Xiaomi’s next flagship, the Xiaomi 16 Ultra, may arrive sooner than expected, according to a new hint by Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station.
In a post on Friday, Xiaomi Group President Lu Weibing gave the first official tease for the upcoming flagship, describing it as “a new height of mobile imaging.” Now, a hint from a reliable tipster, Digital Chat Station, suggests the phone’s release timeline may have been moved up. Instead of launching after the Spring Festival, the device could debut before the end of the year.
That’s a big shift. Traditionally, Xiaomi’s Ultra-branded phones launch after the holiday. But this time, the company seems eager to show off what it’s been working on with Leica, whose partnership is reportedly deepening.
Three flagships incoming
As for the specs, the Xiaomi 16 Ultra will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. That’s no surprise, it’s the go-to chip for most Android flagships this cycle. The phone is also expected to use a flat display, a notable change in design language compared to recent curved-screen flagships.
In addition to the regular Ultra, Xiaomi seems to be cooking up two spinoffs, the Xiaomi 16S Ultra and the Xiaomi 16 Ultra Max. The two phones have appeared in the GSMA IMEI certification with model numbers 25128PNA1C and 25128PNA1G, respectively.
The 16S Ultra is rumored to feature Xiaomi’s custom XRING chip, while the 16 Ultra Max could be the one to bring the top-tier camera hardware in the line.
Xiaomi is also experimenting with a modular optical system for its phones. The company first unveiled it on a concept Xiaomi 15, which includes a customized M4/3 sensor, aspherical lens group, and a f/1.4 aperture.
This modular system allows lossless RAW image capture, 10Gbps optical transmission, and a massive 16-stop dynamic range powered by on-device AI through Xiaomi’s AISP (Artificial Intelligence Smart Photography). If the 16 Ultra Max integrates this setup into a retail product, it could become the most ambitious Xiaomi phone ever made.
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