These Xiaomi phones will get single camera portrait mode in MIUI 10

Xiaomi revealed the Redmi Y2 (aka the Redmi S2) in India today, also giving global users a preview of MIUI 10. The company showed off the software update at its Mi 8 launch in China, but it has a few more details this time, including a list of phones that will receive a single-camera portrait mode.

The new mode means users don’t need a dual-camera setup to take those ever-popular portraits. Instead, Xiaomi says it developed algorithms that were trained on over 100,000 photos.

Phones set to get portraits on both front and back cameras are the Mi Mix 2, Mi 5s/Mi 5s Plus, Mi 5, Mi Note 2, Mi Max, Mi Max 2, Redmi Note 4 (India), Redmi Note 4X, Redmi Note 3, Redmi 5, and Redmi 4/4X.

Devices scheduled to get portrait mode on the front camera only are the Mi 6 (it had a rear portrait mode before) and the Redmi Note 5 (India).

The company says more devices will be compatible “soon,” but didn’t give any details.

What else is MIUI 10 bringing?

Xiaomi used the Redmi Y2 launch to touch on a few more MIUI 10 additions. We get tweaked brightness and volume controls (the latter seen above), for one. But it’s the nature-inspired sounds that caught out attention in the new update.

At first glance, it seems heavily inspired by Samsung’s Galaxy S4-era TouchWiz theme. In any event, the company gives examples of droplet sounds for notifications, and the sound of sand when deleting notes. Consecutive notifications will play slightly different nature-inspired sounds, giving a rhythm of sorts. That doesn’t seem quite as bad as the constant “blooping” on Samsung’s old phones.

The nature sounds extend to the timer app too, as you can now choose to play specific sounds (forest, night, beach, drizzle, fire) during a countdown. Someone at Xiaomi must be a fan of ASMR, right?

Finally, one of the more notable features for the Indian market is deeper QR code integration with the Paytm platform. After scanning Paytm codes via the camera app’s QR code reader, the phone will automatically go the Paytm app to finish the payment process. Here’s hoping Xiaomi brings this functionality to other QR-based payment apps.

As for a launch date, the company says it will start from mid-June. Phones set to get MIUI 10 are as follows: Mi Mix 2, Mi 6, Mi 5s/5s Plus, Mi 5, Mi 4, Mi 3, Mi Note 2, Mi Max, Mi Max 2, Redmi Note 5 (India), Redmi Note 5 Pro, Redmi Note 5A, Redmi Note 5A Prime, Redmi Note 4/4X, Redmi Note 4 (TW), Redmi Note 3, Redmi 5, Redmi 5A, Redmi 4/4A, Redmi 3S, Redmi Y2, Redmi Y1 Lite, and Redmi Y1.