Xiaomi officially launched the Xiaomi 12 Lite, the smallest sibling from their 12 series line up. The 12 lite is a successor to last years Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G. Here is what you get with the Xiaomi 12 Lite.
Display
The Xiaomi 12 Lite inherits the same 6.55” AMOLED display with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support from the 11 Lite NE 5G. The only difference between the two displays is that the 12 Lite’s display supports 120Hz refresh rate as opposed to 90Hz on the 11 Lite. The display also has a punch hole at the middle that houses the selfie camera.
Performance and storage
Under the hood the 12 Lite is yet again powered by the Snapdragon 778G chipset, built on the 6nm process. This comes as a surprise since this is the same SoC found in the 11 Lite NE 5G.
The Snapdragon 778G is a well optimized gaming chip and should handle all day to day tasks with ease. Low to medium games should also play fairly well with this chipset. The Snapdragon 778G is once again paired with either 6GB or 8GB RAM and 128GB or 256GB of internal storage.
Cameras
At the back the Xiaomi 12 Lite houses a 108MP main shooter with a Samsung HM2 sensor and f/1.9 aperture. Alongside it is a 8MP f/2.4 ultrawide camera and a 2MP macro snapper. I honestly don’t get why phone manufacturers bother including that 2MP macro snapper.
The selfie camera comes with a 32MP Samsung GD2 sensor and f/2.5 aperture lens. It is equipped with autofocus and plenty of software features, including Selfie portrait mode and Xiaomi Selfie Glow.
Battery and charging
The phone comes with a 4,300 mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging. Thankfully, the adapter comes bundled inside the box, a trend that is slowly being phased out lately. The phone also has dual SIM support with dual 5G standby. The user interface is MIUI 13, based on Android 12 outside the box.
Availability and pricing
The Xiaomi 12 Lite is offered in three color options, Black, Pink, and Green and in three memory tiers. The 6/128 GB version goes for $400 ( approximately Ksh47,000). Upgrading to 8/128GB will set you back $450 (approximately Ksh53,000) , while the top 8/256GB variant is $500 (approximately Ksh59,000).
The Xiaomi 12 Lite will be available in all Xiaomi authorized stores. You can also get it via their online store here.
What do you think about the 12 Lite? Is it worth buying or should one get the 11 Lite from last year? Let us know in the comments section below.
