Xiaomi is going to discontinue the ultra-wide camera on flagship phones

Making a surprising turn of events, well-known tipster DCS just disclosed on his Weibo account that Xiaomi’s future flagships would not come with ultra-wide cameras. This huge change in strategy for Xiaomi cameras was hinted at with the latest launch of the Xiaomi MIX FLIP just 10 days ago, which also lacked an ultra-wide angle camera.

The Xiaomi MIX FOLD is only fitted with two cameras: a 2X telephoto lens and a primary 1X camera. This was very astute thinking from Xiaomi, perhaps a pointer toward the gradual shifting in focus from ultra-wide lenses to telephoto ones, as user preference indicates higher usage of telephoto cameras over their ultra-wide counterparts.

As the tech community speculates whether this new way will see its adoption in the upcoming Xiaomi 15 series, all eyes are on the launch expected to happen around October 2024. It would be prospective at that time if it is finally phasing or just cut the ultra-wide camera from specific flagship lineups.

In 2019, Google added a 2X telephoto camera to the Pixel 4, the first dual-camera Pixel phone, instead of adding an ultrawide camera. Although Google’s choice was criticized by many people, it is now certain that the telephoto camera is more important in phones.

This strategic change marks a far departure from the current trend, as most flagship smartphones today are fitted with an ultra-wide camera as part of their photographic arsenal. Depending on how this current shift goes in terms of consumer reception, it could impact other manufacturers and the future design of cameras in smartphones. With the unveiling of the Xiaomi 15 series, it will be interesting to see how this change will affect the overall functionality and appeal of Xiaomi’s future flagships and leaves the industry, as well as consumers, very excited.

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