We subjected the Xiaomi 12T 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


Key audio specs include:

  • Two speakers (front top / bottom)
  • No audio jack output
  • Dolby Atmos technology

Reproduction

Pros

  • Almost free of audio artifacts
  • Solid and consistent dynamic yield
  • Quite natural stamp

versus

  • Poor minimum volume yield
  • Imperfect tonal balance from weak lows and dull highs
  • Slightly disappointing spatial performance

Registration

Pros

  • Excellent spatial performance in all use cases and applications
  • Natural tonal balance
  • Good dynamic performance in all use cases
  • Effective wind noise reduction

versus

  • Not suitable for recording high sound pressure levels
  • Lack of bass in tonal balance, slight excess of lower treble
  • No audio zoom function


In SBMARK Audio tests, the Xiaomi 12T delivered excellent performance for its price range. Compared to all devices tested to date, the results have been good for recording and average for playback. Overall, the 12T performed best for consuming music content, but it wasn’t far off for gaming and watching movies. The sound reproduced through the built-in speakers was almost free of artifacts and offered consistently solid dynamics. It also featured a natural timbre. On the downside, the minimum volume setting was too low and tonal balance was held back by weak lows and dull highs. Space performance could also have been better.

When used to record audio, Xiaomi worked best with the memo app, but it also worked well when using the main and front cameras. Recorded audio files offered good breadth and localizability, as well as good dynamics and natural tonal balance. Wind noise reduction was also effective. However, things fell apart at high sound pressure levels, such as when recording gigs, with the quality of the recording significantly diminishing in most test attributes.

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.

In Playback, the 12T provided a fairly natural tone overall, but was held back by the lack of treble and some lack of bass. Dynamic rendition was decent, with a fairly good attack, decent bass, and accurate rendition of the low-end elements, as well as good punch. Spatial performance was pretty average, with a stereo scene that sounded rather tight and a distance rendition that could have been more accurate. Localizability was decent, but it could be tricky to isolate individual sound sources in the scene.

The volume at the maximum volume setting was average, but the minimum volume was too low, making some content unintelligible. The passages in the volume could also have been more consistent. The artifact results were a highlight, with only a little distortion and compression at maximum volume and an overall almost artifact-free experience.

Hear about the playback performance of the smartphone tested in this comparison with some of its competitors:

Recordings of smartphones that play some of our music at 60 LAeq in an anechoic environment from 2 microphones in AB configuration, at 30 cm

Here’s how the Xiaomi 12T fares in Playback use cases compared to its competitors:

Playback of use case scores

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.

Music playback frequency response

A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, which measures the volume of each frequency emitted by the smartphone when playing a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.

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 played.

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 when playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:

Hip-Hop Classic
Xiaomi 12T 74.8 dBA 69.4 dB
Apple iPhone 14 74.8 dBA 71.9 dBA
Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G 72.5 dBA 72.1 dBA

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:

Music volume texture

This line graph shows the relative playback volume versus the user-selected volume step, measured at different volume levels with correlated pink noise in an anechoic box recorded on axis at 0.20 meters.

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.

Total harmonic distortion reproduction (maximum volume)

This graph shows the total harmonic distortion and noise in the audible frequency range.
It represents the distortion and noise of the device reproducing our test signal (0 dB Fs, Sweep Sine in an anechoic box at 40 cm) at the maximum volume of the device.

How the score of the audio recording is composed

SBMARK engineers test the recording by evaluating recorded files on reference audio equipment. These recordings are performed in our labs and in real-life conditions, using apps and predefined settings.

Audio files recorded with the 12T offered a nice and quite natural tonal balance, despite the lack of bass and slightly excessive highs. However, at high sound pressure levels, such as when recording concerts, the tonal balance became very subtle and almost crafty. Under such conditions, our testers noted a severe lack of low-end bass and extension, as well as a dull treble and lack of high-end extension. The rendering of the envelope was consistent across most use cases, with accurate attacks and sharp explosives, even in noisy situations. That said, the accuracy of the envelope suffers greatly at high sound pressure levels.

The Xiaomi 12T’s recordings offered good breadth with the main camera and memo app, but the soundstage was more restricted when recording portrait-oriented selfie videos. The rendering of the distance was quite realistic and the individual sound sources were easy to spot in the scene. The recording volume was good, but high SPLs resulted in major changes to the original sound. As with playback, artifacts were a strong point in recording, with nearly artifact-free audio files at nominal volume. That said, there was some distortion and the soundstage traveled from left to right unpredictably with loud content, such as screaming voices or in windy conditions.

In noisy situations, our testers also observed pumping, strong compression, distortion and hiss. The tonal balance of the background was natural but lacked some bass, like the recording in general.

Here’s how the Xiaomi 12T fares in recording use cases compared to its competitors:

Record of use case scores

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.

Life video frequency response

A 1 / 12th octave frequency response graph, which measures the volume of each frequency captured by the smartphone when recording a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.

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 signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), such as how loud the main voice is compared to the background noise.

Secondary attributes for spatial tests include locating the position of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance and amplitude on recorded audio files.

Directivity of registration

Smartphone directivity graph when recording test signals using the camera app, with the main camera. It represents the acoustic energy (in dB) on the angle of incidence of the sound source. (Normalized to the 0 ° angle, in front of the device.)

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:

Match Life video Selfie video Memo
Xiaomi 12T -27.9 LUFS -21.3 LUFS -19.5 LUFS -21.4 LUFS
Apple iPhone 14 -23.8 LUFS -22.5 LUFS -20.5 LUFS -18.7 LUFS
Oppo Reno8 Pro 5G -23.2 LUFS -21.8 LUFS -18.9 LUFS -17.8 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.

In this audio comparison, you can hear how this smartphone handles wind noise compared to its competitors:

Recordings of a voice sample with light background noise, facing a turbulent wind of 5 m / s

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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Philip Owell

Professional blogger, here to bring you new and interesting content every time you visit our blog.