Question Xiaomi 12 Price

[Parisix78]

Hello everyone,
I'm planning to buy a new smartphone around 300-400 euros, and I've seen the Xiaomi 12 but something is quite strange to me: in Amazon (and sold by Amazon), the price is around 400 euros already, when it has been released last year at 800 euros. Has there been any kind of problem with that phone that explains that huge drop in prices? Looking at the price it looks very tempting to buy it, but I'm thinking that that drop might be because it wasn't as good as expected and they had to lower the price according to its performances.
To compare:
- Xiaomi Mi 11 was sold (in Amazon) one month ago at 600 euros, which is higher than the price that was sold Xiaomi 12 at the same moment
- Xiaomi 12 Pro, that was sell at 1000 euros, hasn't got lower than 800 euros
- Samsung Galaxy S22, which was supposed to be the most similar in comparison, is still above 650 euros (initial price of 850 euros).
Thank you in advance!

 

[B. Diddy]

Are you sure it's a brand new unit, and not "Amazon Renewed" (i.e., refurbished)?

 

[Parisix78]

Are you sure it's a brand new unit, and not "Amazon Renewed" (i.e., refurbished)?

Yes, absolutely sure! And that price isn't only in Spain, it's also like that in France, Italy and Germany, all sold by Amazon and new. It's only for one of the colors, the other 2 are either around 520 euros or not sold by Amazon.

 

[B. Diddy]

Perhaps they had an unexpected overstock of that particular color, and need to clear inventory?

 

[Parisix78]

Perhaps they had an unexpected overstock of that particular color, and need to clear inventory?

I don't think so because it has been a progressive decrease on the price in the last year (here is the price in the last year, I think that when it gets to 800 euros it might be when they are out of stock in Amazon or something like that). It doesn't look like a punctual decrease with normal prices around 600 or more.

 

[methodman89]

And a Pixel 7 pro is under 600 now.
Good deals are out there.
Good luck

 

[Parisix78]

And a Pixel 7 pro is under 600 now.
Good deals are out there.
Good luck

I can only find it a 700 or more (in Europe at least). My other main option is more the Pixel 7a, which is around the same price as the Xiaomi 12, but seems to have a bit more problems with the battery duration and takes a long time to charge. On the other side, Xiaomi 12 seems to have problems with overheating and will get actualizations during a shorter time than Pixel 7a (since it has come 1 and a half year before). Camera seems to be kind of the same (even a bit better on Pixel 7a). I don't know if the battery will last longer on the long term or not in the Pixel 7a (does charging faster uses the battery more on the long term?). So yeah, not an easy choice to me.

 

[methodman89]

(NEW) Google Pixel 7 PRO 256GB - (UNLOCKED
On Woot, 519.99, addl 5%off if using Amazon cc

 

[Madd62]

Xiaomi do special deals all the time, if you catch the daily and weekly deals on their website or app Mi Store, which I follow in the UK.
There can be models not available on the Mi Store, but still available on Amazon and sold from their Xiaomi Store. An older model can often come back in stock, you can request an alert on the Mi Store site iirc.

Currently, here, the Xiaomi 12 (released Dec 21) is not selling on the Mi Store but Amazon UK has some at £398 from Xiaomi.
There are also at least 2 physical Xiaomi stores in the UK which can do special deals on models not stocked online.

£400 is a good price for the small Xiaomi 12 if you like a high spec but very small handset, but in almost 2024 I wouldn't pay more.
The Poco F5 or F5 Pro (Xiaomi), the later Xiaomi 12T, and 12T Pro (which I currently fancy as an as new used buy) would tempt me more, or move up to the 13T if it's reduced from £549.

The Xiaomi 12 came with Android 12 and should eventually get Android 15, (3 years OS support from release) though it's 4 years promise of Security patches can be "patchy" at more than 3 months between updates in later life. Reddit owners of it and the later 12T are complaining, but not always fairly.
I would worry slightly about buying in one European country and waiting for updates for it to roll in to another EU country, though it shouldn't matter on the Global / EEA version - just what some people are saying.

If you fancy the compact Xiaomi 12 at €400 and it's a Global version from Xiaomi (not Chinese or Indian iirc) it's a good buy - but there are alternatives.

This is from an owner of two 2020 Xiaomi phones.

Another member here has upgraded a Xiaomi)Redmi Note 10 (pro / plus?) to a Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus. The Redmi Note 13 series is due for global release imminently. Redmi models have had slightly shorter support (2 + 3 yrs iirc) but are as good without having a flagship chipset.

I write this by the chimney waiting for Santa as I wanted to change my order.