The newly unveiled flagship and also the best smartphone Xiaomi has ever released so far—Xiaomi 12S Ultra—we’re currently testing it in our editorial office. Since reports about the global version are still uncertain and it rather looks like we won’t get a global version, we ordered the smartphone from China.
Our purchase didn’t happen anywhere else but in the TradingShenzhen e-shop, which we think is one of the best Chinese electronics e-shops where you can spend your money. In this article, we’ll describe both our buying experience and the delivery.
Customs-duty-free shipping from TradingShenzhen works flawlessly
TradingShenzhen is one of the few e-shops where you can buy products from brands like Xiaomi, OnePlus, Vivo, or iQOO—items you can’t get anywhere else. All products can be delivered with no customs fees whatsoever. And that’s thanks to the Global Priority shipping service, which the seller has handled really well.
The shipping fee is higher, but in the end it’s still definitely worth it, because they save you at least 20 % on VAT. Customs paperwork is handled directly by the seller, as well as any other fees related to it. So you pay the item price + postage—and you don’t have to worry about anything else.
Besides, we’re also constantly surprised by the delivery speed. The seller states on the website that delivery takes 10-16 business days, but we’ve never waited that long for a package from them. We placed our Xiaomi 12S Ultra smartphone order on 5. July, which was just one day after the new products were presented. That’s also why we had to wait a bit longer for it to ship than usual, since the goods weren’t in stock yet.
The dispatch was on 11. July, when we also received an email with the tracking number. We really appreciate the Global Priority tracking system, because—one of the few services—it shows every single movement of the package, so the customer knows exactly where their package is.
Only 11 days later, specifically on 22 July, an SPS courier called us to say they had a parcel for us. We have to praise the express delivery speed again—it even runs all the way from far-away China. This kind of fast delivery isn’t even available from some European warehouses on AliExpress.
For the recap: Xiaomi 12S Ultra in the 12 + 256 GB version cost us 1177 € + shipping fees of 16 €. Current prices are even lower:
Xiaomi 12S Ultra Chinese Version (No B20 LTE)
TIPWith Global Priority shipping, you don’t pay any extra fees.
We recommend choosing Global Priority shipping, where you won’t pay anything extra. Customs fees and any VAT are handled by the seller directly for you. Shipping can be selected in the cart only, after you enter the delivery address. Delivery with Global Priority usually takes about 15 days, but it may also take longer.
TIPWith Global Priority shipping, you don’t pay any extra fees.
We recommend choosing Global Priority shipping, where you won’t pay anything extra. Customs fees and any VAT are handled by the seller directly for you. Shipping can be selected in the cart only, after you enter the delivery address. Delivery with Global Priority usually takes about 15 days, but it may also take longer.
TIPWith Global Priority shipping, you don’t pay any extra fees.
We recommend choosing Global Priority shipping, where you won’t pay anything extra. Customs fees and any VAT are handled by the seller directly for you. Shipping can be selected in the cart only, after you enter the delivery address. Delivery with Global Priority usually takes about 15 days, but it may also take longer.
TIPExpress delivery from a European warehouse—no customs duty and VAT.
This product will be delivered to you via express shipment from a local warehouse in Europe. Delivery from EU warehouses usually takes from 2-10 days and is handled by a courier. When it arrives, you won’t pay any additional fees—no customs duty and no VAT.
Once again, top-notch packaging—delivered without any damage
Since the TradingShenzhen shop sells mostly more expensive devices, they really put effort into the packaging itself. The seller also doesn’t want you to receive the goods damaged in any way, so they use multiple layers of protection.
We received the Xiaomi 12S Ultra in a standard cardboard box wrapped in bubble wrap, and then everything was additionally packed into another outer layer of packaging. Only then was the actual phone box inside—all the way, it arrived completely undamaged.
As the seller is used to, there’s also a gift—this time in the form of a practical mini fan that you plug into the USB-C connector. An ideal gadget for cooling off during summer heatwaves. We also uploaded a quick unboxing to our YouTube channel:
How does the Chinese version work in Slovakia and the Czech Republic?
As we mentioned in the introduction, we ordered the Chinese version of the smartphone, because the global one is nowhere in sight and it probably won’t happen either. A downside for some users may be the lack of the B20 LTE band in the Chinese version of Xiaomi 12S Ultra.
B20 LTE band (800 MHz) is used by operators to broadcast the 4G network outside of cities (this applies in Slovakia), which means that with these phones you’ll only connect to the 4G network in the city—or at least very close to it. So far, we’ve tested the signal in the center of Trenčín with a Telekom operator SIM card, and the smartphone connected to 4G without any problems.
Another downside for someone might be the Chinese MIUI, which means the phone uses Chinese and English. However, Google Play is fully supported, and the seller will install it on your phone. Later, you’ll be able to reinstall the system as a fully localized system from the Miuios.cz developers, or alternatively the Xiaomi.EU ROM.
This modified system includes both Czech and Slovak, full integration of Google services (which, however, also work in Chinese MIUI), including contactless payments, Netflix, or working banking apps. At the time of writing this article, however, the translation was not yet available.
Reinstallation requires experience with unlocking the bootloader and flashing the system via fastboot, so it definitely isn’t for everyone. As usual, over time the seller will certainly add the Xiaomi.EU system installation service to the offer too, which will be available for a fee of 25 €.
We’ve already started testing, and soon you’ll find detailed reviews on our site. If you have any questions about the smartphone or the TradingShenzhen store, feel free to ask in the comments.
We also invite you to our Facebook group and be sure to like our sister China Planet page, where we post more similar tips for shopping from China.
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