Smartphone brands are starting to use telephoto cameras and zoom capability to one-up each other, just as they used to use ever-increasing megapixel counts, and it seems that Xiaomi is looking to up the ante with a phone that can zoom in 120x, which is a step above what the current crop of smartphones offer.
Xiaomishka, a popular Russian leaker with a good track record in Xiaomi information, shared some details about an upcoming smartphone which they believe will be a part of the Mi CC10 series that's expected to launch later this year. As with last year's models in the range, the cameras will be the key aspect of this device.
The Mi CC series doesn't often make its way to many parts of the world under that name, but in 2019 the Mi CC9 Pro was released globally as the Xiaomi Mi Note 10, and that same thing could happen with more Mi CC phones. So we could see this upcoming super-zoom phone in many regions.
- These are the best Xiaomi phones
- Read our Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro review
- There's a Xiaomi phone in our best smartphones list
Check out these specs
To start with, the phone is said to be capable of 120x digital zoom, which is a step ahead of what Samsung and Huawei flagships currently offer. It’s unclear whether this will be achieved with a telephoto lens with 12x optical zoom, or some other implementation. One thing that’s certain is that it will require a periscopic zoom lens to be able to get such long-ranging zoom on a phone.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is capable of a whopping 100x optical zoom, which is the best we've seen in a widely-available smartphone so far, but if the Xiaomi Mi CC10 reaches 120x it'll be the new winner.
As for the primary camera, we've heard the Xiaomi Mi CC10 will have a 108MP snapper, just like the Xiaomi Mi 10 range, however it's apparently set to pack a newer sensor than those handsets for improved focusing.
Interestingly, the report also states that the upcoming Xiaomi phone will be powered by a Snapdragon 775 chipset, which is the first time we’re hearing of this processor. We presume this will be a more capable variant of the Snapdragon 768. It will also apparently support 5G, as with all of Qualcomm’s high-end chipsets for 2020.
Xiaomishka even suggests that the Xiaomi Mi CC10 series will be unveiled as early as July, which means that a lot more leaks should be headed our way.
