Tele-battle: How does the dual zoom on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra compare to the monster Oppo Find X7 Ultra?

LYT is short for LYTIA, and that’s the new product brand of image sensors for mobile devices developed by SSS (Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation). It’s pronounced “Lye-tee-ya”, not Lithya, Lythia or Litya.

It’s expected the Xiaomi 14 Ultra will offer a variable aperture (just like its predecessor, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra did) of f/1.63 to f/4.0.

The telephoto cameras

The report claims the Xiaomi 14 Ultra will pack a 50-megapixel IMX858 sensor for the first telephoto camera – a 3.2x (75mm equivalent focal length) optical zoom that comes with a large, bright f/1.8 aperture.

The second telephoto camera on the 14 Ultra will most likely come with the same 50-megapixel Sony IMX858 sensor, but this one could be a 5x (120mm equivalent focal length) optical zoom periscope lens that offers an f/2.5 aperture.

The wide-angle camera

Xiaomi has yet to confirm the details of the ultra-wide lens of the 14 Ultra. The device will likely inherit the 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens with macro photography capabilities that were seen on the predecessor model – once again a Sony IMX858 sensor with an aperture of f/1.8.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra vs. the Oppo Find X7 Ultra

Back in the beginning of January, we were thrilled to see the emergence of the Oppo Find X7 Ultra with TWO periscope zoom cameras.

Right now, the Find X7 Ultra has been regarded as one of the best in mobile photography, as it packs some interesting hardware and software, namely – large sensors and Hasselblad tone magic. On a side note: Xiaomi’s collaboration with Leica is also extremely satisfying.

Naturally, the “Oppo Find X7 Ultra vs. Xiaomi 14 Ultra” dilemma will be Ultra popular in the coming months (unless you’re Ultra-fast and you’ve already got the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which is a favorite of ours).

To recap, here are the expected cameras – sensors, lenses and apertures – on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra:

• LYT-900: main camera, 1-inch sensor, f/1.63 to f/4.0 (variable aperture)
• IMX858: ultra-wide, 1/2.51-inch sensor, f/1.8
• IMX858: 3.2x (75mm) optical zoom, 1/2.51-inch sensor, f/1.8
• IMX858: 5x (120mm) optical zoom, 1/2.51-inch sensor, f/2.5

… and here’s the Oppo Find X7 Ultra’s insane camera specs:

• LYT-900: main camera, 1-inch sensor, f/1.8
• LYT-600: ultra-wide, 1/1.95-inch sensor, f/2.0
• IMX890: 3x (65mm) optical zoom, 1/1.56-inch sensor, f/2.6
• IMX858: 6x (135mm) optical zoom, 1/2.51-inch sensor, f/4.3

What immediately stands out is how much bigger the sensor for the 3x optical zoom camera is on the Find X7 Ultra (1/1.56-inch) compared to its Xiaomi 14 Ultra counterpart (1/2.51-inch). Oppo says the IMX890 is the biggest telephoto sensor “in any smartphone”.

Given that sensor size is important when discussing the aperture numbers for the 3x optical zooms, it’s interesting to see how the “darker” lens and larger sensor on the Find X7 Ultra (plus Hasselblad software magic) will perform against Xiaomi’s smaller sensor that’s coupled with a larger, brighter lens (sprinkled with Leica processing).

The other thing that stands out when comparing these two photo monsters is how much brighter Xiaomi’s secondary optical zoom is: f/2.5 vs. f/4.3 (the sensor size is the same, given that they both use the Sony IMX858). Put in simpler terms, the f/2.5 aperture lets in twice as much (and a tad more) light in as does the f/4.3 aperture.

More light means better quality, as the scene can be exposed better using lower ISO (or it could freeze faster-moving objects in the dark because of higher shutter speeds).

A larger aperture also means juicier bokeh, so the 120mm secondary zoom on the Xiaomi will be great for portraits (don’t let anybody fool you that portraits are done only in the 50mm through the 75mm focal distance range).

Being a 6x, instead of 5x, the 135mm camera on the Find X7 Ultra could be better for capturing some nice details (in the daytime) that are further away from you.

For finals: the Oppo Find X7 Ultra remains the only one with two periscope zooms, as the Xiaomi's dual telephoto setup packs only one periscope zoom and one "standard" telephoto.

Remember! The Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s specs are not yet official!