The Xiaomi 12S Ultra was released a couple of months ago and has been praised by photographers and smartphone reviewers the world over as the best smartphone on the market because of the proper utilization of the 1-inch sensor technology implemented on the phone in partnership with leading camera brand Leica.
Now that out of the way, the company in a video uploaded to their YouTube channel gave their fans a look at the phone that the 12S Ultra almost was and allow me to call it Wondrous. Xiaomi built a smartphone with not one but two 1-inch sensors with the goal of the second sensor working alongside the native M-Mount that would accompany the phone and allow for the possibility to mount a lens and create imagery (In a previous blog, I made the observation that the reason DSLRs and Mirrorless Cameras still held a significant lead against smartphone cameras was their ability to swap lenses and as such essentially change the way images looked and felt. Click here to read that). If this device had seen mass production, it would have been the only smartphone that availed its users the opportunity to mount actual lenses and create photographs. (Cameras that presently run on the android operating system like the Yongnuo YN450 are available but they aren’t really good).
Obviously, the camera wouldn’t have autofocus capabilities but the merger would have been something brilliant i.e bringing the latest Android functionalities to a point-and-shoot sensor that utilises premium optics and variable aperture; it may not have sold millions but it would definitely have started a conversation about the future of professional photography.
Reports have it that the 12S Concept phone cost over $40,000 to produce so maybe, just maybe it’s okay that they weren’t mass-produced. Still, one can’t help but wonder about the possibilities and could-have-been’s if it had.
Click below to watch the Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept video
