After some rumors that had been circulating, today Xiaomi confirmed its "long-term strategic partnership" with Leica and that they are co-developing a flagship smartphone that will be released in July 2022. This will be the German camera company's latest collaboration after Sharp, Huawei, and Panasonic.
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Xiaomi isn't the first Chinese phone maker to tap into camera expertise from a well-known camera brand. In late 2020, Vivo followed in the footsteps of Sony and Nokia and joined forces with Zeiss, with the latest release being the X80 series. More recently, Oppo and OnePlus have begun releasing devices co -developed with Hasselblad, including the Find X5 series and the OnePlus 10 Pro.
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According to their joint press release, “Xiaomi and Leica share the same ideas about mobile imaging” and are both eager to take mobile photography to the next level. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said: “Xiaomi focuses on creating the ultimate user experience and has always hoped to explore the maximum potential of smartphone photography. Xiaomi and Leica are in tune with each other’s ideas.”
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Xiaomi hasn’t shared much information about this upcoming product, but it looks like it’ll feature a brand new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor from Qualcomm , along with the usual classic imaging aesthetics and filters from Leica. As for the name, it’ll either be the “Xiaomi 12 Ultra” or possibly a “Xiaomi 13” series. In the press release, CEO Lei Jun added that “this partnership will give a strong boost to Xiaomi’s imaging strategy .” We’ll know more in July.
Information source: engadget.com
