China’s biggest phone makers continue to relentlessly move forward with high-end phones that you may never see in the United States. With the Xiaomi 17 Ultra this year, the company continued its pattern from previous iterations by focusing on powerful camera sensors, huge batteries and… being selective about global availability.
Xiaomi’s 17 series is launching in several European territories months after its Asian debut, but at the time of writing, no word on US availability. Another logistical point of interest? The last time we checked Xiaomi’s devices, it was the 15 series, and the company decided to skip the 16 series and go straight to the 17 series. conveniently corresponding to the latest Apple issue.
Famous camera brand Leica has been involved in Xiaomi’s phones for a few years and its latest flagship. does not disappoint in this regardbecause it is another Xiaomi device dedicated to photography.
The 17 Ultra features a massive 1-inch 50-megapixel main camera sensor with an af/1.67 lens and a telephoto setup with a 200 MP 1/1.4-inch sensor and up to 4.3x optical zoom. Xiaomi claims it’s capable of up to 17x “optical zoom”, but the quality isn’t up to par with, say, the Oppo Find X9, with its dedicated telescopic lens add-on. There’s also a 50 MP ultra-wide camera to round things out.
The main camera is very impressive, offering lots of detail and performing incredibly well in low light, seemingly before any computational photography intervened. A new Light Fusion 1050L sensor features LOFIC HDR technology, providing stronger control over highlights and more detail in the darkest areas of your photos. I was impressed with the balance of tones and color contrast, without having to change or add any of the Leica camera’s (many) filters.
On the contrary, somewhat cumbersome algorithms can sometimes spoil certain parts of a plan. For example, by scrambling letters or capturing blurred, mutated faces by AI, where computational photography hits (and misses) people in the distance.
The telephoto lens alone is also technically interesting in several respects. It offers continuous optical zoom over the 75-100mm range without in-sensor cropping. This means the lenses physically move to provide lossless zoom over a range of distances, without abrupt jumps between camera sensors and crops. This doesn’t cover the full range, but roughly covers the 3-4x optical zoom range, which is often used in portrait photography.
The APO (apochromatic) lens design of the telephoto lens is more immediately useful and effective. An APO lens significantly reduces chromatic aberration by focusing three wavelengths of light (red, green and blue) onto the same focal plane. This lens design means it can correct color fringing and improve image sharpness.
At higher zoom levels, fringing and lighting often hamper telephoto photos on smartphones, and Xiaomi’s solution has some appeal. I noticed less fringing than on other zoom-enabled Android phones from Samsung, Oppo, and Google. It also supports macro photography, but this time is hampered by a minimum focal length of 30 cm (11.8 inches). The macro modes on most smartphone cameras allow you to get much closer.
The 17 Ultra can capture video at up to 8K (at 30fps), 4K Dolby Vision at up to 120fps, and Log 4K video at 120fps, letting you get the most out of that massive 1-inch sensor in video too. That said, it sometimes seems to struggle to stabilize, while its low-light performance doesn’t match its photography prowess, lagging behind flagship phones from Apple, Google and Samsung.
There’s also a special Leica edition of the 17 Ultra, which is largely the same in terms of specs, but with a manual zoom ring around the camera. It’s a cool gadget, but it seemed oddly loose on a few devices I handled.
Xiaomi has made some design changes to its Ultra line this year, with a new completely flat screen and flattened edges that look like a certain family of devices. In all honesty, it’s it’s not the only company to use imitation as flattery. There is also IP68 protection against dust and water.
While the cameras might be the highlight, this is a flagship device regardless of spec. With a 6.9-inch screen, this large OLED display has variable refresh rates (1-120 Hz) and peaks at 3,500 nits of brightness.
At this size, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is in the territory of devices like the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the S26 Ultra. A phone this size isn’t for everyone, but it’s Xiaomi’s thinnest Ultra phone yet, with a profile measuring 8.29mm. Xiaomi has also reduced the diameter of the camera and raised it on the device, making it easier to use and keeping fingers out of your shots.
Plus, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the massive 6,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, with support for Xiaomi’s 90W HyperCharge (if you have the right charger) and 50W wireless HyperCharge (which also requires Xiaomi’s own docking station) speeds. Other phone manufacturers: Please install such a huge battery in your flagship.
At MWC 2026, the company announced the global launch and rollout of the device across Europe, including the UK, where the Ultra will start at £1,299 (around $1,750). We’re still waiting to confirm US availability and pricing.
While the specs are powerful, “launching” a flagship device that has already been in the wild for a few months – even elsewhere in the world – reduces the spectacle.
This article was originally published on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/xiaomi-17-ultra-global-launch-hands-on-leica-camera-143006810.html?src=rss
