Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun says the Xiaomi 12 Ultra has been canceled in favor of the 12S Ultra.
- Jun said the 12 Ultra was originally scheduled to launch in March or April.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra was the company’s first ultra-premium flagship phone, featuring features such as a flexible triple rear camera system, IP68 rating and fast wireless charging. We expected the Xiaomi 12 Ultra to debut in 2022, but the firm is offering the Xiaomi 12S Ultra instead.
Now Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun revealed in the comments of a Weibo post (c / o: IT Home and phandroid) that the device was originally supposed to launch in the first half of the year before being canceled.
It looks less like a cancellation and more like a case of the device undergoing some tweaks (e.g. new disk set) and a name change. However, we are not sure if this is the case and if the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is indeed redesigned.
Either way, the 12S Ultra is becoming a camera beast. The Chinese brand has confirmed that the phone is equipped with a new one-inch camera sensor (IMX989) developed with Sony. In fact, Xiaomi says the two brands have spent a combined $ 15 million on sensor development. The device is also said to offer Leica lens covers to reduce glare and purple edges.
Xiaomi will launch the new Ultra phone along with the standard 12S and 12S Pro on July 4th. So we will then know more about all the devices.