We subjected the Xiaomi 12 to our rigorous SBMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance both when recording sound using its built-in microphones, and when playing audio through its speakers.
In this review, we’ll break down how it fared across a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
The audio of the Xiaomi 12 was quite similar to the performance of the 12 Pro, even though the 12 has stereo speakers, compared to the four-speaker configuration of the 12 Pro. As for the volume, the Xiaomi 12 actually received a higher score than to the Pro version. But the Pro did better in other key areas such as playback dynamics. In playback, the Xiaomi 12 scored well in the game use case. Playback and recording showed good amplitude and few artifacts. Both playback and recording lacked bass for a premium segment device. But overall, the Xiaomi 12 remains a stable product with no major flaws and some great spots for all kinds of playback and recording scenarios.
Key audio specs include:
- Stereo speakers: top left – bottom left
- No audio jack output
- Dolby Atmos, tuned by Harman Kardon
Reproduction
Pros
- Pleasant tonal balance at maximum volume
- Quick attack and good punch on all volume levels
- Good amplitude
- Mostly free of artifacts
Cons
- Tonal balance lacks bass and sparkle, resulting in a rather muted overall sonority
- The first volume step is a little too low
Registration
Pros
- Excellent spatial performance, with particularly good amplitude in general and impeccable localizability
- Excellent dynamic performance, with good SNR and envelope yield
- Natural timbre in general, especially with the recorder app
- As for the fairly neat artifacts, except for a few clippings
Cons
- Serious lack of bass and limited high-end extension
- Lack of mid-bass and brightness
- Less convincing tonal performance in high SPL
Test summary
Learn about SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual assessment under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our reproduction protocol, click here; for more details on our registration protocol, click here.)
The following section collects the key elements of our exhaustive tests and analyzes performed in SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
How the audio playback score is composed
SBMARK engineers test playback through smartphone speakers, whose performance is evaluated in our labs and under real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
The tonal performance of the Xiaomi 12 is very good, especially at high volumes, although the tonal balance lacks some bass and treble, which puts an emphasis on the upper-mid range and makes the inconsistency of the lower-mid range evident. This combination makes the Xiaomi 12 slim and muffled. But the tone is much more satisfying at maximum volume due to higher brightness, despite some occasional and slightly aggressive resonances in the upper midrange. However, the overall lack of bass results in a subtle tonal balance, which improves as the volume increases. Dynamic performance is good, although the attack is hampered by distortion. The bass accuracy and punch of the Xiaomi 12 is quite good, regardless of the volume, despite the lack of bass energy and low-mid frequencies.
In the spatial attribute, the device offered decent localizability, with the exception of classical music where the detection of specific instruments was blurry. Amplitude was good and on par with the Mi 11 series, but the audio did not rotate accordingly in the inverted landscape, in both music and film applications. For the rest, the Xiaomi 12 offered a good balance, with a realistic rendering of the distance and the localizability of the voices. The maximum volume level of the Xiaomi 12 was satisfactory, when compared to intelligibility at the minimum volume level, which is below average, and will likely affect the audio experience of content with a wider dynamic range.
When it comes to artifacts, the Xiaomi 12 is almost devoid of them, except for a little bit of distortion. The main drawback of the device in this attribute is that it is easily occluded when held due to the position of the speakers in the upper left and lower left of the device.
Hear about the playback performance of the smartphone tested in this comparison with some of its competitors:
Here’s how the Xiaomi 12 fares in Playback use cases compared to its competitors:
The Timbre score represents how well a phone reproduces sound across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble, tonal balance and volume dependence. It is the most important attribute for reproduction.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as the precision with which a bass note or the impact sound of drums is reproduced.
Secondary attributes for spatial tests include identifying the position of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance and amplitude.
The volume score represents the overall volume of a smartphone and how the volume gradually increases and decreases based on user input.
Here are some sound pressure levels (SPLs) measured while playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:
| Hip-Hop | Classic | |
| Xiaomi 12 | 73.6 dB | 69.7 dB |
| Xiaomi 11T | 71.3 dBA | 68.6 dB |
| Google Pixel 6 | 74.8 dBA | 69.7 dB |
The graph below shows the gradual changes in volume from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume levels match user expectations:
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which sound is affected by various types of distortion. The higher the score, the less noise you notice. Distortion can occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the speakers.
How the audio playback score is composed
SBMARK engineers test the recording by evaluating the files recorded on reference audio equipment. These recordings are performed in our labs and in real-life conditions, using apps and predefined settings.
The Xiaomi 12 showed its strength in recording, with a slightly better subscore than that of the 12 Pro. The timbre was highlighted with a very natural tonal balance in the simulated use cases, but it was less so in an electronic concert, in the life video and selfie. In the main video app, timbre was affected by dull treble and very limited high-end reach, regardless of how the phone was held and the SPL scenario. Timbre was much better when using the recorder app, but tonal balance focused primarily on the midrange, depending on the content. Dynamic performance for a device in this segment was very good, with a full envelope and very little compression and pumping hampering the high SPL audio experience. Like most Xiaomi devices, the spatial performance offers a great breadth in life videos, with precise localizability and realistic distances in most use cases. Selfie videos, on the other hand, have a bit more limited amplitude and a tighter stereo scene. The Xiaomi 12 offers particularly excellent performance in maximum noise tests, where it exhibited almost no distortion at high SPL like electronic gigs. The Xiaomi 12 featured some noticeable artifacts such as slight pumping and clipping on loud explosions. Although the device does not handle easily, fingers near or on the microphone sound a little noisy when recording. The background noises, however, were not intrusive and were natural.
Here’s how the Xiaomi 12 performs in recording use cases compared to its competitors:
The Timbre score represents how well a phone captures sounds across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble and tonal balance. It is the most important attribute for registration.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately the explosives of a voice (p, tek, for example) are reproduced. The score also considers the Sound-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), such as how loud the main voice is compared to the background noise.
Secondary attributes for spatial tests include identifying the position of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance and amplitude on recorded audio files.
The volume score represents the normalization level of the audio on the recorded files and how the device handles noisy environments, such as electronic concerts, during recording.
Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); as a reference, we expect loudness levels to be higher than -24 LUFS for recorded content:
| Encounter | Life video | Selfie video | Memo | |
| Xiaomi 12 | -28.8 LUFS | -21.6 LUFS | -19.9 LUFS | -23.4 LUFS |
| Xiaomi 11T | -26.8 LUFS | -21.2 LUFS | -19.5 LUFS | -20.3 LUFS |
| Google Pixel 6 | -27.8 LUFS | -17.9 LUFS | -16.3 LUFS | -19.8 LUFS |
The Artifacts Score measures the extent to which recorded sounds are affected by various types of distortions. The higher the score, the less noise you notice. Distortions can occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the microphones, as well as user handling, such as the way the phone is held.
Hear about the artifacts in this excerpt, which was recorded in a fast-paced home environment:
Background evaluates how naturally the various sounds around a voice blend into the video recording file. For example, when recording a speech at an event, the background should not interfere with the main voice, but should provide context for the surrounding environment.
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