Samsung's Galaxy S20 Ultra has an impressive 108MP camera, but it is not the first phone to feature it. Xiaomi's Mi CC9 Pro/Mi Note 10 is the first phone to feature this massive sensor, and it looks like the Chinese phone maker will beat Samsung again with an even bigger camera.

A leak from Sudhanshu Ambhore on Twitter (via TechRadar) claims that the 144MP camera will be featured on either the Xiaomi Mi 10S Pro (an upgraded version of the just announced Xiaomi Mi 10 series) or the Mi CC10 Pro and claims that the Mi CC series is what the Mi Note series is known for in China, while in the US and UK the second phone is known as the Mi Note 11 Pro.

Samsung will likely manufacture this camera. We have previously heard that Samsung is working on a 150MP Isocell camera sensor, as mentioned by Twitter leaker Ice Universe in late 2019. However, this project is the same as the 144MP camera, and the resolution of the final sensor may be a bit lower than the original goal.

Samsung Semiconductor, the designer of the camera, is part of the same company as Samsung Mobile, but is a separately managed business that sometimes sells products to other companies before they are used by Samsung Mobile. The sensor will most likely be used in next year's Galaxy S30, not the Samsung Galaxy Note 20, which will be released later this year. But either way, Samsung Mobile will likely be in the middle of the queue when it comes to using one of its sister company's technologies.

The Mi Note 10 only costs about $400, despite its penta-camera array, including a 108MP sensor on the back, a larger battery capacity of 5,260 mAh versus the S20 Ultra's 5,000 mAh, and a faster default charging speed of 30W versus 25W The price of the device is about $3,000. However, it is inferior to the Galaxy S20 Ultra in some areas (for a $1,000 more expensive phone), including screen resolution and refresh rate, total RAM, and a Snapdragon 730G CPU instead of the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 865.

Since Xiaomi phones are far cheaper than Samsung's, the Mi Note 10 could be a cost-effective way to get nearly the same camera technology, if not the same as Samsung's 2021 flagship. But there is more to a phone than megapixels, and while there are some pros and cons to choosing Xiaomi over Samsung, the big problem is that they are hard to find in the US. However, if the rumors turn out to be true, Xiaomi's next flagship may be worth looking for.