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What if your phone’s camera was much, much bigger?

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Summary
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Two new concept phones attach large lenses to small smartphones at Mobile World Congress .

Xiaomi ’s new 15 Ultra is dominated by an enormous ring of cameras on the back.

Realme 's concept phone mounts a full DSLR lens onto the existing camera island of its concept phone.

The ergonomics are challenging: because a phone is so thin and lighter than a camera body, I had no choice but to grab the lens fully by the barrel.

The modular lens can attach to the middle of the phone, rather than having to be built on top of the pre-existing camera module.

Attaching and detaching the lens is a single quick action, and with no intermediary mount this is more compact than Realme ’s design could ever be.

I can actually imagine shooting with this day-to-day, especially if there was also the option to attach something like the grip from Xiaomi 's 15 Ultra Photography Kit.

There are downsides, of course, and there's an awful lot of proprietary tech in here.