Xiaomi 17 Ultra - More Camera than Phone!

So, the year is 2026,

and it feels like most smartphones these days are like 50% computer,

50% camera and the camera has been a more

and more increasingly important part of every smartphone.

But what if we just went all the way?

What if it was just all camera

that happens to have a phone attached to it?

So, this is a Leica camera,

but now this is the Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition.

Everything about this just kind of screams,

"I'm really trying to buy a camera,"

and then the rest of the smartphone is kind of secondary to

that.

And it starts all the way from the unboxing.

So, from the jump,

they make it very clear

that this is a Leica Edition with their heavy use of

that logo.

You get the phone in the box, of course,

but just to lean all the way into the camera feel,

you also get this custom case with MagSafe magnets built in,

which also has a Leica logo on it.

And you will also get an aluminum lens cap that works with this case,

which obviously also says Leica even bigger on it.

And it comes with this really soft,

extremely high-quality microfiber cleaning cloth for keeping those lenses clean,

and... a wrist strap

that can attach to the corner of the case like a camera lanyard.

This accessories package alone probably costs 50,

60 bucks just based on how nice they are.

Now, you probably remember the Xiaomi 17 Pro and Pro Max from last year,

which pretty clearly took after the iPhone 17 Pro

and Pro Max as far

as design.

But this 17 Ultra?

Not so much.

This camera kind of looks... a little different and is pretty sweet, actually.

I've got this cream colorway here,

but there's actually a kind of a two-tone look.

The bottom two-thirds of the phone or camera has a slight texture,

where the top third is just smooth.

The buttons are super clicky,

and I kind of love the circular volume buttons with the plus

and minus on them.

Kind of a throwback to, like, the 2010s with the iPhone 4 days.

But again, this is a camera more than it is a smartphone,

so all of the branding on the back, of course, is horizontal.

And if you've been paying any attention to the branding,

you've probably also noticed it says Leica on this phone more than it says

Xiaomi.

See, the Xiaomi text on the back here is one time,

but there's the Leica logo up here in the corner.

It also says Leica on the camera plateau itself.

And... turn it sideways

and you'll see it says "Leica Camera Germany" on the side of the phone,

right above this sweet knurled texture for better grip.

And to top it all off,

the big camera plateau sits in a circle surrounded by a metal ring with

more texture for grip.

And that ring actually moves!

So, we'll get to that in a second.

Really the only thing missing, and I'm kind of shocked it is is, like,

just a dedicated camera shutter button in

that normal spot on the side for taking pictures in landscape mode.

But, you know, if it's really all about these cameras,

then let's just get right to them.

So, it's a triple camera setup on the back here main camera, ultrawide,

and a telephoto.

And each one kind of has its own little magic to it.

The main camera is a massive 1-inch sensor.

It's 50 megapixels, it's at f/1.67, and it's just, it's absolutely gigantic!

The ultrawide is a good sensor too.

It's a nice wide 14-millimeter lens, 50 megapixels at f/2.2.

And then... there's the zoom, which is a 200-megapixel sensor, but more importantly,

it's also a real variable focal length zoom.

So, it'll zoom in

and out smoothly from a 75-millimeter equivalent to 100-millimeter equivalent,

from f/2.39 to f/2.96.

So, there is a lot going on here.

Now, you know what's really interesting now

that I've been shooting with this camera is I wouldn't crown it necessarily the

absolute best set of smartphone cameras.

Like quality-wise, it's still really good, it's very high up there,

but it's not necessarily, like, the absolute best.

It's got some flaws.

It's not super clinical.

But!

I would still crown it the best overall, like,

most fun smartphone camera shooting experience that I've ever had!

And you know, when I first got this phone, I was a little nervous.

It was, it was... you know, covered in Leica logos,

and I feel like this was primed to disappoint me.

Like, I would figure out it's just really a... branding exercise from the Leica

licensing department.

But this has turned out to be a much more thoughtful... execution than I

was expecting.

This camera app and the experience taking photos is is just fun!

It's a lot of fun, which is what you want out of a camera.

So, if you're just pointing and shooting like a normal smartphone camera,

you'll have a great time.

It's got reliable, quick autofocus.

That big sensor gives you a lot of detail

and a nice shallow depth of field.

Images look great.

It still does the classic Xiaomi brightening of skin tones,

but that's not shocking at this point either.

I also shot most of my Tesla Model Y Performance review on the Auto

Focus channel with this phone in video mode,

and it looks great!

It's so easy to just point

and shoot and get good-looking 8K video out of this phone without even batting

an eye.

The microphones aren't as great, but I used an external mic with that video,

which solved it instantly.

So, go watch that over there and subscribe, if you're into car videos.

But then beyond just the normal point-and-shoot, there's so many camera features.

So, I'll just, I'll give you some of my highlights.

So, the ultrawide, like I mentioned, is actually very wide.

It's a 14-millimeter equivalent, and it's actually decent quality,

which makes it very usable.

So, that's really good.

The variable zoom is pretty smooth and... actually works.

It's a 75 to 100-millimeter zoom,

which means you can punch in with the full 200 megapixels before doing any

cropping,

which makes it that much more powerful of a zoom.

And then the Leica partnership goes even deeper.

So, there's standard photos where you can switch between Leica Vibrant

or Leica Authentic profiles,

I mostly stick with Vibrant because it looks good,

but when I do want a little more character,

you can swipe over to Leica Essential Mode.

So, if you thought buying an actual Leica camera was too expensive,

now... you can get one just through the image processing pipeline of this phone!

Kind of.

I'm exaggerating a little bit,

but it is worth noting that this isn't just filters;

it is actually built into the capture process, so you can't, like,

undo it at all.

So, the M9 is locked in daylight white balance

and obviously is more contrasty

and has a different color profile,

but it looks really good still sharp,

but a little less processed-looking and more organic.

It's just fun to take more artsy-looking photos with this.

Then the M3 is monochrome, but again,

it's not just a black and white filter.

It's actually emulating Leica Monochrom M11.

So, it's contrasty, it has less dynamic range,

it also has a nice grain to it.

These are obviously not the highest quality photos of all time

but they are fun.

There's dozens of other subtle looks

that you can switch between in the camera app too,

and there's a ton of other camera modes.

Uh... also it is very satisfying to have a 200-megapixel telephoto

that you can then continue to crop in on

and get really respectable far-zoom stuff without needing a bunch of AI enhancement physics.

Uhh... also, 1920 by 1080 video at 1920 FPS.

'Cause... why not?

And so then, there is the ring around the camera on the back of

this phone.

Okay, so... this ring obviously it's metal,

it turns and it turns fluidly but as I turn.

I get these haptics that make it feel like it's clicking.

So, it simulates a notched ring, and it's, it's pretty convincing and satisfying.

So, twisting this ring really quick will actually act

as a camera shortcut for opening the camera.

And then once it's open,

you can zoom in

and out while taking photos in the normal camera mode by just turning the

ring.

But they didn't stop there.

In video mode, the ring is actually mapped to adjusting exposure value by default.

And then the customization keeps going

because you can go into the camera ring settings,

and there's a whole menu

that lets you choose what the ring does in every single camera mode

and how sensitive it is.

So, in Pro mode, for example,

you can map the ring to be a manual focus ring

if you really want to,

or... for it to change shutter speed or... white balance Kelvin value,

which is sick!

It's like the iPhone's camera control,

but way more physical and clearly with way more flexibility.

They really went all out with this camera experience, from the sensors,

the hardware itself, to the accessories around it, to all the software customization,

all the modes, to all the Leica integration, to the camera ring.

And the best part is... it's a Xiaomi phone,

so the rest of the phone underneath is still really good. -- It's actually

a flagship!

It has a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, LPDDR5X RAM, UFS 4.1 storage.

So, performance is pretty great for a "camera."

It also has this huge 6.9-inch flat 120Hz display

that gets up to 3,500 nits.

It's got a 6,800 milliamp-hour silicon carbon battery with 90-watt fast charging,

50-watt wireless charging,

and it also somehow keeps its full IP69 dust and water resistance rating,

despite having the moving part, that camera ring.

So, that's pretty cool too.

And it's running the same software as other Xiaomi flagships:

HyperOS 3 on top of Android 16.

But you know what?

It's not perfect, though.

Nothing's ever perfect.

This does have some flaws,

and I'll just I just want to start with the camera ring.

Like, it's a really cool idea, obviously, and it works!

But similar to Apple's camera control,

it's a little more awkward to use sometimes in real life.

It feels a little bit clunky.

Like, if you stick to the default, which is zooming in and out,

there's about a 99.995% chance your fingers will get in the shot,

especially if you zoom out to the ultra-wide,

versus just a regular zoom by pressing on the touchscreen.

And it's also... annoyingly easy to accidentally trigger

or brush the ring just

when you're holding the phone,

which means sometimes accidentally quick-launching the camera app.

Then there's the variable zoom from the telephoto lens from 75 to 100 millimeters.

And... it's cool, it's really interesting tech, but it's also not that much zoom.

Like, it's, it's cool

that they've fit it into a periscope camera

that turns all the elements sideways

and takes advantage of the space.

But you can see it's, it's 3.2x to 4.3x;

that's where all the smooth continuous zoom is.

So, I feel like you could just take two steps forward

and get the same result.

And then... you know,

for a phone that's so focused on being such a good camera experience,

I'm usually going in

and playing with the settings

and trying to get the highest quality photos possible.

So, I'm going from the 12-megapixel binned photos to 50 megapixels,

and then... when I close the camera app, and then reopen it again,

it's back to 12 every single time.

I can't think of a real camera

that would forget my settings

if I sat it down for a

while and picked it back up

and woke it up again.

And I know that's what most smartphones do,

they always switch back to the binned settings just to keep your storage use

down.

But this isn't supposed to be a normal camera phone, you know?

But look, there is

that famous quote --

and you've probably heard it before --

that the best camera is the one you have with you.

And I don't know who said it first or, or where it came from,

but it's still true.

And so, it's pretty sick that, in the year 2026,

you can have that be a full-fledged Leica experience

that fits in your pocket.

So, well played, Xiaomi.

Well played.

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Thanks for watching!

Catch you guys in the next one.

Peace!