BlaI haven’t written about smartphones so far, but the new Xiaomi Mi Note 10 with an advertised 108 MP camera (!) caught my attention. As a matter of fact smartphones are replacing small cameras like GoPro and became a great tool for vlogging and travel photography. I don’t know who made this statement but I can 100% confirm: “the best camera is the one you have with you”. An example: I was travelling in Iceland with a car full of gear (mirrorless camera with gimbal, action cameras, drone,…) but this was one of my most favourite shots:
It was taken with my smartphone back then. Why? I was on the way to my car and saw this beautiful reflection in a puddle. It was the only camera I had with me at that moment. So, Xiaomi is advertising a 108MP camera phone, how does this change the game?
Xiaomi Mi Note 10
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 will be released Nov 6th.
Also Xiaomi Mi Watch will be released. Find the latest infos here.
Naming
It appears that there will be a version for the Chinese market: Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro, equipped with a Snapdragon 730G processor, which is currently the most powerful mid-range processor. The models range from 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage up to 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage.
And it seems there will be two versions for the international market: Xiaomi Mi Note 10 and Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro. (Not sure if spelled with “Mi” – Xiaomi Mi Note 10 or just Xiaomi Note 10). Rumours say the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 will share the features with Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro, while the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro will be powered by Snapdragon 855+ processor, which is one of the most powerful high-end processors on the market.
However, all of them will offer the 5 rear cameras!
5 Cameras – penta camera smartphone
Xiaomi Note 10 will offer 5 rear cameras and therefore will be the first Penta-Camera-Phone. At first I thought for advertising they just added up all camera resolutions to end up with 108MP, but no. One of the cameras will feature a 108MP Sensor – that’s 12032 x 9024 pixel resolution!
These are the 5 cameras in detail:
- 108 MP Main Camera – 1/ 1.33″ Samsung S5KHMX-Sensor, 0.8μm pixel size, F/1.7 aperture, OIS
- 12 MP Portrait Camera – 1/2.6″ 2PD Samsung S5K2L7-Sensor, 1.4um pixel size, 2x zoom, 50 mm focal lenght
- 20 MP Wide Angle Camera – Sony IMX350 sensor, 117° FOV (field of view)
- 5 MP Tele Camera – with 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom, 50x digital zoom, OIS
- 2 MP Super Macro Camera – for objects as close as 1.5cm from the lens
In total Xiaomi Mi Note 10 actually has 6 cameras:
+ 32 MP Selfie Camera on the front side: 1.6μm, f/2.0
Some of the cameras (at least 2 according to following image) will feature optical image stabilization (OIS)!
The phone offers two kinds of flash: Dual soft light + dual flash.
The 5 cameras of Xiaomi Mi Note 10 (Xiaomi CC9 Pro)
Xiaomi Note 10 – mechanical camera stabilization
You don’t believe it? Me neither when I first heard about it. But here’s an EXIF data screenshot that was leaked online. Camera model shows “Mi Note 10 Pro”, this was the hint of an international “Pro” version. But the other versions also feature the 108MP camera.
Xiaomi Mi Note 10: 108MP – 12032 x 9024 pixel resolution
108 Megapixel – Main Camera
108 MP – 12032 x 9024 pixel resolution – seems groundbreaking, let’s put that in perspective: My Sony a6300 mirrorless camera features a 24.2 MP Exmore CMOS sensor. That’s not even a quarter (!) of the resolution offered by this smartphone. The photo below was taken with DJI Osmo Pocket, which features panorama photos. The camera is using its gimbal to take 3×3 photos each 12MP and stitches it within the camera. As some of the pictures overlap for better stitching and the result is a 8685 × 5819 pixel – 50MP photo. That’s only half (!) the resolution of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10.
(By clicking on the photo you can see the 50MP photo – careful when using mobile data the photo is 30MB)
DJI Osmo Pocket 3×3 panorama photo (taken in RAW)
20 Megapixel – Wide Angle Lens – Camera
Heck, there’s even more. A 20 MP wide angle camera with Sony IMX350 sensor and 117° FOV (field of view). If you love the wide angle shots of Action Cameras like GoPro, there’s also a camera for that. Further compared to GoPro’s 12 MP resolution, Xiaomi Mi Note 10 even offers a higher resolution in that category as well!
typical wide angle GoPro photo
Conclusion – Camera
By now I guess you got the point why I’m really excited about the release of the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 and its capabilities as camera. I can’t wait to test the phone against my collection of cameras to see how many cameras this smartphone will replace. There are no infos on video capabilities, which I’ll add later when announced.
Phone Specs
Ok, at this point I was only talking camera – simply because it is the first 108MP primary camera smartphone in the world, but of course it is also a smartphone and here are respective specs. (Not all infos are announced so far, list will be updated once released)
- Snapdragon 730G, Adreno 618 GPU
- 6,47″ Curved AMOLED display, 398 ppi, 2340 x 1080 resolution
- 5260 mAh battery with fast charging (from 0 to full in 65 minutes)
- Headphone jack
- 120Hz screen refresh rate
- Network type: FDD-LTE,GSM,TDD-LTE,UMTS
- Wireless Connectivity: A-GPS, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, WiFi
- WIFI: 2.4G/5G WiFi,802.11a/b/g/n/ac wireless internet,WiFi Direct
- 4G network, FDD LTE: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/18/19/20/26
- 6GB RAM
- 128GB storage
- Bluetooth 5.0
- 2 x Nano SIM Slot
- USB-C port
- Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Camera laser focus sensor, E-Compass, Fingerprint Sensor, Gesture Sensor, Gyroscope, Infrared Radiation, NFC
- Available in Black, Deep Green & White
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 – Giveaway
- Xiaomi Mi Note 10 will be released firstly by Gearbest
- Release Time: 6th of November 2019 (UTC+8)
- (maybe modified according to Xiaomi official notice)
- Early Bird Price by Gearbest will be cheaper than Global Launch Price!
Price:
- First Release Price: 499.99 USD
- only with coupon: GBMINOTE10 (limited to 1000 units)
- Coupon Code for Germany, Austria & Switzerland: GBMINOTE10DEQ
- Coupon Code for Italy: GBMINOTE10IT
- This Coupon will be valid at 18: 30 (UTC+8), 6th Nov. 2019
- 48hrs delivery (after payment)
Three available colours in store:
- Xiaomi Mi Note 10 – Black: Link to Gearbest
- Xiaomi Mi Note 10 – Deep Green: Link to Gearbest
- Xiaomi Mi Note 10 – White: Link to Gearbest
How to enter the Giveaway and get the Early Bird Price
Step 1: register and activate account (if you don’t have a Gearbest Account so far)
- click register (visit website)
- enter email and password
- click resend activation email
- open email and click that link to complete registration
Step 2: Activate Arrival Notice
- Click respective product (links below) and press button “arrival notice”
- Xiaomi Mi Note 10 – Black: Link to Gearbest
- Xiaomi Mi Note 10 – Deep Green: Link to Gearbest
- Xiaomi Mi Note 10 – White: Link to Gearbest
- enter email and verification code
- after activating your account, you will get an exclusive coupon for EARLY BIRD OFFER in your user center
- even cheaper than Global launch price!
