Last month, Xiaomi launched the Mi 10 Youth Edition in China with several camera-related quirks up its sleeve. One of the highlights of the camera setup is the periscopic zoom sensor that allows 5x optical and up to 50x digital zoom. Besides the advanced quad-camera setup on the mid-ranger, Xiaomi also introduced some new camera tricks such as Sky Replacement, Kaleidoscope video, and a Magic Clone. Out of these, the Magic Clone feature creates virtual doppelgangers to make images or videos more interesting. The feature is currently being tested in MIUI 12 beta build, suggesting it could be added to more devices when the stable version of MIUI 12 is released.

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The Magic Clone was added in MIUI 12 build 20.5.18. It can capture the same person up to four times at different intervals of time. The feature is available under " More" in MIUI 12's Camera app. To capture different clones of a person, the function requires a steady background. As the person moves across the canvas of the viewfinder, the feature tracks them with virtual grids. Another user has to tap on the shutter button to capture the person in different positions. The only caveat is that the feature only works with human faces (or objects that look like human faces).

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For Clone images to be crisp and as good as original, the phone must be stable, preferably with a tripod or a Gimbal. Also, the person in the frame must not move too much else, it could lead to blurring. I tried the feature and the result isn't bad  – except for some blurring and superimposed body parts. With ample caution and some practice, users can utilize this feature very well. It can be very handy for social media creators and influencers.

Despite being introduced as part of MIUI 12 beta, it is quite possible that the feature is available on other Xiaomi, Redmi, or POCO devices because it is already available in the stable build of MIUI 11 for Mi 10 Youth Edition. We're not yet sure if the feature will make it to global MIUI builds outside China but we hope it does.

We have a repository of MIUI 12 beta builds and we update it weekly. We recently updated the article with builds from May 18th and if you'd like to try out MIUI 12 beta on your phone, you can head over to the article to find the appropriate firmware package for your device.