Large sensor cameras are a bit of a white whale for smartphone imaging engineers. Even the most capable smartphone cameras use relatively small sensors, and efforts to bring larger sensors to the mobile form factor have been impractical, niche, or never materialized. It looks like Xiaomi is the latest company to try to capture the evasion concept with its upcoming flagship 12S Ultra.
According to a post on Weibo detected by Android Authority, the phone will include a 1-inch sensor developed jointly with Sony. This is approximately 1.7 times more surface area than the 1 / 1.33-inch type sensor of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s main camera module. It’s also the same-sized sensor as Sony’s $ 1,300 Cyber-shot RX100 VII, which is pretty much the ultimate shape of any compact camera end.
It’s a big problem because no one has been able to conquer the 1-inch smartphone camera, including Sony: its Xperia Pro-I includes a sensor of this size but only uses part of it. The larger sensor, larger pixels, and larger connected optics will offer significant image quality advantages over traditional smaller smartphone cameras, especially in low light.
The size difference between 1-inch and smaller sensor formats is significant. Image: Xiaomi
Xiaomi doesn’t stop at the sensor either: the company also called on Leica to collaborate, though it’s far from Leica’s first smartphone project. To put it bluntly, however, the collaborations of traditional camera makers with smartphone makers have only resulted in much more than a badge on the camera and a lot of marketing. In this case, at least, Xiaomi is making the effort and money in the joint development of new hardware. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun says Xiaomi and Sony are sharing the $ 15 million cost to develop the new sensor.
Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that the 12S Ultra will ever be sold in the US, as it is extremely difficult for Chinese brands to settle in this market. In any case, it won’t be long before the phone is fully unveiled: Xiaomi says it will unveil the 12S Ultra to the world on July 4 at 7pm, China’s standard time.