Another day, another smartphone. Except this time, it’s much more of a camera than a smartphone. With it, I stopped thinking about playing games, texting my best friends, or even looking up the stock market. It instead became all about the photographs I could capture. Yes, it’s the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, and with Leica's help, they have created one of the best camera-centric smartphones ever.
I’ll admit that I hadn’t been this excited about a Xiaomi flagship smartphone in a while. In previous years, Xiaomi’s ‘Ultra’ had paled in comparison to Oppo’s and Vivo’s. With the stakes even higher and prices rising to astronomical levels, could the Xiaomi 17 Ultra prove it is the one to beat? It took me just one weekend to truly understand what Xiaomi has concocted here. The simple answer is: yes!
A camera disguised as a smartphone
From the moment you pick it up, you realise that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is special. Not only is it the cheapest of the ‘Ultra’ models, but it is also not trying to be extra.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is a flagship smartphone through and through. It runs the most powerful processor to date, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. It is also the thinnest Ultra from Xiaomi to date—8.29mm thick, and weighing just 218.4 grams. The reduced weight helps mitigate wrist fatigue, especially since you’ll be clicking way too many photos with this smartphone.
The back of the smartphone is made from composite fibreglass. It’s resistant to the wear and tear of daily use, and also helps keep the weight down. The display—a 6.9-inch Xiaomi HyperRGB LTPO AMOLED panel with a resolution of 3,120x1,440—is protected by Xiaomi’s own Shield Glass 3.0, while Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protects the rear camera system. There is also an IP68 certification. Xiaomi has a triple-camera setup on the rear. There’s a 50MP 1-inch main sensor (with LOFIC and OIS), a 50MP ultra-wide sensor and a 200MP telephoto camera. On the front is a 50MP selfie shooter.
The headline grabber has to be the 50MP 1-inch Light Fusion 1050L sensor with LOFIC HDR technology. Let me explain it as briefly as possible. This technology is slated ro help prevent overexposure in high-contrast scenes (e.g., fireworks), preserve highlights, and retain more detail in shadows. Compared to the Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s main camera, the main sensor on the Xiaomi 17 Ultra can capture more than 6 times as much light!
When you’re out and about taking dozens of photos, the smartphone needs to be comfortable to grip and hold. To this end, Xiaomi excels with the photography kit (at an extra cost to the consumer, of course). The Photography Grip Pro, along with the hand strap and detachable shutter buttons, is a game-changer.
The grip attaches to the case via the Type-C port and locks in. It’s just like a digital camera with a two-step shutter key and a zoom switch. It’s familiar, comfortable, and you can click dozens of photos all day without feeling any fatigue. Best of all, the grip lets you use the smartphone one-handed.
The main camera is the standout of the three sensors. Daytime shots come out with punchy, true-to-life colours while retaining a lot of detail. You can choose between Leica Vibrant (less pronounced colours) and Leica Authentic styles. ‘Authentic’ was better for street photography, but otherwise, ‘Vibrant’ did the trick. In low light, the main sensor shines. Noise is absent, and the photos were not overexposed. The images are pretty realistic thanks to how well the highlights were handled. Thankfully, there was little to no flare in the images.
The periscope telephoto camera was also a treat to use. Multiple focal lengths allow for shots from 75mm to 100mm (with minimal light loss). You can seamlessly zoom or choose from the fixed lens ranges. Thanks to the large sensor, you can crop for longer-range zoom without losing quality. Optical zoom is limited to 3.2-43x (75-100mm equivalent), so if you want a longer true optical zoom, then you have to look elsewhere.
Software and battery life
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra runs HyperOS 3 (based on Android 16), and it does have its quirks, even if it runs smoothly for the most part. You can’t personalise it like some others like Samsung’s One UI or Oppo’s Color OS, and it does make simple things like changing the wallpaper a roundabout process. The widgets are nice, and the custom ones are useful, but nothing out of the ordinary. You’ll get four years of Android upgrades and six years of security support.
The downside is Xiaomi’s slow update cycle. For months after launch, the software was stuck on the February security patch. Finally, it received the June security patch a few weeks ago. That’s a shame for such an expensive phone.
A weekend of use told me everything I needed to know about the battery life. With a huge 6000mAh battery (Oppo and OnePlus flagships have it beat on paper), the Xiaomi 17 Ultra easily lasts two days, depending on how intense your use case is, but with a medium-to-heavy usage pattern, I comfortably got to post-lunch on the second day. With photoshoots across the city, and a lot of running around, plus some movies and dinners, I was very satisfied with the battery life. The smartphone supports 90W wired charging (with a charger included) and 50W wireless charging. Within an hour, you can fully charge the smartphone.
Verdict: Best Ultra of the lot?
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is easily the most affordable Ultra smartphone of the three. For the sole 16GB RAM + 512GB storage variant, you only have to shell out ₹1,39,999 (it had launched at ₹1,29,999). Yes, smartphone prices have been increasing, but Xiaomi makes sure to undercut the competition.
With the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, you get a fantastic display, best-in-class performance, and the best photography kit of them all. Yes, you’ll have to deal with a frustrating HyperOS (and delayed updates). But you get a camera system that is very fun to use, one that takes outstanding photos, and can be used without your hands feeling any fatigue. Battery life is also solid, though some rivals have it beat.
For everyday use, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra shines bright. It ticks all the boxes of a top-tier flagship. It may not be a meaningful upgrade over last year’s Xiaomi 15 Ultra. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is an easy-to-recommend smartphone for everyone else.
Sahil Bhalla is a Delhi-based writer. He posts @IMSahilBhalla.