Test verdict on the Xiaomi 14 Pro: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 smartphone has to improve its camera

[Redaktion]

The Xiaomi 14 Pro scores in our test with a powerful overall package and very high-quality visuals. However, the highlight of the Xiaomi smartphone, its new camera system, only convinces us to a limited extent.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Test-verdict-on-the-Xiaomi-14-Pro-Snapdragon-8-Gen-3-smartphone-has-to-improve-its-camera.788299.0.html

[punmeistervstheworld]

The "Light Hunter 900" is the OmniVision OV50K 1/1.3" sensor with tech similar to the Sony LYTIA lineup. Also, while the sensor is smaller, it's aperture is still bigger than the 13 Ultra main camera.

The OV50K has a 3.3x crop factor compared to the Full Frame equivalent, resulting in a aperture ratio of f/4.62 to f/13.2 and everything in-between.
Meanwhile the IMX989 has a 2.64x crop factor compared to Full Frame, resulting in the apertures being f/5.0 and f/10.5 respectively.

[Camera Nerds]

@punmeistervstheworld:

You seem to be quite knowledgeable about camera's, so here goes:

1. What's the difference between telephoto and periscope? Are they the same? If not, which is better for optical zoom?

2. Why don't we have any small phones with serious optical zoom yet? We've had generations of Pixels and Galaxy's but the base models are lacking compared to their Pro / Ultra counterparts. Is it just a segmentation for profit margins thing or it's more due to an actual technical limitation?

[punmeistervstheworld]

Dunno if you will get notified, but I will still reply!

1. From a functional perspective, there is no difference, since they both achieve the same goal, which is a longer focal length (or zoom). The difference is in the hardware. Normal telephoto lenses behave essentially in the same way as a normal 24mm lens on the primary camera.

Periscope telephotos came because of two things, longer zoom ranges (like 5x) and bigger camera sensors that also come with a much smaller crop factor compared to the Full Frame Equivalent. Take the Oppo Find X6 Pro (and X7 Ultra since they share the 2.8x module), the periscope is HUGE! Not to mention very thick, no wonder why Oppo had to use a giant camera bump. Meanwhile compare to Samsung which has the 3x module in a very small housing on the S21/S22/S23/S24 Ultra.

That is because of the sensor sizes. Samsung uses a Sony IMX754 sensor with a 1/3.52" size, whereas Oppo uses the much superior IMX890 with a 1/1.56" size. While the sensor used in the Oppo phone is a million times more superior to the one used by Samsung, this comes at the cost of making a much more complex lens, due to the much smaller crop factor in the Full Frame Equivalent, which is why the module is so huge on the X6 Pro/X7 Ultra.

As for 2, it's actually both Engineering reasons and Marketing reasons.
Having small phones with longer focal lengths like say 120mm is pretty difficult. For one, they need a lot of space, especially if they use superior sensors that are big. Secondly heat also becomes a problem, since they generate quite a lot of heat (both the sensor and the OIS or Sensor Shift mechanism), and this becomes a problem for the cooling systems of the smaller phones.

The Engineering reasoning is very much valid... which is also a great way for the Marketing side of the project to make it an upselling point to the higher-end models.

Hope this clarifies things!