Galaxy Note 20 Ultra gets trounced by smartphone that will "shock the world"

Samsung's Galaxy Note 20 Ultra's camera may not be able to compete with Xiaomi's Mi 10 Ultra

Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra
(Image credit: RODENT950/ Twitter)
Shabana Arif
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Samsung impressed last year with the unveiling of its Galaxy S20 Ultra with its 100x Super Resolution Zoom and Hybrid Optic Zoom 10X. Ultimately the Korean tech giant decided that this was overkill, as users would need a tripod to take full advantage of the feature; lugging camera kit around is somewhat counter-intuitive to the convenience of having a camera in your smartphone after all. 

Samsung took another bash at it with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra this year, that offers 50x zoom, but rather than taking notes from the company's experience and subsequent fine-tuning of its camera, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has decided to up the ante instead with its Mi 10 Ultra which reportedly offers 120x zoom and another feature that will "shock the world".

Twitter user RODENT950 has leaked  marketing image of the upcoming handset, as well as sharing details of the smartphone's camera. According to them, the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra will feature a 120X zoom with 4x optical zoom.  

This sounds excessive, especially in light of the issues presented with Samsung's 100x zoom, and with a low optical zoom, the quality of the pictures could be compromised - but we won't know that until Xiaomi confirms the pixel count for the lens.   

A second, and more exciting prospect - technically speaking - is the news that Xiaomi could finally be rolling out its under-screen camera technology. Twitter leaker Ice Universe  says the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra will "shock the world", with fellow leaker Ross Young following up, saying it'll be the first smartphone with an under-screen camera.

Elsewhere on the internet, an unboxing video of the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra as popped up, showing off the handset in all of its chunky glory. There's a quad camera setup on the back, as per the marketing image, and over on the front, it looks like there's a hole-punch camera, rather than the rumoured under-screen camera.

All of this looks like it'll come with a catch though, with Young adding that the device will be available in "shockingly" small quantities, indicting that it's likely to just be a "demo product" rather than something that's widely available commercially. 

Xiaomi often experiments with smartphone tech, presenting surprising innovations with demo handsets, so it'll be exciting to see what it's done with Mi 10 Ultra. We're expecting to hear more about the phone today, as the company celebrates its tenth anniversary, so we may get official word on this new and impressive device pretty soon - and the Note 20 Ultra should watch its back!  

Source: Tom's Guide 

Shabana Arif
Shabana Arif

Shabana worked at T3.com as News Editor covering tech and gaming, and has been writing about video games for almost a decade (and playing them since forever). She's had bylines at major gaming sites during her freelance career before settling down here at T3, and has podcasts, streaming, and video content under her belt to boot. Outside of work, she also plays video games and should really think about expanding her hobbies. If you have any tech or gaming tips, shoot over an email or DM her on social media.

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