Xiaomi revealed a prototype of a smartphone that it worked on in conjunction with its Xiaomi 12S Ultra smartphone, which features the ability to add lenses for shooting like professional cameras.
The Chinese tech giant narrowed the gap between smartphones and professional digital cameras with the launch of its Xiaomi 12S Ultra smartphone, which features a relatively large 1-inch imaging sensor, however, that sensor had fixed-focal-length lenses similar to traditional smartphones.
Today, a video was posted on YouTube that reveals the prototype that Xiaomi was working on with the Xiaomi 12S Ultra phone. It, like the latter, contains a 1-inch imaging sensor, but without a fixed lens, because it was intended for use with Leica M lenses, which makes it similar to professional cameras, especially with the support of some photographers’ tools, such as peak focus, and histogram, in addition to Supports 10-bit raw image capture.
Xiaomi model features
To protect the large sensor, Xiaomi added to the model a layer of glass, and mentioned in the video that it is a secondary sensor, because the prototype has the ability to take pictures like any normal smartphone, thanks to the same primary camera in the Xiaomi 12S Ultra with a 1-inch sensor and 23 mm lens In addition to the ultra-wide-angle camera.
It is noteworthy that other companies, such as Sony, preceded Xiaomi in supporting the addition of lenses to smartphones, but it was wrong with these phones that the contact between the lenses and the phone sensor is not direct, which leads to a loss of light and image quality. As for the Xiaomi phone, the matter is different, as the lenses send light directly to the sensor.
The prototype, which Xiaomi worked on, is similar to 1-inch mirrorless cameras when lenses are attached to it. But unlike those cameras, the device has advanced computational imaging skills thanks to the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip.
In the video, Xiaomi did not reveal all the specifications of the prototype, as well as the possibility of launching it on the market. But it is rumored that the upcoming Xiaomi 13 Pro will come with a 1-inch sensor, and the company may launch a special version of it similar to the prototype.
