The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra was the company’s first premium flagship. It had all the features you would expect from a high-end smartphone like a flexible triple rear camera system, IP68 water resistance, and fast wireless charging. We expected the Xiaomi 12 Ultra to debut in 2022, but the company has announced that it is the Xiaomi 12S Ultra that is on the way. Now Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun has explained on the Weibo social network that the device was originally going to launch in the first half of the year but was cancelled. “The Xiaomi 12 Ultra is, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, originally planned to be released in March-April, but it was cancelled,” he states. Jun adds that they chose to switch to the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 “in search of a better experience.” What we do not know is the similarity that the Xiaomi 12S Ultra will have with the original Xiaomi 12 Ultra beyond the change of chip. We already know some details of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, such as that it will be equipped with a new 1″ camera sensor (IMX989) co-developed with Sony. In fact, Xiaomi says that the two brands spent a total of 15 million dollars in the development of the sensor. The device is also said to offer Leica lens coatings to reduce reflections and purple fringing. Xiaomi will launch the new Ultra phone alongside the standard 12S and 12S Pro on July 4, though at the moment it’s not clear that it will leave China.
