Everything about Xiaomi’s new flagship smartphone, the Mi 12S Ultra, is big. It has a 6.73-inch OLED display, flagship Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 system-on-a-chip and a camera lens-shaped bump on the back that takes up about a third of the back of the phone. Inside that fake lens are the phone’s three cameras: a 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 48-megapixel telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom (and a “120x” digital zoom that probably won’t look very good), and finally, the main 50 megapixel, which uses this 1-inch sensor. A few different companies have put 1-inch sensors on their phones in the past, but it hasn’t been very common – you’re more likely to find 1-inch sensors on high-end point-and-shoots like Sony’s RX100 series. The larger size allows the sensor to collect more light and capture more detailed images. It won’t turn a phone into a DSLR, but it could be a step up from the standard smartphone camera. The iPhone 13 Pro, for example, has a 1/1.65-inch sensor size, according to DPReview. (Though for reference, the actual size of a sensor’s imaging area is smaller than its stated measurement allows.) Xiaomi says the phone’s camera system was “co-designed with Leica,” and the company told Engadget that it split the cost of developing the 1-inch image sensor with Sony. Sony actually released a phone that uses a 1-inch sensor late last year, but it was only recorded on part of the sensor, while Xiaomi’s phone reportedly uses the whole thing. Camera aside, the Mi 12S Ultra otherwise has the typical features of a flagship phone. It has IP68 water and dust resistance, a large 4,860mAh battery, 67W wired fast charging and a 120Hz refresh rate display. The phone is also said to be the first Android device capable of shooting in Dolby Vision HDR. The 12S Ultra will launch in China first. A model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage will sell for RMB 5,999 (about US$900), while a high-end version with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage will cost RMB 6,999 (about US$1,050). . In addition to the 12S Ultra, Xiaomi is also introducing two lower-end models: the 12S and 12S Pro. These two phones have a 1/1.28-inch main camera sensor, which is smaller than the Ultra but still larger than a typical smartphone sensor. The 12S has a smaller 6.28-inch 120Hz display, while the 12S Pro has a 6.73-inch 120Hz OLED display like the Ultra. Both have the same Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chip. The 12S starts at RMB 3,999 ($600 USD) and the 12S Pro starts at RMB 4,699 ($700 USD).
