The upcoming Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is expected to mark the company’s entry into the premium flagship smartphone space. Amongst other new features, it hopes to take the crown for the best camera phone of the season with a new image sensor.
New members in the Xiaomi Mi 11 series will be unveiled on March 29 globally, and in April in India. Expected devices include the Mi 11 Pro, the Mi 11 Lite and the top-of-the-line Mi 11 Ultra. The company is spending the last few days before the launch hyping up the products and talking about what they will bring to the table.
👀 Something BIG on the way from @Xiaomi50MP, 2.8micron super pixel. The world's very first Dual PD Pro. 18 months of research went into this sensor, and it shows. See you on March 29th! pic.twitter.com/rU2N15JHokMarch 24, 2021
What's so special about the GN2?
Xiaomi has confirmed that the Mi 11 Ultra will sport the new Samsung ISOCELL GN2 image sensor, making it the first phone to do so. This new high-end camera was co-developed by the two giants, and at a size of 1/1.12-inches, it is the biggest sensor to feature in a mainstream smartphone.
The GN2 on the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra has a resolution of 50MP and a large pixel size of 1.4μm, which goes up to a whopping 2.8μm at 12.5MP after 4-in-1 pixel binning. With a remosaic algorithm, it can also output 100MP images. It is also the world’s first sensor to offer Dual Pixel Pro autofocus technology, which compares both the top and bottom and left and right phases for faster and more accurate focusing.
Other features include Smart ISO, improved staggered-HDR capture, 8K video recording, etc.
Successor to the Mi 10 Ultra that never made it out of China, the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is expected to have other impressive specifications as well, such as a 120x periscopic telephoto zoom lens, a large battery with 120W fast charging, a QHD+ display with 120Hz refresh rate and more.
The most interesting addition is expected to be a second display on the back that should have interesting use cases such as acting as a viewfinder for high-quality selfies, notifications and over-the-top customizations.
Needless to say, it will be Xiaomi’s most expensive smartphone to date, taking on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and the OnePlus 9 Pro. The Mi 11 Ultra could also launch in India, as suggested by a recent IMEI certification. We expect to hear more about all of these devices in the coming days.
- Xiaomi Mi 11 series India launch teased; likely to arrive in April
- Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra could have a secondary screen on the back
- Xiaomi Mi 11 review
