Fotorgear Accessory for Xiaomi 13 Ultra
Shutter
Release Phone Case
I ordered an accessory for my Xiaomi 13 Ultra which will not only protect the phone and its lenses but will aid in taking pictures more like using a digital camera. It finally arrived today from China (ordered online on 24 Sep 23; arrived 04 Oct 23).
I had previously looked hard at a similar accessory made by Xiaomi but after two failed attempts to order it online, I decided that it was all too difficult as stock was not available in the color which I wanted (green, not white).
I happened to chance across this Fotorgear product while doing yet another search on the web, this time trying eBay. The Fotorgear product does the same thing as the Xiaomi accessory but to my mind, with better quality and thought: The phone case is of aluminium alloy and the lenses can be protected by a metal window which can take a filter (there are two options for closing the opening). On top of it all, it is around MYR300 cheaper than the Xiaomi product (free shipping from China is included). There is still not much information on the web on this product and so I had to imagine what it would be like to use something like this and guess on the quality of the thing by close viewing of product shots available on the net. Also, I had to overcome my doubts about ordering from a company in mainland China about which I knew little. However, the fact that it would be purchased through a a highly reputable online merchant (eBay) settled the matter.
The Fotorgear case kit connects to my Xiaomi phone via bluetooth (no problem with detection) and once connected, the shutter release assembly can sort focus with a half press, an take a shot with full press. A swivel button below the shutter release allows selection of the degree of zoom desired. The device automatically shuts its battery off when the camera mode on the phone is idle for a few minutes. The battery for the device is rechargeable via a USB-C port.
Although the instructions only come in the Chinese language (I used a scanner and Google Translate to confirm the on/off details for the device), installing the device is easy. The case fits very snugly. There are two metal ring arrangements for protecting the 4 phone lenses. The case came with default metal ring (bare metal color) already mounted. This ring takes a snugly fitting metal cap. The alternative arrangement is a black metal ring with four cut-outs for the lenses (add on lenses can be screwed into these openings e.g. telephoto). This ring has a thread to take on a 67 mm filter (I bought a UV filter to be used as protection for the lens area).
This kit will remain permanently fixed on my phone such that it now looks like a camera which can be used as a phone (it will be too finicky to only fit it on when wanting to do a lot of photo taking).
Overall, I can recommend this product in terms of utility and quality. The biggest drawback is the price to own this piece of gear which makes one look like handling a camera albeit there being real advantages in this arrangement over a typical phone camera setup. Fotorgear could also do well to consider including a 1/4 inch thread mount at the bottom of the aluminium alloy case so that the whole phone assembly can be quickly mounted on a tripod. As it is, whenever I want to use a tripod, I will need to use one of those snap grip clamps which fit onto a tripod head.
The kit comes in a nice box (this was put in a
packing box for shipping)
The kit as
assembled with my Xiaomi 13 Ultra
Assembled kit with
the alternative closure for the lens opening attached (the cap
is used here)
04 Oct
2023
Created by Clem Kuek