Xiaomi may collaborate with Leica on a new smartphone camera

Xiaomi has apparently found a new partner when it comes to branding its smartphones in terms of camera equipment. After Leica has worked with Huawei for a long time, apparently Xiaomi will soon take the helm and start working with the German partner. Like the team of MIUI Poland discovered, a new version of a Xiaomi app that has now been released contains the first indications of a collaboration between Xiaomi and Leica. In particular, version 0.7.5 of the MIUI Gallery Editor that comes with the current Xiaomi smartphones contains several strings that indicate a Leica collaboration.

Leica filters in the camera apps

Xiaomi, therefore, seems to be working on some filters that can only be used on a smartphone with Leica co-branding in the app. The filters even bear the camera manufacturer’s brand name and designations such as “Leica Monochrom”, “Leica Monochrom High Contrast”, “Leica Natural” and “Leica Vivid”. Huawei is currently still working with Leica, so it’s unclear whether the previous exclusivity will change. The current Huawei P50 Pro comes with three Leica branded camera filters. Huawei has been the partner of the camera manufacturer for smartphones for many years, with the collaboration mainly limited to “optimizing” the camera software and in some cases to certification of the optics.

Whether this will also be the case with Xiaomi’s planned new smartphone model with Leica branding is currently still open. Until now, Xiaomi has not entered into any partnership with camera manufacturers or other specialists. Other providers have been working with such a concept for some time. For example, HMD Global has been working with Zeiss for its Nokia smartphones for some time, although Xiaomi competitor Vivo has now taken over this position. OnePlus has recently started working with the Swedish camera specialist Hasselblad.