Chinese tech company stuns with monstrous lens on Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept

Chinese company Xiaomi has released a new concept phone with an enormous attachable lens and it is “absolutely blowing minds”.

Is it a camera or a phone? The internet is both shocked and amazed by the latest offering from Xiaomi, the world’s second largest smartphone company.

The Chinese company has strapped a giant lens to its flagship, transforming the once humble smartphone to a photographic goliath on par with a Canon or Panasonic digital camera.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept is a novel one-off redesign that features a removable mounted Leica M Series lens.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept. Picture: Supplied

The Leica M Series lens connects to the smartphone with a click. Picture: Supplied

The prototype was first announced on Chinese social media site Weibo.

Bloomberg reports the concept will not go on sale, instead Xiaomi is hoping consumers will use the device with a more conventional lens – the Xiaomi 12S Ultra.

Xiaomi explained in a video that before the 12S Ultra was released, it was working on two projects simultaneously. One of them was the traditional smartphone and the other had a “hidden feature” with a secondary 1-inch sensor.

The sensor can receive light directly from the external lens. Xiaomi reinforced the structure of the phone to allow the mounting of the monstrously-sized lens. And its surface is protected by sapphire glass.

It’s a simple twist and click to connect the Leica lens on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept.

Xiaomi said it built the concept phone to expand the camera’s capabilities “while maintaining portability”.

Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept. Mind blown. https://t.co/E3j04i31ytpic.twitter.com/INSNd0lJ6N

— Pras (@prasetyoh) November 2, 2022

And the internet is drooling.

“Absolutely blowing minds,” Fabrizio Degni wrote, while tech writer Mustapha added it was a “dream come true”.

“I don’t care what you guys say about Xiaomi. But THIS. This is next level and I want it,” tech journalist Mark Linsangan wrote on Twitter.

Originally published as Chinese tech company stuns with monstrous lens on Xiaomi 12S Ultra Concept