64 megapixel telephones

Redmi Note 8 Pro. © Xiaomi.

In a post shared on Weibo on August 27, Chinese manufacturer Realme unveiled the Realme XT, a phone with a 64Mpx camera which will probably use Samsung’s new sensor, the Isocell Bright GW1. The Realme XT comes with a 6.4-inch screen (1080x2340), a Snapdragon 712 and 4GB of RAM. The next day, on August 28, Xiaomi announced its own 64Mpx telephone, the Redmi Note 8 Pro. This device is similar to Realme’s, but it comes with a gaming-optimized, eight-core Helio G90T processor. These announcements are somewhat misleading, though, since unless available light is ideal, the Isocell Bright GW1 combines the data of groups of 4 adjacent pixels, for an output file of “just” 16Mpx. In other words, you’ll rarely have a full 9216x6912-pixel image, which is just as well if you don’t want to max out your storage too quickly. These telephones are targeted at the Chinese and Indian markets, at a price of some USD200.

⇨ Circuit Breaker, Jon Porter, “This is the first phone with a 64-megapixel camera.”

⇨ Circuit Breaker, Sam Byford, “Xiaomi announces another 64-megapixel phone because those are a thing now.”