xiaomi turns smartphones into digital cameras at MWC 2025

Xiaomi smartphone turns into digital camera at MWC 2025

Xiaomi reveals its modular magnetic lens that turns smartphones into digital cameras during MWC 2025 in Barcelona. Dubbed the Xiaomi Mobile Optical System, the magnetic lens clips right in the middle of the smartphone’s rear, reminiscent of the digital camera back in the days. It features a regular double-Gauss lens as well as Light Fusion X with a custom M4/3 sensor. This means the design team reshapes the light paths of the sensor and finetunes the sensor so that the magnetic lens can capture images and record videos like a digital camera.

The company says the result presents sharp images and videos, even if the modular magnetic lens looks compact and pocket-sized. So far, Xiaomi says that the digital camera-like lens can offer 100 megapixel capacity to the smartphones, independent of the megapixels already offered by the phone cameras. It latches onto the rear of the device and is removable, so it’s not bulky when the user brings it in their pockets. At the moment, the company says that users just need to plug in the modular magnetic lens to start using it.

all images courtesy of Xiaomi

Modular magnetic lens that takes sharp images

For specs buffs, the Xiaomi modular magnetic lens for smartphones has lossless streams of RAW data transfer for images and videos captured by the digital camera-like lens. The company shares that users can transfer these files wirelessly to the Xiaomi AISP, which is dubbed the first AI LM computational photography platform. It’s because of this technology that the images and videos captured have 16 stops of dynamic range, making them clearer and sharper compared to those taken by a smartphone without the digital camera lens.

The company adds that users don’t need to pair or charge the device. It hasn’t explained yet how the device fully works on smartphones, whether there’ll be an app associated with it or the in-house system operates the accessory. Xiaomi also hints that the digital camera-like lens may only be adaptable to their series of smartphones. For this reason, there’s a magnetic slot at the rear of their smartphones, so the lens can clasp on it and users can start using their devices like a digital camera. So far, there’s no news yet on the production date of the smart accessory.

Xiaomi reveals its modular magnetic lens that turns smartphones into digital cameras