Can a smartphone still surprise you with something mechanical? Xiaomi seems to think so.
The company unveiled the Xiaomi 17 Ultra in China on Christmas Day, and alongside the usual spec-war bravado it added a genuinely oddball touch for 2025: a physical, reprogrammable zoom ring on the Leica-branded special edition. That quirk — plus a lineup of camera hardware that reads like a spec sheet for pocketable mirrorless cameras — is the story here, not the fact that the phone runs the latest Snapdragon chip.
What makes the 17 Ultra stand out
Start with the optics. The 17 Ultra brings a 50MP 1-inch “Light Fusion 1050L” main sensor (Leica-branded tuning and film simulations are part of the package), a 200MP periscope telephoto housed on a 1/1.4-inch sensor that Xiaomi says supports continuous optical zoom, and a 50MP ultrawide with autofocus. The front camera is also 50MP.
Under the hood: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, UFS 4.1 storage up to 1TB, and a 6.9-inch M10 AMOLED LTPO display that can refresh at 120Hz and spike to an insane 3,500 nits peak brightness. Protection is Xiaomi’s Dragon Crystal Glass 3.0. Battery capacity is a headline figure too — a 6,800mAh silicon-carbon cell with 90W wired and 50W wireless charging, plus reverse charging for accessories.
Xiaomi priced the base configurations aggressively for a flagship camera phone in China: the standard 17 Ultra starts at CNY 6,999 (roughly $995) for 12/512GB, while the Leica edition launches at CNY 7,999 (about $1,140) for 16/512GB.
The Leica edition: more than a badge
Leica’s involvement goes deeper than a red logo. The Leica edition carries a dual-tone finish inspired by M-series cameras, texture on the frame, dedicated Leica film simulations (including a Monopan 50 black-and-white look), and photography-first software modes that use a 3:2 “Leica Moments” aspect ratio.
The mechanical zoom ring is the headline novelty: rotate it and the camera app activates automatically and adjusts focal length; Xiaomi says the ring can detect displacements as small as 0.03mm and can be reassigned to exposure compensation, manual focus or other camera controls. The Leica edition also ships with a special box (lens cap, lanyard, magnetic case, cleaning cloth) and adds a security/encryption chip plus dual-satellite connectivity.
That physical ring is a throwback to classic cameras, and it signals how Xiaomi wants this handset to feel: less like a generic slab and more like a small photographic tool.
Design and criticism
Not everyone loves the new phone’s look. Some reviewers expected the Ultra line to double down on striking, camera-inspired bodywork and grippy, landscape-friendly details; instead, the 17 Ultra leans toward a sleeker, more conventional flagship aesthetic. Critics compare it unfavorably to the bolder Xiaomi 15 Ultra design, arguing the 17 Ultra’s styling is a safer, narrower take.
Still, there’s a tension here: Xiaomi has packed hardware more commonly found in dedicated cameras into a phone that remains commercially aimed at mainstream premium buyers. Whether users prefer a bold camera-centric chassis or a sleeker daily driver is a matter of taste.
Why this matters in the market
Xiaomi’s announcement lands at a busy moment for camera-first phones. Rival makers are pushing high-megapixel sensors and large batteries themselves — see the rumors about Vivo’s X300 Ultra and its dual 200MP ambitions — while companies like Oppo are balancing high-resolution imaging with monstrous battery claims on flagship models as with the Find X9 Pro trialing big batteries and camera hardware. If long runtime is a selling point for you, Xiaomi’s 6,800mAh figure puts it in the same conversation as other endurance-focused flagships such as the slim-but-long-lived Motorola Edge 70.
Xiaomi also used side-by-side comparisons in launch material to position the 17 Ultra against the iPhone 17 Pro Max on low-light photos. That claim — and Leica’s co‑branding — will be central to Xiaomi’s pitch in China, where convincing iPhone owners to switch requires headline-grabbing camera performance.
The practical bit: who should care?
If you care about photography but don’t want to carry another device, the 17 Ultra offers sensible appeal: very large sensors, a periscope telephoto with high-resolution capture, and a software stack tuned with Leica presets. The Leica edition’s mechanical ring hints at a small but meaningful usability difference for photographers who miss tactile controls.
If you prize looks or want the quirkiest camera-body design possible, the new model might disappoint compared with previous Xiaomi Ultra entries that leaned hard into camera DNA. For battery fiends and night shooters, the 6,800mAh cell and Leica partnership give the 17 Ultra tangible reasons to consider an upgrade.
Availability is China-first — sales begin December 27 there — and Xiaomi is likely to reveal global pricing and launch windows early in 2026. Expect camera comparisons (and some fierce spec-wrangling) as reviewers get hands-on units and side-by-side tests start appearing.
The 17 Ultra is, at once, a conservative flagship in silhouette and an ambitious camera experiment underneath. That split personality is exactly what will make it interesting to watch next year.