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 uh 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/irds 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. It's 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 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 in sensor. It's 50

megapixels. It's at f1.67, and it's just

it's absolutely gigantic. The ultra wide

is a good sensor, too. It's a nice wide

14mm lens. 50 megapixels at f2.2. 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 75mm equivalent to 100 millm

equivalent, from f2.39 to f2.96. 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

autofocus 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 is so many

camera features. So, I'll just I'll give

you some of my highlights. So, the ultra

wide, like I mentioned, is actually very

wide. It's a 14 mm equivalent, and it's

actually decent quality, which makes it

very usable. So, that's really good. Uh,

the variable zoom is pretty smooth and

actually works. It's a 75 to 100 millm

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 cuz 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

mono 50 film, 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. Uh, also 1920x 1080 video at

1,920

fps

because 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 the all the software

customization and 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

in flat 120 Hz display that gets up to

3,500 nits. It's got a 6,800 mAh 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, Hyper OS 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 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

ultrawide versus just a regular zoom by

pressing on the touchcreen. 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 millm. 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 like

trying to get the highest quality photos

possible. So, I'm going from the 12

megapixel bin 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'd 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 bin 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. And shout

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want to check it out. Thanks for

watching. Catch you guys in the next

one. Peace.