The Xiaomi 12S Ultra has the world's largest smartphone camera in more ways than one.
Not only does this phone have the current largest physical sensor inside, but also,
as you can see by the included clear rubber case, this 12S Ultra has the world's largest camera bump
on the outside. A singular monocle traversing nearly the entire width of the phone.
It is memorable to be sure, but is Xiaomi's latest design
durable? That's what we're here to find out. This video is sponsored by Audible. Let's get started.
[Intro]
On the front side, this 12S Ultra looks just like any other smartphone made within the last 5 years.
It's only when we get to the backside that things start looking very different. Instead
of every camera having its own circular lens, we have one giant umbrella of glass covering all
three cameras at once. And it really is mostly glass back here with no raised metal lips for
scratch or drop protection, which is a brave move. Let's start with the front.
As always we have our Mohs scale of hardness which visually tells us what the screen is made from.
Plastic scratches at a 2 or 3. Normally we see phones rock side to side during this test,
but with the camera bump the size of the phone, this Xiaomi 12S Ultra rocks top to bottom, and of
course, comes with an included plastic screen protector. If the screen is made from glass,
it'll scratch at a 5 or 6. And if it's made from sapphire it'll scratch at an 8 or 9.
A diamond phone, which we have yet to find, would be a level 10 on Mohs scale of hardness.
As we see, we do get scratches at a level 6, with deeper grooves at a level 7,
which means that Xiaomi is using tempered glass in their flagship. That same scratch resistant
glass is protecting the 32 megapixel hole punch selfie camera. The earpiece slit is super thin
up here at the top of the phone. Not enough room for a speaker grill. The sides of the
phone are made from metal, including the rather small power button, and then volume rocker.
The buttons here are not removable like we have seen on Samsung's phones.
The top of the phone is actually plastic with no glint of metal underneath the Harman
Garden branding. Just a microphone, light sensor, and one of the stereo loudspeakers.
The left side of the phone is rather uneventful,
just more metal. Down at the bottom we have our second loudspeaker, 67 watt fast charging USB-C
port, and our dual SIM card tray with an orange rubber waterproofing ring to help with the IP68
water resistance. So far, all pretty standard for a smartphone. Making our way to the back panel.
Xiaomi has their logo reflectively and securely inlaid into the self-proclaimed, environmentally
friendly, silicone leather back panel. There is a 50 watt wireless charger in here somewhere.
And while I mean, Xiaomi is technically correct that silicone is slightly environmentally better
than plastic, let's not kid ourselves about any of this actually being good for the environment.
Planned obsolescent e-waste does not suddenly become clean just because a cow didn't die.
Where was I? Oh yeah, the camera lens. Tucked up inside the beach ball sized camera bump
are three separate cameras all protected by one giant thick slab
of glass – like a big contact lens. Or, you know, Mike Wazowski's face.
Speaking of aliens and lenses though, I learned recently that when the Hubble telescope was
launched into space way back in 1990, it was actually near instantly unusable because the
large, almost 8 foot mirror that collected light had been accidentally ground down to the wrong
shape and was producing very blurry images. It was an error of astronomical proportions. I
learned about this mistake while listening to the audiobook “Handprints on Hubble” from my
channel's sponsor, Audible, written by Katherine Sullivan, the first woman to walk in space.
The audiobook details how NASA was able to fix the telescope with astronauts while it was still in
orbit, since Hubble was designed to be modular, repairable, and upgradable from the get go,
which is pretty cool. That modularity is one of the reasons why Hubble is still functioning today,
taking awesome images 30 years after its launch. If you want to listen to “Handprints on Hubble,”
new members can try Audible for free for 30 days, with the link down in the description.
Audible.com/jerryrig. Audible comes with a huge selection of audiobooks of course,
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of course, you'll get to choose a new title to add to your library every month.
Personally, I kind of like the more technical documentary style audiobooks, but man, they do
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pile of junk, that “Handprints on Hubble” link is down in the description. Audible.com/jerryrig or
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Now, luckily the lens atop Xiaomi's 12S Ultra doesn't need to be optically precise
since it's here mostly for protection and not necessarily for any photographic precision.
The bottom camera is the 45 megapixel telephoto. The center camera is the 48
megapixel wide angle lens. And the main camera, the one with the one inch massive sensor,
surprisingly is the one off to the side and not the one front and center.
We'll dig more into that from the inside during the teardown. Since the singular lens is made
from glass though, I'm already looking forward to all the cracked camera backs we're about to see.
Make sure to tag me on Twitter if yours ends up breaking
so we can all supportively, of course, join in your misery. There is, of course,
an optical underscreen fingerprint scanner. Pretty standard on smartphones these days,
but it also doesn't seem to be working all that great registering my fingerprint.
Now, my fingerprints probably aren't the best candidates though. After working on all kinds
of projects, the surfaces of my fingers aren't photogenic enough to function properly with a lot
of these scanners. Either way, I don't use them very often, and I'm also not too worried about it.
Xiaomi has pulled out all the stops with their display though. With 1440 pics, 1500 nits,
10 bits, and 120 hz, it's what we would expect in a flagship. And, of course, all 6.7 inches
lasted about 30 seconds under the heat from my lighter before going white and not recovering,
which means it's AMOLED. Now for the bend test. A camera lens that spans the whole
back panel might just be a weak point. Xiaomi hasn't always survived my tests, intentionally
dividing a phone in half might just provide the hypothetical dotted line it needs to snap along.
And while there was a significant bop, there doesn't appear to be any catastrophic damage
like we saw in the OnePlus 10. This Xiaomi 12S Ultra does sure flex quite a bit, but the camera
lens itself remains intact and the phone is still functional. Turns out that pop we encountered
was a subluxation of the upper perimeter with propinquity to the antenna line. A weak spot
we have seen on other smartphones, but without catastrophic results in this particular case.
Even with this newly minted minor physical flaw, the phone does live on and still functions, which
means the Xiaomi 12S Ultra passes my durability test. Nice work, Xiaomi. Thumbs up for that.
The design of this 12S Ultra is definitely outside the box, memorable, and now we know,
mostly durable. Let me know a phone you want to see tested next down in the comments.
Come hang out with me on Instagram and Twitter. Grab your free audiobook with
a link in the description. And thanks a ton for watching. I'll see you around.