Is the Xiaomi 12S Ultra the Best Camera Phone?

This is the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. Yeah, it’s a smartphone, but honestly? It’s all about that camera. I mean, look at this thing. The back is practically all camera module—like, it takes up almost half the entire phone. If you spend any time on their website, you’ll see that the first 20 pages are just all about the camera. Then, somewhere way down the line, they finally start talking about the rest of the phone. There’s even a video on their site where the phone literally turns into a camera. Oh, and it’s got the world’s largest smartphone camera sensor.

Imagine being at a party, everyone pulls out their phones, and someone says, “Hey, anyone got a good camera for a group photo?” And you just casually go, “Yeah, I got the best one.”

That’s the vibe I’m getting here. This phone better have a killer camera.

So, there’s been a ton of hype around the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, and I had to check it out for myself. What really grabbed my attention is the claim that it has the world’s largest smartphone camera sensor—a one-inch sensor, to be specific. But here’s the thing: “one inch” isn’t actually one inch. It’s a little smaller than that. I even did a video about it, so if you want the breakdown, I’ll link it below near the Like button.

Another thing is, this isn’t the first phone with a one-inch sensor. There have been a few others before it. But the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is the first to use Sony’s new IMX989 sensor. This one was made just for smartphones, instead of repurposing a sensor from another camera. So, Xiaomi actually beat Samsung to the punch here—they’re working on their own one-inch sensor, but Xiaomi got there first.

And honestly, I think that’s the whole point of this phone: to one-up Samsung’s Ultra series in every way they can. They slapped the same name on it, but their message is clear: “We can do it better.”

The Camera

When I first got my hands on this phone, I had one main question: Can it actually beat the Galaxy S22 Ultra at its own game? And more importantly, is it really worth having the world’s largest smartphone camera?

Just to clear things up, it’s this one here—not the middle one (that’s the ultra-wide) and definitely not the bottom one (that’s the 5X telephoto). Nope, the big one is the sensor we’re talking about. The largest smartphone sensor out there.

I’ve been snapping photos and recording videos for the last few days, testing this camera in both everyday situations and more extreme conditions. And honestly? It’s impressive. This camera is extremely capable and, most of the time, it delivers amazing results.

Main Camera

The 50-megapixel main camera brings in a ton of detail and sharpness, even when it bins down to 12.5 megapixels. What really stands out, though, is how well it handles exposure, even in tricky lighting—like shooting into the sun or in high dynamic range situations. But the two things that really made a difference for me were the shutter speed and autofocus. The big sensor lets in a ton of light, and that makes both of those elements incredibly fast.

Whether it’s kids running around, pets darting through the room, or cars zipping by, this camera locks in focus quickly and freezes the action reliably. That’s super reassuring when you’re shooting fast-moving stuff. It also does really well in low light, which honestly, shouldn’t be a surprise considering how much light that massive sensor can gather.

I decided to pit the 12S Ultra against the phone it’s trying to beat—the Galaxy S22 Ultra. I did a blind side-by-side comparison on Twitter. Should’ve made it a poll, but based on the replies, it looks like a lot of you actually preferred the 12S Ultra shot. Sure, it’s a bit more saturated, but it handled the streetlight bloom way better, thanks to its improved lens coatings, and still kept all the details in the rest of the exposure with very little noise.

You probably noticed the Leica branding on the back of the phone. That’s not just for show—Leica helped with the optics and lens coatings, reducing things like fringing and chromatic aberration. The color science is solid too.

Photo Samples
When you start using the phone, it gives you the option to shoot with either the “Leica Authentic Look” or the “Leica Vibrant Look.” They’re basically like the iPhone’s photographic styles. The Authentic Look is a little more subtle, less saturated, while the Vibrant Look is punchier and more instantly shareable. But honestly? After shooting with both, neither really wowed me.

The 12S Ultra generally delivers clean, sharp shots, with a nice shallow depth of field for close-ups. The colors are punchy and saturated, and it has impressive dynamic range. But here’s my hot take: It’s not perfect, but it has the highest potential of any smartphone camera I’ve used. It doesn’t always hit the mark, but when it does, it’s incredible.

I’ve got two shots that really convinced me. The first one was on a rooftop with some plants. It was windy, and the plants were moving all over the place. I just pointed the camera and snapped as they swayed in and out of frame. And boom—it nailed it.

Dynamic Range

The photo I got back was ridiculously sharp, with this crazy shallow depth of field and a dynamic range that’s just mind-blowing. It’s like the movement was completely frozen in time—like the plants weren’t even moving at all. I couldn’t believe it. Considering how fast everything was shifting in and out of the frame, I honestly didn’t think autofocus would keep up, but it did. It locked on, kept everything in focus, and nailed it—over and over again.

Then there was the other one. I was out at practice the other day, way out on some island. I had just thrown my cleats on, was about to put my phone in my bag, but I snapped a quick pic of the ground—just my cleats on the dirt, before I stood up. Boom.

Image Quality

And honestly, this one wasn’t even a tough shot. It’s just a still of my feet, nothing moving. But optically? This might be the most impressive shot I’ve ever seen come from a smartphone. And remember—there’s no portrait mode here. Just a normal depth of field. My cleats are super sharp, there’s this gorgeous shallow blur that deepens the further you go back, and the exposure, contrast, and color are all spot on.

It’s just a random shot of my feet, nothing fancy, but damn… for a phone? I kinda love this photo.

So yeah, I’ve been praising this camera, but I did say it wasn’t perfect. It’s a flagship, so I’m gonna pixel-peep and dive into the areas that need work too.

Weaknesses

This phone has some of the classic issues you’d expect with a big-sensor camera. The large sensor gives you that nice, natural depth of field, which is fantastic for mid-range shots (around 2 to 4 feet). But when you get too close, you run into problems. Just like most phones with big sensors, it starts to show fringing up close. The blur looks good at first, but as you zoom in, parts of your subject will be in focus while other parts aren’t, and the blur can get pretty messy.

To fix this, it tries to switch to macro mode automatically when you’re too close, using the ultra-wide camera. The problem here is that the ultra-wide camera has a totally different look and color science. It’s not awful, but it looks noticeably worse than the main sensor. While it does eliminate the fringing, it doesn’t make things look better overall.

Then there’s the color science—it’s all over the place between lenses. If you quickly switch between them, like going from 4.9X to 5.2X zoom, you’ll see a big shift in color, exposure, and contrast. Same thing happens with the ultra-wide lens. This kind of inconsistency happens with most smartphones, but it’s especially noticeable here.

As for video, it’s mostly solid. You can shoot up to 8K at 24 FPS with any of the lenses, or 4K at 30 FPS, and when it’s in focus, the footage looks great, especially with the awesome image stabilization. But here’s where it gets weird. I didn’t notice it at first, but there’s a bug I ran into. I filmed a bunch of videos and couldn’t figure out what was going on.

So, I’m on the roof again, shooting the skyline. I see a plane flying across, and I decide to test the feature where you can switch between lenses while zooming in during video. It’s a pretty cool feature, right? So, I point at the plane, start recording, and what I thought I was doing—what I saw in the viewfinder—was zooming all the way in on the plane and tracking it across the sky, keeping it perfectly centered.

I was pretty surprised when I saw the clip that came out of the shot—Zoom Issues.

It starts off by zooming in on the plane, but then it’s like I blinked and missed something. The frame shifts unexpectedly, and I thought I had everything lined up perfectly. So I checked the footage, and it wasn’t at all what I thought I was recording.

Here’s what I think happened: While I was zooming in and out and switching between the three lenses, the camera was zooming in on the main sensor. I thought I was keeping the plane in the center, but it actually switched to the telephoto lens during the recording.

If you watch closely, you can spot the moment it shifts to the telephoto lens, and that’s when the angle changes a bit. At full zoom, it’s pretty noticeable. What you see on the screen isn’t always what’s actually being recorded.

This is something they could probably fix with a software update—just syncing the zoom across the lenses properly. It’s one of those little quirks. If you’re doing any super zoomed-in shots, especially with distant subjects, it’s a good idea to double-check your settings before you hit record.

That said, there’s a lot more to this camera—like the optical lens emulation from classic lenses, all the cool modes like Super Moon and Multi Video Angle mode… so much to play with. But if I had to sum it up: with this huge camera on a smartphone, it’s a bit hit-or-miss, but when it works, it really works. It’s an awesome optical experience.

The rest of the phone? Totally Ultra. Xiaomi’s clearly going after Samsung here. It’s packing the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip with 12GB of RAM, which puts it ahead of Samsung by a few months in terms of performance. The display is a 6.7-inch OLED LTPO, 1440p, 120Hz, with a sharp 522 PPI and a max brightness of 1500 nits. It’s an amazing screen—except for those curved edges and corners, which I’m honestly starting to dislike.

The battery’s a 4,860mAh, which isn’t the largest, but with 67W fast charging, 50W wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging, it beats Samsung’s flagship in terms of charging tech. The speakers are excellent too, with Dolby Atmos and customizable EQ settings. Plus, there’s a new X-Axis haptic motor that feels really nice.

Design-wise, it’s a mix of matte black metal and faux leather, and while it’s IP68 water-resistant, I’ve got to say, it kinda looks like a Minion… just being real.

If you’re in the U.S. or North America, you probably won’t see this phone in person, but in places where Xiaomi’s selling it, it goes for about $900, which is undercutting—or straight up beating—Samsung’s Ultra pricing.

So yeah, mission accomplished. The Xiaomi 12S Ultra is an impressive phone, with a lot of strong points. Honestly, I’m pretty into it. What do you think?