Xiaomi 13 Ultra Unveiled And It May Very Well Be A Camera

You know it is coming and here it is the range-topping Xiaomi 13 Ultra. And let me tell you this. This is definitely Xiaomi’s pride and joy. The Xiaomi 12S Concept Phone may not have materialized but the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is pretty close, sans the interchangeable lens.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra has an unusual phone design that makes it feel more like a camera than a phone. In addition to the camera bump that took centerstage as a huge circular module with semi-domed glass, the top half of the phone is actually thicker than the rest of the device.

As far as imaging goes, Xiaomi and Leica are going big with the optics on the new Ultra. It inherited Leica’s professional optic design, featuring a new generation of Summicron lenses jointly researched and developed by the two brands.

The new Xiaomi 13 Ultra boasts the so-called Leica Optic Full Focus Quad Camera comprising a 1-inch variable aperture main camera (50 MP Sony IMX989 sensor, f1.9,f4.0, 23 mm, HyperOIS, 4-in-1 3.2μm, Octa-PD, 8P), a 75 mm Leica professional telephoto (50 MP Sony IMX858 sensor, f1.8, OIS, zoom EIS), a 120 mm Leica profession super telephoto (50 MP Sony IMX858 sensor, f3.0, OIS, zoom EIS), and a 122° Leica Ultra Low Distortion Wide Angle camera (50 MP IMX858 f1.8, 12 mm macro, AF, 5 cm super macro).

The main camera is capable of up to 8K recording at 24 fps and 4K at 24/30/60 fps. Meanwhile, the front gets a 32 MP selfie camera featuring an RGBW sensor and features support for 4-in-1 1.4μm, 5P element lens, f2.0, and 90° FoV (Field of View).

Other key highlights include a 120 Hz 6.73” professional 2K (3,200 by 1,440 pixels) super color accurate dual curve OLED screen, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC featuring up to 3.19 GHz octacore processor, LPDDR5X “full blood” version RAM and UFS 4.0 + FBO flash storage, a 5,000 mAh battery with Xiaomi Pengpai P2 fast charge chip and Xiaomi Pengpai G1 battery management chip, Mi IceLoop Xiaomi Ring-style cooling pump, 90 W Xiaomi Pengpai wired flash charging, 50 W Pro Xiaomi Pengpai wireless flash charge, support reverse wireless charging, stereo dual speakers, IR port, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, and IP68 rated.

The new Xiaomi 13 Ultra is available to order in China now in a choice of 12 GB + 256 GB, 16 GB + 512 GB, and 16 GB + 1 TB, with a starting price of 5,999 yuan which works out to be about US$872 based on the current going rate.

The camera, I mean the phone isn’t alone. For users who wish to further enhance their Leica-on-a-phone experience, Xiaomi offers the optional Professional Photography Accessory Set.

This 799 yuan (about US$116) kit includes a camera lens protective glass that doubles as an adapter ring for filter lenses and also fits the included lens cover.

Also included in the kit is a wireless camera grip which makes the phone look like a camera, complete with the shutter button, for one-hand handling.

The shutter button behaves like a real camera. Half press to focus, full press to take the shot, and long press for continuous image taking. Rounding up the kit is a wristlet.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra Professional Photography Kit is also available to order now in China.