Xiaomi 12 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.73-inch Xiaomi 12 Pro (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1) that was released on December 28, 2021, against the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and came out 13 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 12 Pro
- Supports higher wattage charging (120W versus 45W)
- Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
- Weighs 29 grams less
- Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
- Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
- The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom
- Shows 60% longer battery life (41:06 vs 25:40 hours)
- Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
- Comes with 400 mAh larger battery capacity: 5000 vs 4600 mAh
- 30% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1517K versus 1162K)
- Delivers 22% higher peak brightness (1282 against 1055 nits)
- More recent OS version: Android 13 versus 12
- The phone is 1-year and 1-month newer
- The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
- Ready for eSIM technology
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Value for money
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | Dynamic AMOLED |
| Size | 6.73 inches | 6.8 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels | 1440 x 3088 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 20:9 | 19.3:9 |
| PPI | 521 ppi | 500 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 120 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 970 nits | 850 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1500 nits | 1750 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass Victus | Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 89.6% | 89.5% |
| Display features |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 96.9% |
| PWM | 367 Hz | 240 Hz |
| Response time | 5 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.6 mm (6.44 inches) | 163.4 mm (6.43 inches) |
| Width | 74.6 mm (2.94 inches) | 78.1 mm (3.07 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.66 mm (0.34 inches) | 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) |
| Weight | 204 g (7.2 oz) | 233 g (8.22 oz) |
| Waterproof | No | IP68 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Green, Pink | White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Purple |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy |
| Max clock | 3000 MHz | 3360 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (1 + 3 + 4) | 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) |
| Architecture |
- 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.5 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 1 core at 3 GHz: Cortex-X2 |
- 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710 - 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715 - 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3 |
| L3 cache | 6 MB | 8 MB |
| Lithography process | 4 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Graphics | Adreno 730 | Adreno 740 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 2560 |
| GPU clock | 818 MHz | 719 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2512.8 GFLOPS | ~3481.6 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
AnTuTu Benchmark 10
| CPU | 310850 | 377304 |
| GPU | 404697 | 596398 |
| Memory | 206389 | 271911 |
| UX | 238519 | 261336 |
| Total score | 1162829 | 1517214 |
3DMark Wild Life Performance
| Max surface temperature | 41.2 °C | 34.8 °C |
| Stability | 68% | 64% |
| Graphics test | 55 FPS | 72 FPS |
| Graphics score | 9302 | 12154 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | 11824 | 15596 |
| Video editing | 7637 | 7791 |
| Photo editing | 29183 | 33958 |
| Data manipulation | 9393 | 12948 |
| Writing score | 14790 | 19802 |
Memory
| RAM size | 8, 12 GB | 8, 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5X |
| Memory clock | 3200 MHz | - |
| Channels | 2 | 4 |
| Storage size | 128, 256 GB | 256, 512, 1024 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 3.1 | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 12 | Android 13 |
| ROM | MIUI 13 | One UI 5.1 |
| OS size | 26.5 GB | 39.9 GB |
Battery
| Capacity | 4600 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 120 W | 45 W |
| Battery type | Li-Po | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (50 W) | Yes (15 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes, (wireless) |
| Fast charging | Yes (50% in 8 min) | Yes (68% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 0:21 hr | 0:59 hr |
| Web browsing | 08:57 hr | 14:50 hr |
| Watching video | 10:04 hr | 19:27 hr |
| Gaming | 05:05 hr | 06:21 hr |
| Standby | 89 hr | 123 hr |
General battery life
Camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 200 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8700 x 5800 | 16320 x 12240 |
| Zoom | Optical, 2x | Optical, 10x |
| Flash | Dual LED | LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 24FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 1920 FPS (720p) | 960 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 115° | 120° |
| Lenses | 3 (50 MP + 50 MP + 50 MP) | 4 (200 MP + 10 MP + 10 MP + 12 MP) |
| Wide (main) lens |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 24 mm - Pixel size: 1.22 micron - Sensor: 1/1.28", Sony IMX707 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
- 200 MP
- Aperture: f/1.7 - Focal length: 23 mm - Pixel size: 0.64 micron - Sensor: 1/1.3", Samsung ISOCELL HP2 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Laser autofocus - Optical stabilization |
| Telephoto lens |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/1.9 - Focal length: 48 mm - Pixel size: 0.64 micron - Sensor: 1/2.76", Samsung JN1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) - Phase autofocus |
- 10 MP
- Aperture: f/4.9 - Focal length: 230 mm - Pixel size: 1.12 micron - Sensor: 1/3.52", Sony IMX754 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) - Optical stabilization |
| Ultra-wide lens |
- 50 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 14 mm - Pixel size: 0.64 micron - Sensor: 1/2.76", Samsung JN1 (ISOCELL Plus CMOS) |
- 12 MP
- Aperture: f/2.2 - Focal length: 13 mm - Pixel size: 1.4 micron - Sensor: 1/2.55", Sony IMX564 (Exmor-RS CMOS) - Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Camera features |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode - RAW support |
| Samples | Photo samples of Xiaomi 12 Pro from DxOMark | Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra from DxOMark |
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 4000 x 3000 |
| Aperture | f/2.5 | f/2.2 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Pixel size | 0.7 microns | 1.12 microns |
| Sensor type | CMOS | ISOCELL CMOS |
| Sensor size | 1/3.14" | 1/3.24" |
| Video resolution | 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
DxOMark camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic camera score
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 5.2 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 3.2 |
| USB features |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC * | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | No |
| Number of SIM * | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support * | No | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat * | 20 | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | December 2021 | February 2023 |
| Release date | December 2021 | February 2023 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.96 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 1.4 W/kg |
| Sensors |
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 120 W | Not included |
*
Disclaimer!
NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is definitely a better buy.