Why buys Xiaomi 12 Lite?

The Xiaomi 12 Lite arrives a bit later than the rest of the 12 series. Aside from the completely revamped, boxy and trendy design, it brings an updated 120Hz OLED panel, a better 108MP main camera and faster charging. The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 778G, which is up to the task. Another notable update is the selfie camera. It has a higher, 32MP resolution, but more importantly, it offers autofocus. That's an extremely rare feature nowadays, and even most flagship devices omit it. We find it cool, yet puzzling, since even the Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro have the same 32MP shooters, but with fixed focus. Selfie lovers, rejoice!

It's nice to see the company able to fit the upgrade around the €400 mark, especially since many competitors bumped up their prices significantly. And if the Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE is anything to go by, price cuts will be coming sooner than you might expect. Even more so, there aren't many compact options around, and the Xiaomi 12 Lite seems to be targeting an audience seeking portability. After all, the 6.55-inch diagonal is rather compact in 2022. Moreover, the 12 Lite offers a lightweight and slim design.

Unboxing the Xiaomi 12 Lite

The device comes in a standard retail box containing the usual user manuals and the appropriate 67W wall charger. Of course, the USB-A to USB-C cable is also at hand used not only for charging but for data transfer as well.

Battery life

Since the new Lite and last year's generation share the same SoC, comparable displays and practically the same battery capacity (4,300 mAh on the 12 Lite vs. 4,250 mAh on the 11 Lite 5G NE), we expected mostly the same results. And that appears true for the screen-on tests where both devices got some respectable runtimes.