12 series, the cameras on the Xiaomi 12S series will provide image processing co-tuned by Leica and Xiaomi.
Display
Talking about the screen, the Xiaomi 12S will likely sport a 6.28-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with 1100 nits peak brightness, while the Xiaomi 12S Pro will probably flaunt a 6.73-inch QHD+ LTPO 2.0 (up to 1Hz) AMOLED display with 1500 nit peak brightness. The 10-bit panels on these phones will offer up to a 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision support, an in-screen fingerprint sensor, and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection.
Miscellaneous
Both the handsets are expected to arrive with features like Harmon Kardon-tuned stereo speakers (dual on 12S and quad on 12S Pro), 5G connectivity, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, GNSS, NFC, IR blaster, and USB Type-C port. On the software front, they will boot MIUI 13 based on Android 12.
Battery
The Xiaomi 12S is expected to get its energy from a 4,500mAh battery with support for 67W fast wired charging. On the other hand, the Xiaomi 12S Pro will likely house a larger 4,600mAh battery with 120W fast charging support. Either way, both of them will carry support for 50W fast wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging.
Variants
The Xiaomi 12S and the Xiaomi 12S Pro will arrive in 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB, and 12GB + 512GB memory configurations. Interestingly, the Dimensity 9000 variant of Xiaomi 12S Pro will not be avaialble in 8GB + 128GB combo.
Xiaomi 12S, 12S Pro Expected Price
The Xiaomi 12S series could be priced similar to the Xiaomi 12 series since the new models are merely a mid-year refresh with some minor changes. As a result, the older phones may either receive a price cut or get discontinued.
For the unaware, the Xiaomi 12 and the Xiaomi 12 Pro start at ¥3,699 ($552) and ¥4,699 ($701), respectively for the base 8GB + 128GB variant in China.
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