Last month, Xiaomi unveiled the latest version of its custom Android skin which is dubbed MIUI 11. While going through its source code, a member of team XDA has discovered the keyword “Tele 5X” and keyword “ultra tele” which is accompanied by description “use 50X zoom to capture distant objects in greater detail”. These findings suggest Xiaomi is developing a smartphone with 5X optical zoom and 50X digital zoom, making it the third Chinese company to do so.
Earlier this year, Huawei launched the photography centric P30 Pro which is the first handset to support 5X optical zoom and 50X digital zoom. The device is able to attain this remarkable level zoom with the help of a periscopic camera module. Soon after its launch, Oppo also unveiled the Reno 10x that is equipped with a similar periscopic camera sensor and that also support 5X optical zoom and 50X digital zoom.
Coming back to the source code of MIUI 11, it was previously revealed that Xiaomi is working on a smartphone that will be able to capture 8K videos at 30fps. Assumedly, this will be the same device that will support the remarkable zoom capabilities we had previously talked about
Unfortunately, any details except for the existence of such a Xiaomi smartphone are currently unavailable. Therefore, it is hard to divulge whether Xiaomi will also implement the periscopic module on its smartphone or come up with its very own piece of technology. Nonetheless, it could incorporate the 108 MP Samsung made sensor which is also found on the Mi Mix Alpha. The extremely high resolution of this sensor would allow the details to be preserved even when shooting with 8X digital zoom.
The implementation of the technology is assumed to be fairly simple as the hurdles of developing the components as already been overcome by Oppo and Huawei, therefore, Xiaomi could launch a device with this technology in the coming months. However, we will have to wait until an official announcement is made.
