Xiaomi 17 Ultra: 200MP periscope telephoto, 1-inch sensor and special Leica Edition
As expected, Christmas Day saw the reveal of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. The Chinese brand showed off their brand new flagship smartphone, developed in partnership with legendary German company Leica, and even launched a special Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition aimed at the biggest smartphone photography enthusiasts out there.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
Starting off with the standard Xiaomi 17 Ultra, the massive device now sports a 6.9-inch LTPO AMOLED display, with a 2608 by 1200p resolution along with an up to 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 3,500 nits. There’s also a layer of Xiaomi’s own Dragon Crystal Glass 3.0 for scratch resistance.
Under the hood, you’ll unsurprisingly find the latest and great Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 system-on-chip. That gets mated to up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.1 storage. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra comes with Android 16 out of the box, skinned with their own HyperOS 3.0 over it.
Of course, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra’s highlight feature are its cameras. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra features a triple rear camera setup, with a main 50MP, f/1.67 shooter co-developed by Leica. It uses a Light Hunter 1050L 1-inch sensor, and supports LOFIC technology for better dynamic range. Then there’s the 200MP periscope telephoto shooter, with its continuous zoom allowing for a 3.2x to 4.3x optical zoom. It’s also the first smartphone to use a Leica APO-certified telephoto lens for improved sharpness at longer focal lengths. The last rear camera is a 50MP ultrawide with macro functionality, while the front camera is a 50MP selfie shooter.
Keeping the lights on is a 6,800mAh battery with support for 90W wired fast charging along with 50W wireless charging. Other features of note include an in-display fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers, an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, as well as WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 and USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 connectivity.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition
As for the Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition, it’s mostly the same but with a few extra touches. It comes with a special dual tone design similar to Leica’s iconic M-series cameras. There’s a textured knurling finish to the frame too , while the red dot Leica logo sits prominently at the corner. You’ll also find ‘Leica Camera Germany’ engraved to the side of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition.
On top of that, the Leica Edition comes with a rotating Master Zoom Ring around the camera bump, giving you a camera-like zoom experience. There’s also a special Leica Moment feature, which claims to bump image quality to the point where it’s similar to the Leica M9, along with CCD-like colours. Other Leica Edition features include dual Beidou+Tiantong satellite connectivity and an additional security chip too.
Pricing and availability
At time of writing, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and the 17 Ultra Leica Edition are only available in China. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra starts at CNY 6,999 (~RM 4,020.55) while the Leica Edition starts at CNY 7,999 (~ RM4595.00). We expect the Xiaomi 17 series to make its way to the global stage soon though, likely during the upcoming 2026 Mobile World Congress.
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