The upcoming Xiaomi phone with a 48 MP camera will likely be a mid-range offering

Qualcomm released the new Snapdragon 675 back in October. The SoC, built on an 11nm manufacturing node and featuring the new Cortex-A76 cores, is expected to be the mid-range SoC of choice for 2019 devices. At the launch event, Xiaomi confirmed that it would be one of the first OEMs to release a device with that SoC, about par these days considering Xiaomi’s ties with Qualcomm.

That Snapdragon 675-powered device is expected to come at the start of 2019, likely in January. Xiaomi spokesperson Lin Bin recently teased a new Xiaomi device with a 48 MP sensor. The sensor in question is likely the new 48 MP Sony IMX586, and word on the streets say it will be on the same device that will feature the Snapdragon 675. 

Initial rumors claimed the phone with a 48 MP sensor could be the Mi 9 but it’s probably not, although we could see that sensor on the Mi 9 later in the year, depending on how it performs on the mid-range phone.