Xiaomi 12S Ultra crushes iPhone 13 Pro Max in game test

Most high-end smartphones are fast enough for most users, but from a performance standpoint, Apple’s A-series chips that power iPhones are ahead of SoCs that power Android phones. iPhones have traditionally offered better performance and graphics than Android phones, but Qualcomm may just be able to take that crown away.

Xiaomi 12S Ultra surpasses all other phones in game test

Xiaomi 12S Ultra vs other phones in Genshin Impact test

Golden Reviewer, who conducts in-depth smartphone reviews and tests, has discovered that Xiaomi’s latest flagship, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra has better gaming graphics than any other smartphone out there, including Apple’s.

The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, which is a huge improvement over the Gen 1, thanks to TSMC’s 4nm manufacturing process. According to Qualcomm, the chip offers 10 percent improved CPU performance and 10 percent faster GPU clocks than its predecessor, and is 30 percent more power efficient.

When running the resource-intensive game Genshin Impact, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra ran at higher frame rates than the others best smartphones of 2022. To be more specific, it offered an average FPS of 57.7. What’s even more impressive is that it managed to do that without heating up significantly, which was a problem with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

In fact, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra stayed cooler than most of the other smartphones on the list, such as the iPhone SE 2022, which is backed by Apple’s latest smartphone chip, the A15 Bionic, the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which also runs on the A15, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 version of the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

Interestingly, Xiaomi’s phone also appears to have better thermals than the Apple M1 powered iPad Air 2022.

The only device that gave a higher frame rate than the Xiaomi 12S Ultra was the A15-powered iPad Mini 6.

While we don’t have the CPU benchmark for the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, an Asus device running on the latest Qualcomm chip that my colleague Preslav Kateliev tested achieved 1,313 in the Geekbench 5 single-core test and 4,147 in the multi-core test.

For reference, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra scored 1,242 points in the single-core test and 3,538 in the multi-core test, and the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max scored 1,734 and 4,818 points in the same test.

So while Apple still has an edge, Qualcomm is catching up with the Cupertino giant. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is rumored to deliver even better performance and power efficiency.

Back to the 12S Ultra, it comes equipped with a 1-inch main camera sensor, making it capture more detail than phones with smaller sensors. Other specs include a large 6.73-inch OLED panel and a 4,860mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging.

Unfortunately, the phone is only sold in China. The price starts at RMB 5,999 (~$900).