Merely six months after its previous flagship launch, today Xiaomi announced a trio of familiar-looking smartphones to mark the beginning of its partnership with Leica. The new 12S Series features MIUI 13 based on Android 12, and it runs on Qualcomm’s allegedly more efficient Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 flagship processor, with the headlining 12S Ultra packing a massive 1-inch, 50.3-megapixel Sony IMX989 main sensor. This translates to a generous pixel size of 1.6um, which then doubles to 3.2um via pixel binning for a supposedly boosted color accuracy and low light performance. And unlike the Sony Xperia Pro-I, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra apparently uses the entire portion of its 1-inch sensor.
According to CEO Lei Jun, Xiaomi took part in the Sony IMX989’s development, and the $15 million cost was also split evenly between the two companies. Interestingly, the sensor won’t be exclusive to Xiaomi; Lei added that it’ll be made available to his local competitors after the launch of the 12S Ultra, in order to “promote the advancement of mobile imaging together.”
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
Xiaomi
As for Leica’s part on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, you get a “Leica Summicron 1:1.9-4.1 / 13-120 ASPH camera system” covering all three rear cameras: the aforementioned 50.3-megapixel main camera (23mm, f/1.9), along with the 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera (13mm, f/2.2) and the 48-megapixel periscopic camera (120mm, f/4.1). Both 48-megapixel cameras use a 1/2-inch Sony IMX586 sensor. The entire circular camera island — now with “Leica” co-branding — benefits from some coating magic to mitigate lens glare and improve image consistency across each lens. Oh, and there’s a 23K gold rim here as well.
In addition to some Leica filters, users will be able to switch between two photographic styles: “Leica Authentic Look” for natural-looking shots with stronger three dimensional depth, and “Leica Vibrant Look” which adds Xiaomi’s input on vibrancy while preserving authenticity (somehow). You can also toggle the watermark banner at the bottom of your photos, which will add Leica’s iconic red logo, photo metadata and location coordinates to the right, along with phone model and timestamp on the left.
Xiaomi
The Xiaomi 12S Series is now available for pre-ordering in China ahead of retail launch on July 6th. The 12S Ultra is priced from from 5,999 yuan (8GB RAM, 256GB storage; around $900) to 6,999 yuan (12GB RAM, 512GB storage; around $1,000). The 12S Pro is cheaper, asking for 4,699 yuan (8GB RAM, 128GB storage; around $700) to 5,899 yuan (12GB RAM, 512GB storage; around $880). The 12S is the most affordable option here, starting from 3,999 yuan (8GB RAM, 128GB storage; around $600) and capping at 5,199 yuan (12GB RAM, 512GB storage; around $780). We’ll keep an eye out for international availability later.
