This $43,000 Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept Was Tested Against The iPhone 14 Pro Max And The Results Are What You Would Expect

wccftech.com:

It might have flown under the radar that alongside the 12S Ultra that launched last year, Xiaomi was also co-developing its $43,000 12S Ultra Concept smartphone. This handset does not have a protective lens cover, so you have to mount a separate unit onto the housing to take pictures and video. The result is an imaging monstrosity that is also running Android. To see how far Xiaomi has taken things, one YouTuber conducted the most obvious test; stacking an iPhone 14 Pro Max against it.

Arun Maini, who runs the YouTube channel Mrwhosetheboss, states that there were only three units of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept made, meaning that the Chinese firm just wanted to execute a proof of concept, hence the name. A Leica M lens can be mounted on top of the sensor area, with the lens provided to Arun as a result of the latest partnership between Xiaomi and Leica.

With the lens successfully mounted, the aperture of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept is now F/1.4, compared to F/1.9 on the regular 12S Ultra. This will allow more light to pass and get captured by the sensor, resulting in more detail shown in the final processed image. Another advantage here is that by default, you get increased magnification levels, so you can snap telephoto images right off the bat. Later, you can unmount the lens and capture regular photos with the 1-inch sensor.

Next up comes the comparison with the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which is considered one of the best handsets to capture images and videos with. Before that, one interesting thing Arun pointed out were the exclusive features present in the Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept’s phone app. The first one was ‘Focus peaking,’ which highlights the areas in red on the smartphone’s viewfinder which are in complete focus.

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