Xiaomi 12 size confirmed and it’s clearly positioned as a Galaxy S22 rival

Generally speaking, most new top-end smartphones are huge – small phones largely aren’t as popular as big ones, as evidenced by the iPhone 12 mini’s poor sales and the lack of options for smaller mobiles on the market.

One of the outliers in this trend is the lowest-end Samsung Galaxy S phone each year, but official Xiaomi 12 news suggests the upcoming Galaxy S22 could have a close rival.

Ahead of the official launch on December 28, Xiaomi has been teasing information about its new family of smartphones, and on Chinese social media network Weibo it confirmed that the Xiaomi 12 will have a 6.28-inch screen.

That’s positively tiny compared to the Xiaomi Mi 11’s 6.81-inch display. In the post, Xiaomi compared it to the 6.1-inch iPhone 13. 

Since we’re expecting the Xiaomi 12 to launch alongside a similar-design sibling, there could still be a big mobile launching, but we now know the base model will be rather small.

We’re expecting the Galaxy S22 to clock in at 6.2 inches too, since that was the S21’s size and Samsung doesn’t change too much between generations. So while one of the big differences between Xiaomi and Samsung’s 2021 phones was screen sizes, that doesn’t seem to be the case for 2022.

Analysis: a Galaxy brained idea?

It’s hard to view the 0.6-inch shrinking between Mi generations as anything other than a direct move on Xiaomi’s part to better rival Samsung’s flagship offering – we don’t really see any other premium Android mobiles with 6.2-inch displays.

We already know the Xiaomi 12 is launching alongside a larger option, so people who want huge displays will be served with the new phones, but now those who need more compact devices will have an option too. Xiaomi didn’t really have such a phone in its line-up before, so this is a smart move to cater to a select audience that previously had to stick with a Galaxy S mobile.

The Xiaomi 12 will likely remain the more premium option in terms of design, though. With recent generations of Galaxy S flagship, Samsung has been embracing traits more often seen in budget devices, like plastic builds and flat-edge screens, whereas we’ll likely see the Xiaomi 12 have a curved-edge display and a glass back.

Various posters have shown off the Xiaomi 12’s front countless times, but we’re still waiting to see its back – or anything about its internals at all, really. TechRadar will be covering the December 28 launch live, so check back to the site then for everything you need to know about the new flagship phone.