Until now, we've only seen 100-megapixel-plus camera sensors in digital cameras that cost thousands of dollars but after months of teasing, Xiaomi has finally launched the first ever smartphone with a 108-megapixel camera: the Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro. The CC9 Pro will be the first ever full-production smartphone to feature an insane 108-megapixel image sensor along with an equally impressive penta-camera array on the back of the device.
The phone has a total of six cameras if you count the front-facing 32-megapixel camera, which is housed in a teardrop-style notch on the display. The five-camera setup on the back panel includes the primary 108-megapixel wide angle lens, a 5-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom (and 10x hybrid zoom), a 12-megapixel telephoto camera for portrait mode photography, a 20-megapixel ultra-wide lens camera that boasts a 117-degree field of view, in addition to a 2-megapixel macro lens for taking close-up shots.
The 108-megapixel sensor is Samsung's ISOCELL Bright HMX, which Xiaomi designed in collaboration with the South-Korean tech giant, announced in August this year. As a 1/1.33-inch type sensor, it is quite large in size for a smartphone. By default, the camera will take 27-megapixel shots that combine four pixels together, a standard on most high-resolution camera smartphones. However, you have the option to crank it up to 108-megapixel to "produce billboard-level prints up to 4.24 meters high," according to Xiaomi.
Apart from the camera specs, the Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro packs some pretty impressive hardware as well. The handset includes a massive 5,260mAh battery, a curved 6.47-inch AMOLED display with an in-built fingerprint reader and is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 730G processor.
The CC9 Pro has been priced at 2,799 yuan, which converts to about 400 USD, for the base model with 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage. The upgraded model will cost 3,099 yuan (or about 443 USD) with 8GB RAM. There's also the high-end CC9 Pro Premium Edition variant which costs 3,499 yuan (or around $500) with 8GB RAM / 256 GB storage as well as an enhanced 8P lens system for the main 108-megapixel camera. The CC9 Pro goes on sale in China today with an international release expected to follow soon.
