After competing on who has the most cameras – with the new LG V40 ThinQ packing in no fewer than five – get ready to see smartphone makers ramp up the pixels.

After Sony and Samsung unveiled new record-breaking 48-megapixel smartphone image sensors, certain Chinese manufacturers are already announcing their first models equipped with the new breed of pixel-packed cameras.

Xiaomi CEO Lin Bin was first off the mark, taking to the Weibo social network to post a photo of the back of a new smartphone supposedly featuring a 48-megapixel image sensor.

He gave no further details on the model in question, other than that it’ll be available in China from January 2019.

Honor has been more upfront about its upcoming model.

The Huawei subsidiary has already officially released various details about its forthcoming View 20, due to be unveiled in China on Dec 26, 2018, then launch globally in Paris, Jan 22.

This smartphone notably gets the 48-megapixel smartphone sensor developed by Sony (the IMX586). Image processing will be facilitated by the powerful Kirin 980 processor, already used in the Huawei Mate 20.

Note that the Honor View 20 also promises a truly borderless and notch-free display, with just the circular front-facing camera visible. A “Link Turbo” system also promises to combine the power of 4G and Wi-Fi for maximum throughput.

This is evidently just the start of what’s to come, with Sony, Samsung and Huawei no doubt the best-placed smartphone makers to quickly join the trend for extra-high-definition cameras.