Xiaomi 12S Ultra has a giant Leica camera

With the new Xiaomi 12S Ultra you can shoot nice pictures, since it has a Leica camera.

Just six months after the flagship’s previous launch, Xiaomi has announced a trio of familiar-looking smartphones. This to mark the beginning of his collaboration with Leica. The new 12S series features MIUI 13 based on Android 12. And runs on Qualcomm’s more efficient Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 flagship processor. The device has a generous pixel size of 1.6 µm. Which then doubles to 3.2 µm via pixel binning for supposedly improved color accuracy. Low-light performance is also better. And unlike the Sony Xperia Pro-I, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra apparently uses all of its 1-inch sensor.

Xiaomi 12S Ultra

According to CEO Lei Jun, Xiaomi took part in the development of the Sony IMX989. And the cost of $15 million was also split equally between the two companies. Interestingly, the sensor is not exclusive to Xiaomi. Lei added that it will be made available to competitors. This after the launch of the 12S Ultra, to “jointly advance the advancement of mobile imaging”.

As for Leica’s share on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, you’re getting a “Leica Summicron 1:1.9-4.1 / 13-120 ASPH camera system”. This includes all three rear cameras. Then we are talking about the aforementioned 50.3-megapixel main camera (23 mm, f/1.9). Along with the 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera (13 mm, f/2.2) and the 48-megapixel periscopic camera (120 mm, f/4.1).

Camera

Both 48-megapixel cameras use a 1/2-inch Sony IMX586 sensor. The whole circular camera island – now with “Leica” co-branding – benefits from some coating magic. This is to reduce lens glare and improve image consistency across each lens.

In addition to some Leica filters, users can switch between two photographic styles. Namely, the “Leica Authentic Look” for natural-looking shots with greater three-dimensional depth. And “Leica Vibrant Look”, which adds Xiaomi’s input on vibrancy while maintaining authenticity. You can also enable the watermark banner at the bottom of your photos. Adding Leica’s iconic red logo, photo metadata and location coordinates to the right, along with the phone model and timestamp to the left.