After weeks of speculation, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra has finally been confirmed, with Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun announcing that they will be launching their new smartphone this 18th of April at 7pm local time. Lei Jun is also claiming that the Xiaomi 13 Ultra will be able to redefine mobile imagine with its new camera technology that’s been co-engineered with Leica.
Thrilled to announce our latest innovation – #Xiaomi13Ultra. Co-engineered with Leica, this masterpiece redefines mobile imaging with its revolutionary camera technology. Join me to witness a new era of mobile optical imaging on April 18th, 19:00 GMT+8.🟠📷🔴 #AShotAbove pic.twitter.com/p5WMsw0ydU
— Lei Jun (@leijun) April 12, 2023
While this is a China launch first, it’s understood that Xiaomi is planning to have a much wider global launch for the Xiaomi 13 Ultra compared to their previous lineup of Ultra smartphones. And there’s plenty of reasons why enthusiasts around the world would want one of these phones for themselves too, at least judging from early renders and leaks.
Previous leaked renders have already showed a rather large smartphone with an iPhone-esque design around the edges, similar to the flat sides found on the Xiaomi 13. The back and the display itself though do have a slight curve to them, which should make it feel more natural in the hand. It’s that massive camera bump though that will attract all the attention, with Xiaomi expected to pack in four 50MP rear cameras in that huge circular camera island.
The last time Xiaomi did an ‘Ultra’ tier smartphone was of course the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. It made waves as one of the few smartphones around at the time to pack in a massive 1-inch camera sensor, something that until then was reserved for actual cameras such as a Sony RX100 rather than smartphones. We took it for a spin late last year, and had put it up against the usual gold standard for smartphone photography and video, the iPhone—here’s how that went down:
