The Xiaomi 12S Ultra was announced last week and we are working on a full review. Part of this process is taking camera samples – lots of samples – that we can look at and ideally compare to another phone.
We’re still working on the review, but we thought you’d like to see some of the photos we’ve taken so far, including comparisons to Xiaomi’s previous camera king – the Mi 11 Ultra. We’ll leave the technical discussions on image quality for the review, so enjoy the view for now.
Reminder: You can use the “compare button” to place two images side by side. This will allow you to compare a Xiaomi 12 Ultra and an 11 Ultra head to head, but also compare some of the shooting modes on the new phone (developed by Leica).
We will start with the star of the show, that 1 “Sony IMX989 sensor in the main camera. Here are daytime shots, taken in Leica Vibrant mode. The first time you open the camera app you will be asked to choose between Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant ( there is no “none of the above” option, you have to choose.) We think most people will prefer the Vibrant option, but of course we also have authentic shots (use the compare feature to see how they differ).
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: main camera, Leica Vibrant mode
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: main camera, Leica Authentic mode
Here are the shots of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra for comparison. Note the difference in dynamic range (especially in scenes that mix shadows with well-lit areas), color rendition, sharpness, and so on.
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: main camera
The camera defaults to 12MP mode, but you can also take full resolution images – for the IMX989 that means 50MP. Here are some shots to take a closer look:
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: main camera, 50MP resolution, Leica Vibrant mode
The 1 “sensor is the largest ever used on a smartphone. That means delicious natural bokeh without the need for computational photography. Here are a few examples:
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: main camera, look at that bokeh!
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: main camera
While the 1 “module is by far the most impressive camera on board, Xiaomi 12S Ultra has two other highly capable cameras. Let’s first take a look at the 5x periscope with a 48 MP (1 / 2.0”) sensor (shot with a resolution of 12 MP).
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: 5x camera, 12MP resolution, Leica Vibrant mode
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: 5x camera, 12MP resolution
Next stop, the 48MP ultra wide camera (we’re only including 12MP resolution shots here). This lens is slightly narrower than last year’s ultra (13mm vs 12mm), look how much difference it makes.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: ultra wide, 12MP resolution, Leica Vibrant mode
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: ultra wide, 12MP resolution
The huge 1 “sensor is paired with a surprisingly f / 1.9 aperture and is supported by optical image stabilization (OIS) and omnidirectional PDAF. This promises spectacular photos in low light conditions, even before activating night mode .
The first batch of photos is with the night mode off, this is just the raw skill of the sensor. Below are the same scenes with the Mi 11 Ultra for a head-to-head comparison.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: main camera, night mode off
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: main camera, night mode disabled
There is a setting that allows the camera app to automatically enable night mode, however, for this next set we switched to dedicated night mode in the app.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: main camera, active night mode
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: main camera, active night mode
Moving on to the 5x telephoto camera, for now we will only show you the images with the active night mode.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: 5x camera, active night mode
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: 5x camera, active night mode
The same with the ultra-wide camera. We have many more camera samples on hand, but we’ll leave them for the full review.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra: ultra wide, active night mode
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra: ultra wide, active night mode
Again, we took a lot more shots, including those with automatic night mode and night mode disabled. But we’re looking at the impact of these modes, so let’s leave them for the full review.
As you can imagine, there is so much to cover in the review – we haven’t even talked about video recording capabilities. These also benefit from the natural bokeh and wide dynamic range of the sensor.
This is our queue to get back to work on the review, which is coming soon. It will be about the camera in detail, of course, but it will also be about the rest of the phone – the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is another new addition over previous Xiaomi 12 series phones.
Start a new Thread