In front of us today we have Xiaomi's new 12S Ultra with a gigantic self proclaimed
one inch camera sensor inside. The same size of sensor that sits inside of professional cameras.
If we were to measure the internal sensor by the perimeter, the one inch image taker would
have the footprint of the square. And if we measured diagonally, like on a TV, a true one
inch sensor would look a bit more like this. The only way for sure though to see if the sensor is
actually one inch is to rip the whole thing open and measure from the inside. So let's get started.
[Intro]
I mean, with the size of the exterior circular camera lens on the back panel, it definitely makes
you think that the camera might be large. But just like a lifted truck, it also could be an aesthetic
distraction to conceal what's underneath. Removing the back panel is easy enough. Made from synthetic
silicone leather to mimic a camera body, it is flexible. After slicing away the adhesive, the
whole thing can peel up and away from the phone, exposing the triple camera setup underneath.
All three cameras are protected by that large circle of exterior glass and we can see that
the main sensor, the important large camera, is off to the left of center. We can also see by
the physical shape of that main camera housing that Xiaomi probably isn't measuring the sensor
diagonally. And if Xiaomi is getting that one inch sensor measurement from the sides of the sensor,
they are being extremely generous with that ruler...but I mean, who hasn't? It's too early
to say for certain, but I'm starting to think that Xiaomi's one inch sensor isn't exactly one inch.
Let's go deeper. To get to the battery connections we have to remove 10 Philips head screws on the
back plastics, as well as detach the flash and light sensor ribbons before the rear plastics
and 50 watt wireless charging pad can come away from the phone. Below that we have the
dual battery plugs, conveniently labeled 1 and 2. We can also unsnap the extension ribbons just
like a little Lego, and make our way down to the seven screws holding down the lower loudspeaker
and bottom protective plastics. The lower stereo loudspeaker is pretty normal sized. Nothing
compared to the behemoth that we saw on AGM's recent phone. And, of course, being a flagship,
we do see little white balls inside which help the speaker sound bigger than it actually is.
All good things. I can pop off the fingerprint scanning ribbon, the lower ribbon extension,
remove some signal wire connections, and the lower board can come loose. After which,
we can join out the USB-C port from the bottom of the phone. This guy is singular, unsoldered,
easy to replace and provides the internal batteries with 67 watts of juice when plugged in.
The remaining components in the lower portion of the phone are the waterproofing
mesh screen over the loudspeaker opening, the square vibrator motor,
as well as the white water damage indicator sticker next to the SIM card opening.
The battery is easy enough to remove. No prying or alcohol, just a little tug.
Samsung could learn a thing or two from Xiaomi about attaching batteries. This guy has a 4,860
milliamp hour capacity, and has 2 plugs on top for the extra fast charging speeds. Now let's unbury
the cameras. The motherboard of Xiaomi's 12S Ultra has a few signal wires, a singular screw
holding down the camera units, and then the whole thing can lift up and out of the phone leaving
behind the upper loudspeaker and top portion of the vapor chamber for the liquid cooling.
The rest of the vapor chamber extends down into the battery compartment, giving it enough surface
area to help dissipate any heat out from the front of the phone through the screen. Removing
the three camera modules from the motherboard is simple enough. There are three lego-style ribbon
cables, two on the front of the motherboard, and the third is wrapped around back, pinched down
underneath the metal bracket. It's interesting back here as well that the processor actually
has thermal paste and then another copper plate that sits down inside a little square to help with
the heat dissipation. I don't think we've ever seen a little copper extender unit like this.
But yeah, it's time to check out that triple camera setup. These three guys are all bound
securely together. They are inside of a metal housing which keeps all 3 positioned correctly
and working together as one. We'll bust open that metal housing and free the cameras from
their captivity. You know, out of the frying pan into the fire. Xiaomi says that this 48 megapixel
periscope telephoto camera has internal optical image stabilization, and we're going to see what
that looks like from the inside. The telephoto camera works by moving the actual sensor farther
away from the camera lens – just like what you would see with sports or nature photography,
and their really long lenses which magnify the subject to get those close-up shots.
This is the same concept, just a lot smaller. And it looks like the little copper coils on the
sides are for that optical image stabilization for both the angled mirror portion and the lens
portion of that periscope unit – both of which can be manipulated and stabilized from the
inside with the side mounted electromagnets. The telephoto sensor itself, the part that receives
the light from the lens and transmits an image to be processed by the smartphone, is mounted
at the end of the periscope. Finding this little square will give us a good comparison for when we
dig out the theoretical one inch sensor from the main camera...which should also be pretty easy.
Now, of course, the camera isn't going to survive this process, but that's never stopped us before.
With the one inch sensor popped off the back, we do have access to the internal lens elements.
It looks like both sides of the lens are made with plastic. I'm mostly just curious
to see what they're made from because I know some photographers have a very
strong preference for glass on professional camera lenses. But on something this small,
glass is probably not super feasible. The main camera as well has optical image stabilization.
Also by using those same copper electromagnetic
coils that interact with stationary magnets inlaid into the sides of the lens elements.
All pretty standard. Most smartphones have OIS these days. But now, after tearing this all down,
we have finally arrived at our destination. Here at what Xiaomi is calling a full one inch sensor,
which most smartphones do not have. As we can see it is quite a bit larger than the tiny little guy
we found inside of the periscope camera. A larger sensor generally means it can capture more light
and theoretically produce a better image. Larger is better. But if we hold it up to
my dimensionally accurate visual aids here, it is nowhere near one inch in size, neither by height
nor diagonally, falling far short of the one inch in no matter what direction it's measured.
Before we grab our pitchforks in riot, however, it turns out when speaking about photography,
videography, and image sensor sizes, it's not so much about the physical dimensions at all,
but actually more about the size of a circle that the sensor can fit inside of. Since old cameras
80 years ago use cylindrical cathode ray tubes, and that circular measurement around the sensor
is what made sense to measure at the time. So that vernacular has persisted even though the digital
technology we use now is far different. MKBHD explained this pretty well in one of his videos.
But while for us the physical size is not actually one inch, in the photography world this is still a
very normal form of measurement. And Xioami is following those old school photography rules.
Just like every other camera out there at the moment, it's an antique relic from the olden
days that just doesn't really make sense anymore, but we still keep it around for some reason. Like,
you know, the floppy disk icon, fax machines, or members of congress.
I'm not totally sure that Xiaomi 12S Ultra will still work once we put it all back together since
we've destroyed parts of it, but it's been very interesting to see how everything is assembled
from the inside, and learn a bit of history at the same time. Surprisingly the phone does still turn
on, but since we went from a one inch sensor to a no inch sensor, the 12S Ultra is unable to find
my cameras. We can tell that they're scattered to bits all over my desk, but we don't need to tell
the phone that. So while we've discovered that the sensor itself might not be a full physical one
inch in size, it's still very impressive. But that leaves the question for you, do you think camera
sensors should be measured differently now that we aren't using the old cathode ray tubes anymore?
Or should we continue to let the camera industry be overly generous with their rulers? Let me know
what you think down in the comments below. Hit that subscribe button if you haven't already. And
come hang out with me on Instagram and Twitter. Thanks a ton for watching. I'll see you around.