Xiaomi might have a new 108MP camera phone coming - Redmi Note or Mi Note 11?

Currently four different Xiaomi phones have 108MP main cameras – these are the Mi 10, Mi 10 Pro, Mi Note 10 and Mi 10T Pro, all of which are mid-range or premium devices. However we could soon see one of the company's affordable phones use this super-high-res camera sensor too.

This comes from reliable leaker Digital Chat Station on Weibo, who posted "J17 *, you like 108mp main camera and telephoto macro has [rabbit emojii]". That message has been mangled in translation, as the original was written in Chinese, but the meaning is clear: Xiaomi has a new phone with the code 'J17' which has a 108MP main camera and another sensor paired with a telephoto macro lens. There's probably no bunny involved though.

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The recent Xiaomi Mi 10T had the codename 'J3' and most Xiaomi phones have codes beginning with J, so J17 is likely a phone from the company. Most speculation points to it being the Redmi Note 10, an unannounced phone we'll likely see early in 2021.

Is this the Redmi Note 10?

Redmi is Xiaomi's affordable brand, and in many markets it competes with Motorola's Moto G line. Xiaomi usually debuts tech in its Mi line before bringing it to Redmi afterwards.

The highest-res cameras used in the Redmi Note phones have been 64MP, so 108MP would be a big jump – it would be a little surprising for an affordable phone though, and this high-res sensor could bump up the price a bit.

It wouldn't be totally surprising though – the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 was the first ever smartphone with such a high-res sensor, and it was startlingly cheap.

There's a reason the upcoming 108MP phone might not be the Redmi Note 10 though, and that's because rumors suggest the Note 10 will be a 'reskinned' Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite (Xiaomi sometimes puts out its phones in different regions under different names). However, the Mi 10T Lite is in fact itself a re-skinned Poco X3 NFC (another Xiaomi brand) and neither has a 108MP main sensor.

Instead, perhaps the upcoming phone the leak hints at is the Xiaomi Mi Note 11, the anticipated but unconfirmed follow-up to the Mi Note 10, and we'd expect this to have a high-res sensor like its predecessor.

Whatever phone has this high-res sensor, we'll hopefully find out soon, as Xiaomi puts out new smartphones at breakneck speed. When the handset is announced we'll let you know, and we'll be reviewing the device, to see if 108MP sensors (if the phone does indeed have one) belong on cheap phones.

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Via Pocketnow