The Galaxy Note 20 may have a surprise rival from Xiaomi. Rumors of a new phone from the Chinese company say it will have one of the most powerful zoom cameras we have ever seen and is expected to arrive next month.

The leak comes from Russian site Xiaomishka (via TechRadar). According to the report, the device is codenamed "CAS," but the site believes that the phone could be called the Mi CC 10 when it launches and is likely based on the Xiaomi Mi 10 flagship model that was unveiled earlier this year. As for a release date, Xiaomishka has stated that the phone will appear in July, meaning that it will appear before the Note 20 event, which is expected to be announced in August.

The report states that the Xiaomi CAS will have a telephoto camera with a maximum zoom of 120x and 12x optical zoom, but no mention is made of the size or resolution of the sensor attached to the periscope mechanism. For comparison, the 100x "space zoom" camera on the Galaxy S20 Ultra can only zoom 4x optically, and the highest optical magnification currently available is the 5x zoom found on phones like the Huawei P40 Pro.

Rumors suggest that the Note 20 may not feature the zoom camera of the S20 Ultra and instead feature a 13MP telephoto camera with up to 50x zoom, so Samsung's next flagship may be at a significant disadvantage against Xiaomi's new phone.

Maintaining the high standard of Xiaomi's smartphone cameras would be a 108MP main sensor; the Mi 10 already uses this camera, so it's no surprise to see it here. We expect at least one Note 20 model to have a 108MP camera, but it is not expected to be on all models.

Internally, the CAS will be powered by a Snapdragon 775G processor, which, as its name suggests, will support 5G. The fact that it is a 7-series Qualcomm processor rather than the best-in-class 865 found in many Android flagships may limit this phone with respect to maximum performance. However, the 775G, which is also expected to be used in the Google Pixel 5, remains a great processor with plenty of power and will mean that Xiaomi's phone will be significantly cheaper than rival flagships.

According to Xiaomishka, the phone could debut in July, which is surprisingly early. If true, it would give Samsung's Galaxy Note 20, iPhone 12, and next year's Galaxy S30 a big rival.