MWC ‘25: realme unveils interchangeable lens concept that uses Leica M-mount

At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, realme revealed a concept phone called “Ultra,” featuring an interchangeable lens system.

realme’s concept is more in line with traditional camera mounts, offering a dual-mount system. The phone features a large circular camera module with a tough glass cover over its custom Sony Type1 CMOS sensor, as well as the Sony IMX989 and IMX890 sensors for the main and ultra-wide cameras, respectively.

Under the hood, the prototype phone runs on the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 flagship chip.

realme combines the Ultra prototype with two lenses: a 73mm and a 234mm—both have manual focus and aperture rings, with the 73mm notably resembling Leica’s design.

However, the 234mm lens, while large, makes it clear that this setup would benefit from a tripod to maintain stability. While it might be possible to use a standard phone mount, the weight distribution makes it tricky to use the system effectively without extra support.

The system also includes two lenses inspired by the Leica M-mount, though realme clarified that there’s no direct partnership with Leica. realme solely developed said two lenses and the use of M-mount was mainly due to its compact size and flexible focal lengths.

Notably, this approach differs from Xiaomi’s Modular Optical System, which uses magnets and proprietary tech to attach lenses to its Xiaomi 15 prototype.

In a demo against the iPhone 16 Pro Max, realme’s Ultra clearly surpassed the Apple device. The Ultra’s larger 50-megapixel Type1 CMOS sensor outperformed the iPhone’s telephoto lens, though the comparison isn’t entirely fair since the iPhone uses a much smaller sensor.

Still, the Ultra’s 234mm lens gave it an advantage that Apple’s hybrid zoom couldn’t match.

Since this is a concept, it won’t likely hit the market anytime soon.