Like Motorola a little before it, Xiaomi is offering a 200 megapixel module for the first time. A new step in the world of mobile photography, which had already made good progress in 2019 when 108 megapixels arrived on the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro. To this very defined module is glued an ultra wide-angle of 8 megapixels. Unfortunately, the 12T Pro doesn’t make room for a telephoto lens, and that’s quite unfortunate.
Module principal : 200 mégapixels, f/1,7, eq. 23 mm
The transition from a definition of 48 Mpx to 108 Mpx was quite impressive and we had enough expectations for this new gap of 200 Mpx. Especially for *pixel-binning* by 16, which consists of merging 16 pixels to form one. Enough to hope for default shots (12.5 megapixels) of excellent quality. But the reality is quite different. Unfortunately, at 12.5 megapixels, the results are quite disappointing. For more details, we have dissected this module in a laboratory article:
Very saturated colors and a flagrant lack of detail, this is more or less what we can remember from the default mode of this Xiaomi 12T Pro. Fortunately, its 50 and 200 megapixel modes save it, since they allow you to benefit from much more detailed shots – even if the colorimetry is still questionable. As it stands, it’s best to shoot in 50 megapixels, the mode that offers the best compromise. Indeed, in 200 megapixels, the shots are heavy and risk filling up your phone’s memory too quickly.
Module ultra grand-angle : 8 mégapixels, f/2,2, eq. 11 mm
While the ultra wide-angle displayed 50 megapixels on the Xiaomi 12 Pro, the 12T Pro revises its ambitions downwards with an “only” 8 megapixel module. It is therefore one of the elements undergoing the compromises imposed by the integration of this famous 200 megapixel main sensor. It is impossible here to compare Xiaomi’s smartphone with that of Motorola, the Lenovo brand equipping its Edge 30 Ultra with a 50 megapixel sensor, very far from the definition adopted by the 12T Pro.
The lack of sharpness is certainly obvious in the photos that we took in the laboratory, but it is clear that, by day, the Xiaomi smartphone brings a fairly soft treatment to its images. The result is therefore more pleasant than that of the Reno 8 Pro, marked by largely accentuated contrasts. At night, on the other hand, there are some artefacts in addition to a general smoothing of the image.
Front module, portrait and video mode
At the front, the smartphone has a 20-megapixel module whose lens opens at f / 2.2. A rather good front sensor overall, but which tends to smooth the lines quite strongly and to offer a slightly too strong exposure. In portrait mode, the clipping is a little too marked, but the software manages to cut out a subject from the background very well. Fortunately, it is possible to correct the background blur in the followingmath for a softer result.
In video, the 12T Pro is capable of filming in 8K at 24 fps or in 4K at 30 or 60 fps. The main module has optical stabilization (OIS) to limit the effects of shaking.