- Leica unveils the Leitzphone, their first globally available phone
- The US is going to miss this one
- The camera hardware is similar to Xiaomi’s latest flagship
Leica makes phones, but you probably wouldn’t know it because so far they have been exclusive to Japan. That situation just changed, however, with the new, globally available Leitzphone.
Leica makes phones, but you probably wouldn’t know that since they’ve been exclusive to Japan so far. However, that situation changed precisely with the new, globally available Leitzphone.
The US is the one market that will miss out on what looks like a fantastic flagship phone – especially for photographers.
Powered by Xiaomi and wrapped in a typical premium Leica shell, the Leitzphone shares much of the same hardware as Xiaomi’s latest flagship phone – that is, a triple camera unit that beats the iPhone and Galaxy.
The main camera is equipped with a large 50 MP 1-inch sensor and LOFIC technology, for natural photo quality and less dependence on HDR and computational processing. For camera geeks, LOFIC stands for Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor. In short, the capacitor sits at the pixel level and reduces clipping, thus increasing the dynamic range. Leica has not given us the actual numbers.
What’s unique about the Leitzphone model – in addition to the sleek Leica design and UI/UX consistent with the actual cameras, which is a first for phones as far as I know – is a mechanical ring around the camera unit. It’s a real design centerpiece for photographers, providing a tactile way to manually control a setting on the camera.
By default, the control ring is set to zoom, so that you avoid pressing the screen to switch between cameras and zoom settings. (The 200 MP telephoto lens has a 3x to 4x optical zoom.) However, the ring can be assigned to functions such as exposure compensation and white balance. The right photography equipment.
The Leitzphone will also be compatible with the latest version of Xiaomi’s camera grip, which comes in a photography kit, which will go a long way in improving the phone’s handling of photography. That was certainly my experience with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
There is one version of the Leitzphone; a matte black with silver ribbed trim, priced at £1,700. Inside the box you’ll find a cleaning cloth, red wrist strap, silver lens cap plus a case (which is compatible with the mechanical ring).
We are still unsure about availability and price in Norway.
My dream phone for photography?
I’ve previously declared the Xiaomi 15 Ultra as my favorite camera phone, and while I’ve yet to properly try out the new Leitzphone, I’m pretty sure it will win my heart.
It is equipped with the latest Xiaomi technology, according to the 17 Ultra that was announced the same day ahead of the MWC in Barcelona. I really felt that the larger 1-inch sensor delivered the natural photo quality I expect from a premium compact camera, rather than the over-processed look I often experience with camera phones.
Add in Leica’s gorgeous design and user interface, plus the different color profiles and bokeh capabilities inspired by Leica cameras and lenses, and it looks set to be my dream phone for photography.
One profile is inspired by the Leica M9 – the last Leica camera to have a CCD sensor (before CMOS became the industry standard). Images taken with CCD sensors have a different appearance.
A black and white mode is also inspired by Leica’s new Monopan 50 film roll – their first film, which was unveiled last year.
Leica does not skimp elsewhere either. The Leitzphone has a solid 6.9-inch display with 3,500 nit brightness, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, a 6,000mAh battery and a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip.
Speaking of processor chips, there’s a unique (for phones) additional security chip designed to securely embed content information into photos – the industry standard for authenticating photos as real.
All in all, the Leitzphone feels like the luxury phone for photographers, and ironically one of the more affordable ways to shoot with a Leica.
