MWC25: The Evolution of Mobile Imaging The Return of Optical Technology and the Rise of Mass-Market Professional Photography

MWC25: The Evolution of Mobile Imaging The Return of Optical Technology and the Rise of Mass-Market Professional PhotographyOn the opening day of MWC25, Xiaomi ignited heated discussion about the evolution of mobile imaging with its "Xiaomi Modular Optical System," built around the Xiaomi 15 concept phone and an M43 fixed-lens camera. Almost simultaneously, Realme, another major Chinese smartphone brand, showcased its imaging prowess at MWC25, unveiling its first interchangeable lens concept phone and garnering significant industry attention

MWC25: The Evolution of Mobile Imaging The Return of Optical Technology and the Rise of Mass-Market Professional Photography

On the opening day of MWC25, Xiaomi ignited heated discussion about the evolution of mobile imaging with its "Xiaomi Modular Optical System," built around the Xiaomi 15 concept phone and an M43 fixed-lens camera. Almost simultaneously, Realme, another major Chinese smartphone brand, showcased its imaging prowess at MWC25, unveiling its first interchangeable lens concept phone and garnering significant industry attention. While both Realme and Xiaomi's modular optical systems employ a detachable design, Realme's concept phone, in terms of technical implementation, more closely resembles Xiaomi's Xiaomi 12S Ultra with its attachable Leica lens, unveiled three years prior. However, significant differences exist.

First, the "direct lens mounting" technology that Xiaomi failed to achieve back then remains unrealized in Realme's concept phone. Footage from MWC25 shows Realme requires a relatively large adapter ring to be attached to the phone before a camera lens can be mounted. This adapter ring extends the flange distance, resulting in some loss in equivalent focal length calculation.

Second, Realme's adapter ring solution is a "passive mount," with no signal pathway between the phone and the lens. This means the phone cannot obtain lens parameters such as focal length and aperture; focusing must be done manually, eliminating any possibility of lens image stabilization.

However, Realme's adapter ring solution isn't entirely without merit. Unlike Xiaomi's previous approach, which compromised on using a large sensor to match the lens image circle, Realme directly incorporates a customized one-inch large sensor, ensuring basic sharpness and resolution. Furthermore, the locking mechanism of Realme's adapter ring is cleverly designed, and the ring itself includes a tripod mount. For a top-heavy device like a phone with an attached camera lens that lacks image stabilization, a tripod is almost essential for telephoto shooting.

In terms of lens selection, Realme opted for classic Leica M lenses, offering considerable playability even with the passive mount. Currently, Realme offers a 73mm equivalent portrait lens and a 234mm equivalent telephoto lens, supporting up to 10x native lossless zoom. The inclusion of genuine optical lenses grants Realme's concept phone ultra-high optical magnification capabilities completely absent in mainstream phones, significantly improving depth of field and sharpness. Judging solely from sample images, it's difficult to discern they were taken with a phone.

The simultaneous release of these imaging exploration products by two major Chinese smartphone brands on the first day of MWC25 reflects a deeper trend in mobile imaging development that warrants consideration.

The Bottleneck of Computational Photography: The Pursuit of Realism

Both Xiaomi and Realme shone brightly at MWC25, with many domestic imaging bloggers releasing hands-on videos of these products. A recurring keyword in these videos is "realism." Here, "realism" doesn't simply refer to bokeh or detail resolution, but rather the true-to-life imagery achieved through pure optical design by large lenses unconstrained by the limitations of phone size, forming a stark contrast to typical phone images.

Let's discuss bokeh (background blur). Currently, mainstream phone bokeh heavily relies on computational photography and AI deep learning. This doesn't mean phone cameras can't achieve realistic bokeh; rather, the combination of small sensors, small apertures, and short focal lengths in smartphones means the optical bokeh effect from the lens itself is not prominent.

To enhance the bokeh effect, phones typically employ post-processing: Phones equipped with LiDAR or ToF sensors can use these to acquire depth data; dual-camera phones use parallax algorithms to separate depth data from photos or utilize AI to segment the image and infer depth. After obtaining a depth map, the phone post-processes the image based on this depth information, adding extra bokeh to the out-of-focus areas. However, even the most accurate LiDAR, due to sensor limitations, cannot create a highly accurate depth map, let alone relying solely on AI for depth inference. This leads to the artificial look of phone portrait blur not only is the subject cut out crudely, but the bokeh lacks depth and realism compared to true optical bokeh.

Furthermore, super-telephoto capabilities achieved through computational photography and pixel shifting ("pixel binning" in camera circles) on phone sensors cannot match true optical telephoto lenses. While image degradation at the telephoto end is a challenge for the camera industry, compared to optical telephoto issues like chromatic and spherical aberration, purely computational super-telephoto on phones more easily loses detail and produces artifacts. Incidentally, the widely circulated images of moons shot with certain brands' super-telephoto lenses are not artifacts, but hallucinations.

While not commercially available in the short term, the use of real optical lenses in place of computational photography in the concept phones unveiled by Xiaomi and Realme at MWC25 signifies that the mobile phone industry has reached a bottleneck in computational photography, or at least a point where software alone cannot catch up with real optical technology. Of course, increased investment in AI ISPs and continued algorithm training could potentially improve computational photography. However, considering both time and financial costs, increased investment in optics may be a more cost-effective option in the current situation.

Professional Technology Democratization, Mass-Market Product Professionalization: A Mutually Beneficial Cycle

Xiaomi and Realme's approach of integrating lenses with phones confirms the long-held principle of "professional technology democratization and mass-market product professionalization." Simply put, it's a "two-way street." For average consumers, phones are the most commonly used and accessible photography tools; for professional photographers and enthusiasts, phones offer unique advantages in flexibility and portability. Manufacturers are continually bringing professional technologies down to mass-market products, making previously high-barrier professional experiences accessible to more people; and as mass-market products evolve with these professional features, they in turn inspire new professional applications, creating a mutually beneficial cycle.

Xiaomi's "optical module" showcased at MWC25 is a prime example of mass-market product professionalization. Some critics considered Xiaomi's detachable product an unnecessary complication, arguing that a phone alone suffices for travel; now you need to carry a lens bag as well. However, from another perspective, carrying one camera body with three lenses is standard for some photography enthusiasts. The mass-market product professionalization philosophy allows us to extend the workflow and creative experience of traditional cameras to phones, making cameras "optional" rather than "essential" and freeing up creativity.

On the other hand, mass-market phone products, enhanced with professional features, are experiencing an "upgrade" in return, enabling more non-professional users to pursue higher image quality or more expressive imagery. Xiaomi's concept phone and interchangeable lenses bring lens systems, adapter rings, and large sensors, typically found in the professional realm, to the fingertips of the average user. Crucially, upgrading optical capabilities doesn't increase user complexity. Both Xiaomi's optical module and Realme's interchangeable lens solution use the system's default camera interface, with the same workflow and image style as the default camera; only the improved image quality indicates the use of an external lens. This means phones can offer telephoto capabilities, depth of field, and optical quality comparable to professional equipment, making true "optical imaging" accessible to more than just a select few professionals. Practical experience will drive new demands and further push the professionalization of mobile phone photography.

Xiaoyi's Xiaoyi Camera M1, a Xiaomi ecosystem company product, is another good example. Although the image quality of this M43 camera is average, its straightforward graphical touch interface teaches users the relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, allowing novice photographers used only to phone cameras to easily learn and appreciate photography.

Stronger Technology, a More Thriving Ecosystem

"Mass-market product professionalization, professional technology democratization" is not simply technological evolution but a mutually empowering ecological cycle. On one hand, interchangeable lenses and custom large sensors give mobile photography "realism" and greater plasticity; on the other hand, the increasing demands of the mass market for better photography experiences push manufacturers to innovate, creating more opportunities for the commercialization of professional technologies and supply chains. This two-way push will continue to ferment in the mobile imaging field and extend to broader industries, such as the AI glasses that became a sensation at CES2025.

The concept products launched by Xiaomi and Realme at MWC25 are not merely technological experiments but a microcosm of the progress of the entire mobile imaging industry. The message is clear: mobile imaging continues to progress and explore, going beyond just stacking hardware or algorithms. In this context, seemingly outlandish innovations may not be so far-fetched. Perhaps at the next MWC, those who once questioned detachable lenses will be queuing up at the booth shouting "Amazing!"