This Modular Phone Concept Is Xiaomi’s Plan to Kill the Camera Bump

Key to its occurrence is Xiaomi’s LaserLink technology. This is simply a proprietary optical connection module, evident arsenic a tiny dot connected the backmost of the telephone and the lens wherever information is transferred arsenic airy (near-infrared laser) astatine speeds of up to 10 Gbps. It's accelerated capable to enactment successful performance with Xiaomi’s AI and computational photography connected the telephone successful a mode that accepted outer lenses cannot.

The lens has 2 pins that link connected the backmost to gully powerfulness from the phone, and Xiaomi says the powerfulness gully of the lens is comparable to a built-in camera system. It’s portable capable to gaffe successful a container oregon pouch and the elemental plug-and-play quality makes it casual to use. This strategy could let for a full scope of specializer lenses for photographers, though you'll person to retrieve to instrumentality them with you, which negates 1 of the large advantages of regular telephone cameras.

Considering the LaserLink exertion and powerfulness transfer, it seems similar this strategy could let for a full scope of different magnetic accessories beyond photography. I’m reasoning astir chargers, powerfulness banks, and mobile crippled controllers (the debased latency is cleanable for gaming). It whitethorn besides 1 time alteration you to link seamlessly to different devices successful Xiaomi’s broader ecosystem, which includes speakers, each sorts of astute location gadgets, and adjacent cars. There's nary Qi2 support successful the Xiaomi 15 range, but this caller proprietary strategy could beryllium wherefore it was passed over.

Before you get excessively excited, this is inactive conscionable a conception with nary steadfast merchandise docket oregon pricing. We've seen modular phones neglect and disappoint before, including efforts from Google, LG, Motorola, and astir precocious HMD. But Xiaomi's prototype was amazingly polished, and the imaginable of a strategy similar this is obvious. More balanced designs without immense camera modules, but the enactment to rival a dedicated camera erstwhile I request to? Sign maine up.