Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has been doing a lot to maintain its continued growth in the smartphone market. In addition to consecutive device launches in multiple regions, a recent report points to the possibility of an upcoming partnership between Xiaomi and German camera company Leica.
An article from XDA Developers states that specific strings were found in the Chinese version of Xiaomi’s MIUI Gallery app. More specifically, the strings that were found refer to software that was responsible for letting users edit pictures and videos in the app using filters, with some of these filters featuring the Leica brand name. According to the report, four Leica-branded filters were found, which include “Leica Monochrom,” “Leica Monochrom HC,” “Leica Natural,” and “Leica Vivid.” The filters are not currently in use on the current version of the software however, indicating that this might be referring to a future partnership. If this is the case, then the filters might be put to use in an upcoming Xiaomi flagship phone.
Smartphone and camera brand partnerships are not uncommon – throughout the years we’ve seen collaborations between brands like Nokia and Zeiss, OnePlus and Hasselblad, to name a few. However, it’s worth noting that Leica was more known among smartphone enthusiasts for teaming up with Huawei, with the latter’s phones featuring Leica-branded camera technology.
Xiaomi’s most recent smartphone releases include the Xiaomi 12 series devices, which include several variants like the Xiaomi 12, 12 Pro, and 12X models. The brand is known for launching different phone variants to cover as much price brackets as possible, and even has phones released under offshoot brands like the POCO devices. Other than this report, no official announcements have been made by Xiaomi or Leica, and we’ll have to wait and see if this reveal leads to a new device in the future.
Source: XDA Developers
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