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

The main battleground of flagship smartphones for several years has been photography, but the camera cold war has led to increasingly large camera modules. Phone makers like Xiaomi have found ways to pack in more lenses, bringing versatility to phones like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, but at the cost of an enormous camera bump on the back, which creates an unbalanced design that catches on pockets and isn’t always compatible with wireless chargers. Could a modular system with a detachable lens be the answer?At Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Xiaomi showed WIRED a new concept phone with a detachable lens that connects magnetically and transfers power and data. (The brand hosted WIRED at its media event at MWC and paid for a portion of our reporter’s travel expenses.) The Xiaomi Modular Optical System is a polished prototype that combines a modified Xiaomi 15 smartphone with a 35-mm lens module that can be attached when you want to snap a photo. Tiny pogo pins for power and a proprietary LaserLink technology for data transfer enable you to shoot photos in the phone’s camera app exactly as if you were using the regular built-in camera.The lens I tested was a Xiaomi 35-mm f/1.4 lens with a 100-megapixel Light Fusion X Type 4/3 sensor, much larger than any lens you will find in a phone today. It has a variable aperture that makes it capable of exceptional low-light performance. After snapping it into place on the back of the phone (much like a MagSafe accessory), I tapped an icon in the camera app to switch from the regular built-in camera to the detachable lens. Photos are saved to your camera gallery, and you can shoot in RAW. It has an autofocus motor, so you can tap on the screen to focus on a subject, but there’s also a physical focus ring for that tactile fine-tune control.Shooting in Pro mode, the detachable lens was as responsive as the regular camera, and I focused on subjects at different distances to achieve a lovely natural bokeh—that blur effect you can typically only achieve on a smartphone with Portrait mode. This mode uses software smarts to determine the edges of subjects and apply an oftentimes imperfect blur—particularly around hair and eyeglasses—but Xiaomi’s concept circumvents this problem thanks to its large sensor.Key to its success is Xiaomi’s LaserLink technology. This is a proprietary optical communication module, apparent as a small dot on the back of the phone and the lens where data is transferred as light (near-infrared laser) at speeds of up to 10 Gbps. It’s fast enough to work in concert with Xiaomi’s AI and computational photography on the phone in a way that traditional external lenses cannot.The lens has two pins that connect on the back to draw power from the phone, and Xiaomi says the power draw of the lens is comparable to a built-in camera system. It’s portable enough to slip in a bag or pocket, and the simple plug-and-play nature makes it easy to use. This system could allow for a whole range of specialist lenses for photographers, though you’ll have to remember to take them with you, which negates one of the big advantages of regular phone cameras.Considering the LaserLink technology and power transfer, it seems like this system could allow for a whole range of other magnetic accessories beyond photography. I’m thinking about chargers, power banks, and mobile game controllers (the low latency is perfect for gaming). It may also one day enable you to connect seamlessly to other devices in Xiaomi’s broader ecosystem, which includes speakers, all sorts of smart-home gadgets, and even cars. There’s no Qi2 support in the Xiaomi 15 range, but this new proprietary system could be why it was passed over.Before you get too excited, this is still just a concept with no firm release schedule or pricing. We’ve seen modular phones fail and disappoint before, including efforts from Google, LG, Motorola, and most recently HMD. But Xiaomi’s prototype was surprisingly polished, and the potential of a system like this is obvious. More balanced designs without huge camera modules, but the option to rival a dedicated camera when I need to? Sign me up.Join the WIRED community to add comments.In your inbox: Upgrade your life with WIRED-tested gearMusk takeover: DOGE’s race to the bottomBig Story: The bust that took down Durov and upended TelegramWIRED’s favorite ‘buy it for life’ gearEvent: Join us for WIRED Health on March 18 in LondonMore From WIREDReviews and Guides© 2025 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/xiaomi-modular-optical-system-mwc-2025/