Xiaomi shows new telescopic camera design for smartphones

Xiaomi is about to resurrect an old design taken straight from point-and-shoot cameras - telescopic lenses, Android Authority reports. The Chinese manufacturer posted a video on the Weibo social media site, showing the design in action. The camera physically protracts out of the smartphone body and supposedly improves light exposure by 300% and clarity by 20%.

According to tipster Digital Chat Station, who spotted the novelty and reacted with a Twitter post, this large-aperture camera system employs a unique image stabilization technology and is able to increase the light input by 300%. There’s no information on the specific zoom capabilities of the camera or the actual aperture of the thing.

小米推出伸缩式大光圈镜头，超大光圈，进光量提升300％，清晰度提高20％。不久后见面[笑而不语] pic.twitter.com/81FgaBfOxs

— Digital Chat Station (@StationChat) November 5, 2020

 The physical protraction of the camera is something quite interesting. Most of the modern smartphone camera systems don’t actually move, despite offering optical zoom capabilities. The idea of a point-and-shoot-like camera in a smartphone is not new, however. Some of you might remember the Samsung Galaxy K zoom launched in 2014. The idea was quickly abandoned and forgotten, but it seems that Xiaomi is keen to explore it once again.

Of course, it’s unclear at the moment whether we’ll see a commercial product with this tech or all this was just a PR stunt. Nevertheless, if Xiaomi decides to pursue the idea it may steer the smartphone market in yet another interesting direction.