Xiaomi has another big trick besides Leica that is underestimated

The topic we are going to talk about today is foldable screen mobile phones.

Five years have passed since the first generation of folding phones came out. Now, folding phones have become a mature category and the preferred model for major manufacturers to pile up black technology and show off their muscles.

The main reason is that foldable screen phones are relatively thick and heavy. If they want to replace straight-screen phones and become the main model, they can only use various innovative technologies to make the machine thin enough and the performance good enough.

In particular, how to “slim down” the heavy camera module while further improving the photo-taking performance has become the key.

We found three recently released folding models, and when we compared the camera parameters disclosed by the manufacturers, we found an interesting difference. Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 uses Leica as the main camera, and it is noted that it uses a 1G+6P glass-plastic hybrid lens. The other two phones did not specify this, so they should still use traditional plastic lenses.

This detail is easily overlooked among a bunch of parameters. But after a period of research and analysis, we believe that this is a hidden “black technology” that may lead the industry innovation.

This “1G+6P” lens comes from Chenrui Optics, a subsidiary of AAC Technologies, and is manufactured using WLG wafer-level glass technology. You may have heard of AAC Technologies’ speakers and linear motors, and most mobile phones on the global market now use their solutions. In recent years, AAC Technologies’ optical business has also grown by leaps and bounds, and it has become one of the top three mobile phone lens suppliers in the world.

Now back to the topic, what is a glass-plastic hybrid lens?

As the name suggests, it is a lens composed of glass lens + plastic lens. The 1G6P mentioned above refers to the combination of 1G (1 WLG glass lens) + 6P (6 plastic lenses).

The reason for adopting such a lens can be traced back to the development of mobile phone imaging in recent years. Currently, most flagship mobile phone lenses are composed of 6-7 pure plastic lenses. Generally speaking, the more lenses are installed, the better the imaging effect of the lens. However, the development of 7P and 8P plastic lenses is almost the limit, because the lens module is too thick and heavy, and the optical performance cannot be greatly improved.

On the other hand, in order to pursue better optical performance, current mobile phone main cameras all use large-area image sensors. However, the larger the sensor area, the longer the flange distance, and the more convex the lens will be, which runs counter to the design concept of thin and light mobile phones. This contradiction is particularly prominent in the pursuit of extremely thin and light folding screen mobile phones.

If we can’t continue to increase the number of lenses, we might as well try to improve the material of the lenses. This may be the idea of ​​Xiaomi MIX Fold4.

From the actual test results, the 1G6P WLG glass-plastic hybrid lens used by Xiaomi MIX Fold4 has excellent imaging effects. The larger aperture effectively increases the amount of light entering the lens, has higher resolution, and the photo effect is super transparent. At the same time, the ultra-thin lens design also reduces the overall thickness of the lens group, making the folding body thinner.

These features complement the large base and large pixels of the Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 main camera sensor, ultimately bringing an Ultra-level shooting experience on the folding screen.

For the specific imaging performance, let’s take a look at the sample photos. The following photos were all taken by the main camera of Xiaomi MIX Fold 4.

In the daytime, when the light conditions are good, the photos accurately reproduce the colors in the real scene. The details of the picture are also very clear, and there is no loss of resolution even at the edge of the picture or after cropping the equivalent 44mm picture.

When shooting close-up objects and portraits, the surface details are resolved quite well. Textures such as metal rust, ground bricks and stones, and leaf veins are all well reflected, and details such as the facial features and hair of the characters are also finely portrayed.

Thanks to the larger aperture achieved by the WLG lens, a natural and powerful background blur is achieved, making the photo less digital and giving the entire picture a clear, transparent and natural look.

When shooting scenes with high light ratios such as sunlight shining through leaves, the photos showed no glare, the details of the foreground leaves were still rich, and the colors were restored. When shooting scenes of the setting sun shining through the clouds, the foreground buildings, the mountains in the distance, and the clouds in the sky were full of layers, and the “Tyndall light” was restored, which was very close to what the naked eye sees.

The lens also performs well in night scenes, with a high degree of tolerance, dark details fully preserved, and no noise or smearing, including in the sky. Highlights such as windows and illuminated characters are also effectively suppressed, and there is no ghosting problem, which is enough to reflect the excellent optical quality of this lens.

Summarize

We compared it with the previous generation Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 and found that it also uses the same 1G6P solution. It seems that this is not the first time that the glass-plastic hybrid lens has shown its operation. Looking through the comment section of MIX Fold 3 in Xiaomi Mall, it has received thousands of user reviews saying “it takes first-class photos”.

It is worth mentioning that in the second half of last year, Apple and Huawei’s high-end flagship models’ imaging systems also began to introduce glass-plastic hybrid lens solutions. In the future, high-end models of other brands are likely to follow suit. It can be seen that this will become a new development trend in the mobile phone lens industry.

Especially now that manufacturers are paying more attention to the thin and light experience of mobile phones, and they want to continue to expand the bottom and large pixels in terms of imaging, it can be said that the WLG glass-plastic hybrid lens, which can achieve a thinner thickness and better optical path design, is a good solution . I believe that this kind of lens will be seen in more and more mobile phones in the future.

Kazam

Kazam is Focused on creating and reporting timely content in technology with a special focus on mobile phone technology. Kazam reports, analyzes, and reviews recent trends, news and rumors in mobile phone technology and provides the best possible insights to enhance your experience and knowledge.