Is this the end of Leica x Huawei partnership? They finally broke up
Xiaomi has previously released its Mi 11 series of flagship phones, the highest level being the Mi 11 Ultra coming with a 120x zoom periscope camera and amazing software enhancements. As for the next flagship, now simply called the Xiaomi 12 series, there have been rumors for an upgrade to its camera system, in particular, a familiar partner is coming up.
Remember Huawei and Leica? Leica was supplying the optics to Huawei, even after the US restrictions. The company’s latest flagship, the Huawei P50 series still uses these Leica cameras. However, because there are rumors Xiaomi and Leica may be teaming up for their next flagship, and the fact that Leica also has developed their own smartphone with a 1in. sensor and has partnered with Sharp, the partnership between Huawei and Leica is starting to blur, could this be the end of a beautiful relationship?
The Xiaomi 12 series is rumored to be released just before the year ends. The vanilla model later in the years and the other models this December. Like the Mi 11 series, the 12 series are going to be accompanied by a “Pro” and an “Ultra” model. According to Digital Chat Station, a reliable tipster, the Ultra variant may get the aforementioned Leica lenses.
It’s not really that huge of a surprise to see Xiaomi partnering up with an actual optics company. Huawei used to be their partner, Vivo and Nokia partnered with Zeiss and used Zeiss-coated lenses, the Sony Xperia Pro-I also used Zeiss coating for its camera and OnePlus partnered with Hasselblad in order to take care of the imaging. In addition, there are also rumors that Samsung may team up with Olympus for their next flagship, the Galaxy S22 series.
As with the Mi 11 Ultra, the Xiaomi 12 Ultra may continue on the previous iteration by keeping the periscopic telephoto sensor. There are reports stating that all three cameras of the Mi 12 Ultra have a resolution of at least 50MP. As a flagship, expect a Samsung E4 AMOLED panel with a high refresh rate and touch sampling rate. The new phone could also be powered by the new Snapdragon 8 gen 1 (previously known as the Snapdragon 898) flagship processor.
Disclaimer: These are rumors, so take them with some doubt. Please wait until the official unveiling by Xiaomi to determine the actual specs. These rumors are not consistent and differ from source to source.
Source: MySmartPrice, GizChina