Xiaomi 12S Ultra Unboxing and First Impressions


Xiaomi introduced the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, the company’s latest flagship camera-centric phone, as the successor to last year’s 11 Ultra last month in China. This packs 50MP Sony IMX989 1″ sensor and has advanced optics co-engineered with Leica and also utilizes Leica imaging profiles. We got to check out the phone. Here we have the first impressions.

Box Contents

  • Xiaomi 12S Ultra 12GB + 256GB in Classic Black
  • Clear protective case
  • 2-pinch 67W fast charger
  • USB Type-C cable
  • SIM Ejector tool
  • User manual

The phone packs a 6.73-inch Quad HD+ AMOLED display with 1-120Hz variable refresh rate and has 480Hz touch sampling rate. The screen in bright, thanks to 1500 nits peak brightness. The screen also has HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. There is a 32MP camera inside the tiny punch-hole. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

It has an in-display fingerprint sensor. There is a small bezel below the display.

The power buttons and the volume rockers are present on the right side. The dual SIM slot, microphone, USB Type-C port and the speaker grill are present on the bottom. The secondary speakers, IR blaster and the secondary microphone are present on the top. The phone has a metal frame, so you can see the antenna lines.

Camera specs

  • 50MP rear camera with 1″ Sony IMX989 sensor, f/1.9 aperture, 23mm focal length, OIS
  • 48MP 1/2″ Sony IMX586 128° ultra-wide angle lens with f/2.2 aperture
  • 48MP 1/2″ Sony IMX586 periscope telephoto camera with f/4.1 aperture, 120mm equivalent focal length, OIS, 5x optical zoom, up to 120x digital zoom

It has Leica Summicron optics, Dolby Vision HDR video recording and 8K video recording. There is HyperOIS for ultra-stable performance. It has 8P aspheric lens to address common photography issues such as flare, ghosting, and chromatic aberration. The camera module also adds anti-glare lens coating, lens edge ink coating, cyclic olefin copolymer material, and infrared light filter with spin coating technology.

Images from the main camera with an 1″ sensor is brilliant. After pixel binning, the output is 3.2μm, thus reducing noise, extending dynamic range, increasing light captured, and achieving overall better imagery in low-light conditions, according to Xiaomi. You can select from Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant modes. There are some custom Leica filters and portrait modes

In addition to the 48MP ultra-wide camera also lets you shoot macro images and video, it also has a 48MP periscope telephoto camera that supports 5X optical zoom and up to 120X digital zoom. Zoom up to 20X is decent, but after that it loses details. Check out some camera samples.

The back of the phone has an environmentally-friendly silicone leather that offers a good grip. The phone has a 4,860mAh single-cell silicon-oxygen anode battery. It supports 67W wired fast charging, 50W wireless fast charging and 10W reverse wireless charging.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra is currently available only in China, and the company did not reveal any details about the global or India roll out yet.


Author: Srivatsan Sridhar

Srivatsan Sridhar is a Mobile Technology Enthusiast who is passionate about Mobile phones and Mobile apps. He uses the phones he reviews as his main phone. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram