Check out these images: new phone camera takes shockingly good DSLR-like photos impossible to capture on iPhone or Galaxy S23 Ultra

We have all been waiting for that one phone to bring the next generational leap in phone camera quality and show us meaningful innovation over the Galaxy S23 Ultra, iPhone 14 Pro Max and the Google Pixel 7 Pro, and now it’s here.

But maybe not in the form that we expected. The just-released Xiaomi 13 Pro makes no secret of its huge camera aspirations, but most of the talk has actually been about its main camera sensor that is much larger than the competition.

But surprisingly, a few days after the release of the phone, Xiaomi 13 Pro owners are actually sharing less photos from that 1-inch dream camera sensor and more pictures from… one of its other cameras!

A surprising new telephoto camera with close-up focus steals the show

Instead of using a long-range periscope zoom camera like you have on say the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Xiaomi 13 Pro uses a traditional zoom camera with a 3.2X zoom range, or around 75mm.

And if this was the whole story, it would be… well, quite unremarkable! But this new camera actually comes with one superpower that we have never before seen on a zoom shooter: it is able to focus at extremely close distances!

Xiaomi 13 Pro Close-up Zoom Photos

Being able to get so close with the zoom camera, opens a whole world of possibilities. Close-up shots of pets, beautiful pictures of bees and other insects, all of that just lends itself perfectly to this new camera.

The innovation behind this ability to focus close with a telephoto camera is a floating element inside the lens that moves as you shift the focus. Traditional cameras use a stationary lens and they cannot achieve such close-up focus.

Xiaomi 13 Pro Telephoto Camera in Low-light

One big advantage of going with a relatively close zoom range like 3.2X is that you can use a larger aperture, which allows a lot more light to hit the sensor.

Many flagship phones cannot really use their zoom cameras at night simply because the combination of a slow aperture and small sensor makes this impossible. But not the Xiaomi 13 Pro. As you can see above, you can use the 3.2X zoom camera in various low light and even night time conditions and get some impressive shots.

Colors are also something that Xiaomi has worked on in collaboration with its partner, legendary camera company Leica.

Actually the lens on the Xiaomi 13 series carries the Vario-Summicron brand name, where the “Vario” part refers to the presence of a zoom feature and the “Summicron” part signifying Leica’s badge of utmost lens quality.

And it’s notable how Xiaomi actually switched to this lens after using a longer, 5X zoom periscope shooter on the 12S Ultra from earlier this year. It is just that this closer zoom range might be more versatile and more often used by people, plus it will come in handy for portrait shots too.

Xiaomi 13 Pro Close-up Zoom Video

And of course, you can use this same close-up focusing in video recording too.

Here is what super close-up video looks like:

This is seriously impressive, the detail, the colors, and just the overall cinematic look that you can get with this lens.

Xiaomi 13 Pro: not just a camera phone

But the Xiaomi 13 Pro is far from just a camera phone, it’s a full fledged flagship! In case you missed its main characteristics, here is a quick summary.

Xiaomi 13 Pro specs highlights:

Xiaomi 13 Pro: where and when can you buy one?

Xiaomi already impressed phone camera aficionados with the 12S Ultra earlier in 2022, but that phone remained exclusives for the Chinese market, while the Xiaomi 13 Pro will be available outside of China. Company head honcho Lei Jun teased that a global launch is expected to happen earlier than what we saw last year with the Xiaomi 12 series, so this could mean that the phones will arrive in the UK and Europe around February of 2023.

Xiaomi phones are not officially sold in the United States, and this will not change anytime soon (if ever), but you can still import one. Amazon is selling older Xiaomi phones, so that’s one place to look after a few months, just keep in mind that an imported phone may not have all the proper 5G connectivity bands for the US market.