When considering buying a new laptop, many users prefer to stick with well-known brands. That’s where companies like Dell, HP, and ASUS have an advantage, as they’re considered more “reliable” in the personal computer (PC) space. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for other brands to gain a foothold. Xiaomi, which leads the smartphone market in India, has launched another laptop for the Indian market. The new Mi Notebook Pro 120G is powered by the latest 12th-generation Intel processors and has a display refresh rate of 120Hz. But is it worth buying? Here is our review.
Mi Notebook Pro 120G Specifications: 14-inch 2.5K display, 120Hz refresh rate | 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and Nvidia X550 graphics processor | 16GB RAM + 512GB PCIe Gen 4.0 storage | 56Wh battery 100W charging | Windows 11
Mi Notebook Pro 120G price in India: Rs 74,999
Mi Notebook Pro 120G: what’s so good?
The Notebook Pro 120G has an aluminum body, and Xiaomi says they used an aerospace-grade Series 6 for this laptop to ensure a more premium look. The laptop comes in an Apple-inspired space gray color. But that’s not a bad thing. There’s very little branding at the top, and you can easily open the laptop with just one hand.
The Mi Notebook Pro weighs around 1.4kg, so it’s heavier than the MacBook, but still not too heavy or bulky. The keyboard layout is also inspired by Apple, and the power button includes a fingerprint sensor. The Mi Notebook Pro features a 14-inch 2.5K LCD display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz. The laptop’s default refresh rate is 120 Hz, but you can choose between 60 and 90 Hz to decide. If you want better battery life, I highly recommend setting it to 60Hz.
The Mi Notebook Pro 120G display is excellent and sharp. It is suitable for everyday tasks and entertainment purposes. I don’t use the laptop for gaming, but for my day job of writing, editing, cropping photos, etc., and watching some shows in my free time. But I choose to keep the brightness low. A higher refresh rate is another useful addition to a laptop, especially if you plan to play games that support it on your laptop. But not everyone needs it.
I’m more interested in testing how the Mi Notebook Pro 12G performs in everyday tasks. The laptop didn’t give me any problems at all, even when I had multiple tabs open or multiple photos edited in Chrome. The Mi Notebook Pro 12G has been my main laptop for a few days now and I decided to use it for all my office work and it worked like a charm. Given the specs of this particular variant pack – includes 16GB RAM, 512GB storage, 12th Gen Intel processors,
The laptop runs on Windows 11 and has a dedicated fingerprint sensor to unlock the device. Sometimes the sensor doesn’t respond and I don’t know why, but other times it works just fine, albeit a little slow.
The Mi Notebook Pro 120G also has a Thunderbolt 4.0 port, an HDMI port, a 3.5mm port, a USB-C and a USB 2.0 port. Some may find the I/O options a bit limited. You can charge it via the Type-C charger in the box.
The Mi Laptop comes with a full-size keyboard with 1.3mm of key travel. Xiaomi used a scissor mechanism on these keys, and I was able to tap them with no trouble. No stickiness, quick and quick response. I love typing on the keyboard. What I’m not too interested in is the touchpad, but that’s more in the next section.
In the end, audio-wise, this should be good enough for most users, although it doesn’t stand out. I’m working from a set of playlists while listening to music, and Taylor Swift sounds absolutely different on this playlist.
Xiaomi’s Notebook Pro 120G: What’s not good?
While the 100W charger will ensure that the battery reaches 50 per cent in around 40 minutes, it takes nearly two hours or more to get to a full charge. I didn’t have a great battery experience with this laptop. With the high refresh rate turned on, the battery would last for around four hours. Turning off the refresh rate should give better results, but even with 120 Hz turned, I expected better performance on the battery front. Xiaomi is promising nine hours of battery life, but that’s likely when the refresh rate is kept to a standard 60 Hz.
The touchpad too doesn’t ensure a smooth experience. If I compare this touchpad to some other laptops I’ve reviewed more recently, Xiaomi was a disappointment. I would say a Bluetooth mouse is a must with this laptop as an accessory.
The front camera is 720p, which isn’t impressive. There are other laptops in a similar price range, offering a 5MP web camera. Again, not everyone needs the best web camera on a laptop, so this is not exactly the biggest deal-breaker.
Xiaomi’s Notebook Pro 120G: Verdict
As a daily driver, this is a good laptop with ample storage and RAM to handle most tasks efficiently. But at Rs 74,999, Xiaomi’s Notebook Pro 120G takes on other similar options, such as the HP Pavilion Plus 14 (this one doesn’t have a 120Hz display), the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (90 Hz display), and Dell’s new Inspiron 15 series (120 Hz display). Most of these laptops are in a similar price bracket, with the same 16GB RAM and 512GB storage space, as well as the Intel Core i5 (12th generation processor), though Asus is the most expensive at Rs 89,999.
So Xiaomi is evenly matched in terms of competition from other brands. Xiaomi also has an option at Rs 69,999, which has the same specifications, but without the Nvidia MX550 for graphics. The biggest challenge for Xiaomi will be to convince buyers that their laptop has the best to offer, which might not be easy considering the competition in the market.