This Modular Phone Concept Is Xiaomi’s Plan to Kill the Camera Bump

The main battleground of flagship smartphones for several years has been photography, but the camera cold war has led to increasingly large camera modules. Phone makers like Xiaomi have found ways to pack in more lenses, bringing versatility to phones like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, but at the cost of an enormous camera bump on the back, which creates an unbalanced design that catches on pockets and isn't always compatible with wireless chargers. Could a modular system with a detachable lens be the answer?

At Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Xiaomi showed WIRED a new concept phone with a detachable lens that connects magnetically and transfers power and data. (The brand hosted WIRED at its media event at MWC and paid for a portion of our reporter’s travel expenses.) The Xiaomi Modular Optical System is a polished prototype that ...