Xiaomi announced its new Xiaomi 12S Ultra phone alongside my Xiaomi 12S and Xiaomi 12S pro phone, which caused a stir on all social media and attracted the attention of every technology lover in general and a lover of photography in particular. With the Chinese giant’s partnership with the German camera company Leica, this new phone comes to open Breaking new ground in smartphone photography, with a camera system that ranks as the most impressive in the world and arguably the best in the field to date.
Let’s take a quick look at what the new Xiaomi beast offers, and how it may be the beginning of a new era in smartphone photography.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra design
- Dimensions: 163.2 x 75 x 9.1 millimeters.
- Weight: 225 grams.
- Material: Gorilla Glass Victus on the front, leather on the back, aluminum frame.
The new Xiaomi giant comes with a design that will make anyone who sees the phone in your hand comment in amazement at the enormity of the cameras that it comes with, and in fact, this design is inspired by digital cameras, as appeared in the teaser video from Xiaomi, this huge design of the cameras reminded me of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, which was an attempt by the company to add a viewfinder that supports optical zoom in a smartphone, but it was more like a digital camera running Android. In the case of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra phone, Xiaomi was able to preserve the features of the smartphone, and even present the shape of the lenses in an aesthetic way that adorns the shape of the phone and makes it attractive.
As for manufacturing materials, the new Xiaomi phone is one of the few options on the market that comes with an environmentally friendly leather back, a step also inspired by digital cameras. Aluminum tips. What makes the Xiaomi 12S Ultra a flagship choice in every sense of the word.
We blame Xiaomi for not adding a dedicated photo button, as it would have made the experience of shooting with this beast more professional.
The world’s first phone with a full 1-inch camera sensor
- Main sensor: 50.3 MP, 1 inch wide-angle, f/1.9 lens, with support for omnidirectional PDAF, laser autofocus, and OIS.
- Second sensor: 48MP ultrawide, f/4.1 lens slot, macro mode support, PDAF and OIS support.
- Third sensor: 48 MP (telephoto), f/2.2 lens, with optical zoom up to 5x, with PDAF and OIS support.
- Front camera : 32 MP, wide-angle lens, f/2.5 aperture, HDR support, and panorama shooting mode.
At first glance when you look at the Xioami 12S Ultra, you will immediately notice that it is similar to its older brother, the Xioami 11 Ultra in terms of the huge rear area that houses the cameras, but this time it is not that big in providing space for a secondary screen – we can’t deny the imaging system that came with it This phone however – as we saw in the previous version, but in order to allocate enough space for the frightening imaging system that comes with the new Xiaomi monster.
Let’s talk first about the main sensor, a new sensor from Sony called the IMX989, which comes in a full 1-inch size without cropping, and a 50.3-megapixel resolution, with a wide angle of 23 mm. This huge sensor comes with the largest pixel size ever, as it captures 12.5 megapixel images in 4×1 mode, making the size of a single pixel estimated at 3.2 micrometers, which is about 26% larger than the pixels of the iPhone 13 Pro Max!
For comparison, the Sony Xperia Pro-I previously came with another 1-inch sensor, and it was the first phone in the world to come with a camera sensor of this size, but in fact it was cut to fit the body of the phone, and the size of one pixel was estimated at 2.4 micrometers.
Shawty explained that this new sensor will be able to capture a very large amount of light, as the main camera will be able to sense it in a larger amount by 76% compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, this means that the night photography via the Xioami 12S Ultra will change the game scales!
In addition to the huge main sensor, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra comes with two other sensors, one of which is the well-known 48-megapixel ultrawide IMX586 sensor with an f/2.2 lens slot with autofocus support and a macro shooting mode, the same sensor found in the Xioami 11 Ultra.
As for the other sensor, it is an IMX586 type with a 48-megapixel camera as well, from a telephoto lens with an f/4.1 lens slot with the ability to super-telephoto up to 120x and support for HyperOIS.
All of these sensors are packaged in Leica summicron lenses that are housed in a massive eight-piece aspherical lens, incorporating an octa-core autofocus, and backed by a special coating that helps reduce camera reflection by up to 93%.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra phone specifications
- Screen: 6.73″ LTPO2 AMOLED, 120Hz (adaptive), 1,500 nits brightness.
- Chip: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ first generation (4 nm manufacturing accuracy).
- Graphics processor: Adreno 730.
- Capacity: Available in 256/8 GB, 256/12 GB, 512/12 GB (UFS 3.1) capacities.
- Battery: 4860 mAh, with support for wired charging with a capacity of 67 watts, and wireless with a capacity of 50 watts, as well as reverse charging with a capacity of 10 watts.
The strength of the new Xiaomi phone is not limited to leading imaging capabilities, but rather offers the most powerful hardware in any smartphone so far. We find a 6.73-inch Samsung E5 AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1440 x 3200 pixels, the screen comes with dimensions of 20: 9 and a pixel density of about 521 pixels per inch. The screen also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+ technologies and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.
Next to the screen, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra phone comes with the latest and most powerful Qualcomm chipset represented by the first generation Snapdragon 8+, this chip comes with an eight-core processor; One Cortex-X2 core clocked at 3.19GHz, three Cortex-A710 cores clocked at 2.75GHz, and four Cortex-A510 cores clocked at 1.80GHz.
The new chip will offer 10% better processor performance and 20% lower power consumption compared to the first generation Snapdragon 8 version. Xiaomi has also used a new 3D cooling system to improve heat consumption while performing difficult tasks or playing on the phone. The new Xiaomi phone is supposed to perform better compared to competitors from Samsung and OnePlus.
As for the battery, Xiaomi has had a capacity of 4860 mAh, with fast charging support of 67 watts, and according to the company’s description, you will be able to fully charge the Xiaomi 12S Ultra phone in 41 minutes, and it also supports wireless charging with a capacity of 50 watts, in which case you will charge your phone in 52 minutes. The phone also supports reverse charging – to charge accessories – with a capacity of 10 watts.
Price and availability
Currently, Xiaomi has only revealed the Xiaomi 12S Ultra phone in China, without specifying a date or intention to launch in global markets, and it will be available for purchase – inside China – starting from July 8 and the following prices:
- 8/256 GB capacity is about $896.
- 12/256 GB capacity is about $970.
- The capacity of 12/512 GB is about 1045 dollars.
