Xiaomi’s not the only company toying with this idea. This week rival Chinese phone maker Realme introduced a concept phone with a 1 inch image sensor that isn’t designed to work with a built-in lens. Instead you can attach any camera lens that uses the Leica M Mount system to the back of the phone.

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra leads with its Leica-backed camera array, made all the more prominent by the existing 1-inch 50MP main sensor being joined by a new, larger 1/1.4-inch 200MP telephoto sensor. As with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra,

With the 15 Ultra, Xiaomi took the best and made it better with a new 200-megapixel periscope lens to complement the other (largely unchanged) cameras.