Realme Introduces Concept Phones With Replaceable DSLR Lens At MWC 2025

JAKARTA - Realme has again attracted attention by revealing its newest concept phone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025. This device called Realme Interchangeable Lens Concept allows users to replace camera lenses with full-sized DSLR lenses, providing a professional photography experience in a smartphone.

This concept phone is equipped with a one-inch CMOS Sony camera sensor compatible with Leica's M mount, allowing users to use various Leica lenses that are already available on the market. In addition, Realme offers two special lenses for this device, namely:

73mm portrait lens (~3x zoom)

274mm telephoto lens (~10x zoom)

Beyond this unique feature, the phone remains equipped with two conventional rear cameras, namely a main camera and an ultrawide camera. Interestingly, all camera modules including a one-inch sensor are protected by protective glass, so they do not require a lens cover when not used.

From a direct trial at MWC 2025, this concept is considered innovative but still has challenges, especially in terms of the weight of the DSLR lens which makes the weight distribution unbalanced. This causes an uncomfortable use experience, especially for users who want to take pictures with one hand.

In addition, this phone does not have a conventional telephoto camera because of a one-inch sensor that is open to replaceable lenses. Thus, users who do not use additional lens modules must rely on digital zoom.

Realme also embeds the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which was once the flagship phone's mainstay in 2023, indicating that this concept has been developed for a long time.

Realme shared several examples of photos taken with this phone, showing promising results, especially in the use of 234mm telephoto lenses and 73mm portrait lenses. However, these results still need further verification with independent testing.

This phone is also not the first to carry a replaceable lens concept. In 2022, Xiaomi has released a similar concept through the Xiaomi 12s Ultra Concept which also allows the use of the Leica M-mount lens.

Although this concept is interesting, Realme does not yet provide certainty whether this device will enter mass production. With various challenges in terms of ergonomics and the user ecosystem, it is still unclear whether this replaceable DSLR lens phone will become a new trend in the world of mobile photography or just an experiment. However, this innovation still deserves to be appreciated as a step forward in the evolution of smartphone camera technology.