Xiaomi 17 Ultra - More Camera than Phone!

Summary

MKBHD reviews the Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition, a phone that leans all the way into being a camera first and smartphone second. With heavy Leica branding, premium camera accessories (aluminum lens cap, wrist strap, microfiber cloth), a unique physical camera ring on the back, and extensive Leica photo modes (M9, M3 monochrome), this phone delivers the most fun smartphone camera shooting experience he’s ever had. The variable zoom telephoto (75-100mm), massive 1-inch main sensor, and physical haptic ring for controlling camera settings make it feel like a real camera. While not necessarily the absolute best quality, it’s the most enjoyable to shoot with. The phone underneath is also a true flagship: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, 6.9” 120Hz display, 6,800mAh battery, and full IP69 rating despite the moving camera ring.

Highlights

”More Camera Than Phone”

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“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.” — Marques Brownlee, 0:20

”The Unboxing Experience”

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“You get this custom case with MagSafe magnets built in, an aluminum lens cap that works with this case, 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.” — Marques Brownlee, 0:49

”Most Fun Camera Shooting Experience”

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“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. But I would still crown it the best overall like most fun smartphone camera shooting experience that I’ve ever had.” — Marques Brownlee, 3:40

”The Camera Ring”

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“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. Twisting this ring really quick will actually act as a camera shortcut for opening the camera.” — Marques Brownlee, 7:02

”A Full-Fledged Leica Experience in Your Pocket”

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“There is that famous quote that the best camera is the one you have with you. 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.” — Marques Brownlee, 10:37

Key Points

• 0:02 - In 2026, smartphones are 50% computer, 50% camera
• 0:17 - Xiaomi 17 Ultra goes all the way: all camera with phone attached
• 0:28 - Everything screams “I’m buying a camera,” smartphone is secondary
• 0:39 - Heavy Leica branding throughout unboxing
• 0:49 - Custom case with MagSafe magnets and Leica logo
• 0:57 - Aluminum lens cap that works with case
• 1:03 - High quality microfiber cleaning cloth for lenses
• 1:09 - Wrist strap attaches like camera lanyard
• 1:17 - Accessories package alone worth $50-60
• 1:21 - Different from Xiaomi 17 Pro/Pro Max which copied iPhone design
• 1:30 - Camera looks different and is pretty sweet
• 1:33 - Cream colorway with two-tone look: textured bottom 2/3, smooth top 1/3
• 1:44 - Super clicky buttons, circular volume buttons with +/- (throwback to iPhone 4)
• 1:53 - All branding on back is horizontal (camera orientation)
• 1:59 - Says Leica more than Xiaomi: Leica in corner, on camera plateau, on side saying “Leica Camera Germany”
• 2:21 - Camera plateau sits in metal ring with texture for grip, and the ring actually moves
• 2:32 - Missing: dedicated camera shutter button on side for landscape mode
• 2:42 - Triple camera setup: main, ultrawide, telephoto, each with its own magic
• 2:52 - Main camera: massive 1-inch sensor, 50MP, f/1.67, absolutely gigantic
• 2:57 - Ultra wide: good sensor, wide 14mm lens, 50MP at f/2.2
• 3:06 - Zoom: 200MP sensor, real variable focal length zoom 75-100mm (f/2.39-f/2.96)
• 3:22 - Lot going on, but wouldn’t crown it absolute best smartphone cameras quality-wise
• 3:40 - Still crown it best overall most fun smartphone camera shooting experience ever
• 3:48 - Initially nervous: covered in Leica logos, primed to disappoint
• 3:56 - Thought it would be just branding exercise from Leica licensing department
• 4:03 - Turned out to be much more thoughtful execution than expected
• 4:09 - Camera app and experience is just fun, which is what you want
• 4:16 - Point and shoot works great: reliable quick autofocus
• 4:19 - Big sensor gives lots of detail and nice shallow depth of field
• 4:22 - Still does classic Xiaomi brightening of skin tones
• 4:27 - Shot most of Tesla Model Y review on autofocus channel with this phone in video mode
• 4:35 - Easy to point and shoot and get good 8K video without batting an eye
• 4:40 - Microphones aren’t great, but external mic solved it instantly
• 4:50 - So many camera features, here are highlights
• 4:55 - Ultra wide actually very wide: 14mm equivalent, actually decent quality, very usable
• 5:04 - Variable zoom pretty smooth and actually works
• 5:09 - 75-100mm zoom means punch in with full 200MP before any cropping
• 5:16 - Leica partnership goes even deeper than expected
• 5:19 - Standard photos: switch between Leica vibrant or Leica authentic profiles
• 5:27 - For more character, swipe over to Leica essential mode
• 5:31 - Get a Leica camera through image processing pipeline of phone (kind of)
• 5:42 - Not just filters, built into capture process, can’t undo it
• 5:49 - M9 mode: locked daylight white balance, more contrasty, different color profile
• 5:56 - Still sharp but less processed looking, more organic
• 6:00 - Fun to take more artsy photos with this
• 6:04 - M3 is monochrome, not just black and white filter
• 6:07 - Actually emulating Leica mono 50 film: contrasty, less dynamic range, nice grain
• 6:17 - Not highest quality photos ever, but they are fun
• 6:21 - Dozens of other subtle looks to switch between in camera app
• 6:26 - Ton of other camera modes available
• 6:28 - Very satisfying to have 200MP telephoto to continue cropping in
• 6:34 - Get respectable far zoom without needing AI enhancement physics
• 6:41 - Also 1920x1080 video at 1,920 fps because why not
• 6:49 - The ring around camera on back: metal, turns fluidly with haptic clicks
• 7:02 - Simulates notched ring, pretty convincing and satisfying
• 7:05 - Twisting ring really quick acts as camera shortcut to open camera
• 7:10 - Once open, turn ring to zoom in and out while taking photos
• 7:16 - In video mode, ring mapped to adjusting exposure value by default
• 7:22 - Customization keeps going: whole menu to choose what ring does in every camera mode
• 7:33 - In pro mode, map ring to manual focus, shutter speed, or white balance Kelvin value
• 7:42 - Like iPhone’s camera control but way more physical and way more flexibility
• 7:50 - Really went all out: sensors, hardware, accessories, software, modes, Leica integration, camera ring
• 8:04 - Best part: it’s a Xiaomi phone, so rest of phone underneath is still really good
• 8:08 - Actually a flagship: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, LPDDR5X RAM, UFS 4.1 storage
• 8:16 - Performance pretty great for a camera
• 8:19 - Huge 6.9” flat 120Hz display up to 3,500 nits
• 8:26 - 6,800mAh silicon carbon battery with 90W fast charging, 50W wireless charging
• 8:32 - Somehow keeps full IP69 dust and water resistance despite moving camera ring
• 8:39 - Running Hyper OS 3 on top of Android 16
• 8:45 - Not perfect, does have some flaws
• 8:51 - Camera ring: really cool idea and works, but similar to Apple’s camera control
• 8:57 - A little more awkward to use sometimes in real life, feels clunky
• 9:05 - If zooming with ring, 99.995% chance fingers get in shot, especially on ultrawide
• 9:17 - Also annoyingly easy to accidentally trigger ring when holding phone
• 9:24 - Variable zoom from 75-100mm: cool interesting tech, but not that much zoom
• 9:35 - Cool they fit it into periscope camera with sideways elements
• 9:43 - 3.2x to 4.3x smooth continuous zoom, could just take two steps forward for same result
• 9:49 - For phone so focused on camera, usually want to play with settings for highest quality
• 9:56 - Goes from 12MP bin photos to 50MP, but when reopen camera, back to 12MP every time
• 10:07 - Can’t think of real camera that would forget settings if put down and picked back up
• 10:16 - Most smartphones do this to keep storage use down, but this isn’t supposed to be normal camera phone
• 10:29 - Famous quote: best camera is the one you have with you, still true
• 10:39 - Pretty sick in 2026 you can have full-fledged Leica experience in pocket
• 10:47 - Well played, Xiaomi
• 10:49 - Shoutout to Rocket Money for sponsoring (January resolution: clean up spending)

Mentions

Companies

• 0:28 - Xiaomi - Manufacturer of the phone
• 0:25 - Leica - Camera brand partnership, heavy branding throughout
• 1:21 - Apple (iPhone mentioned) - Xiaomi 17 Pro/Pro Max copied iPhone design
• 1:49 - Apple (iPhone 4) - Circular volume buttons throwback
• 4:27 - Tesla (Model Y) - Review shot on this phone
• 8:54 - Apple - Camera control comparison
• 10:49 - Rocket Money - Video sponsor

Products & Technologies

• 0:28 - Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition - The phone being reviewed
• 1:21 - Xiaomi 17 Pro - Previous model that copied iPhone design
• 1:21 - Xiaomi 17 Pro Max - Previous model that copied iPhone design
• 1:21 - iPhone 17 Pro - Design reference
• 1:21 - iPhone 17 Pro Max - Design reference
• 0:52 - MagSafe - Magnets built into case
• 5:49 - Leica M9 - Camera mode emulation (daylight white balance, contrasty)
• 6:04 - Leica M3 - Monochrome mode
• 6:10 - Leica Mono 50 film - Film emulation in M3 mode
• 8:10 - Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 - Processor
• 8:14 - LPDDR5X RAM - Memory type
• 8:14 - UFS 4.1 storage - Storage type
• 8:26 - Silicon carbon battery - 6,800mAh battery technology
• 8:32 - IP69 - Dust and water resistance rating
• 8:41 - Hyper OS 3 - Xiaomi’s software layer
• 8:43 - Android 16 - Base operating system
• 8:57 - iPhone camera control - Comparison point for camera ring

People

• 4:27 - Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) - Video creator, shot Tesla review with this phone

Surprising Quotes

“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.” — 0:30

“This accessories package alone probably costs 50, 60 bucks just based on how nice they are.” — 1:17

“It says Leica on this phone more than it says Xiaomi.” — 2:02

“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.” — 2:52

“When I first got this phone, I was a little nervous. It was 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.” — 3:48

“It’s so easy to just point and shoot and get good-looking 8K video out of this phone without even batting an eye.” — 4:35

“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.” — 5:34

“It’s like the iPhone’s camera control, but way more physical and clearly with way more flexibility.” — 7:44

“It also somehow keeps its full IP69 dust and water resistance rating despite having the moving part, that camera ring.” — 8:35

“There’s about a 99.995% chance your fingers will get in the shot, especially if you zoom out to the ultrawide.” — 9:07

“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.” — 10:10

Full Transcript

0:02 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?

0:25 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.

1:18 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 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. 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.

2:39 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.

3:22 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.

4:10 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.

4:47 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.

5:16 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.

6:19 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?

6:46 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.

7:47 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.

8:44 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.

9:22 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.

9:49 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.

10:25 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.

10:49 And shout out to Rocket Money for sponsoring this video cuz it’s January and so it’s of course resolution time. And I’m sure I’m not alone. But one of my resolutions is to clean up spending. And Rocket Money has been the perfect tool to help me do that. It automatically tracks all my transactions in one place. And as you can imagine, when I first connected all my accounts, there was immediately a couple subscriptions that it shows that I’m paying for that I kind of forgot I was paying for. But then the best part, I think, is that you can cancel them right in the app with a couple of taps. So that was just a great beginning of the year task for me, saving the hassle of digging through emails and dealing with customer service and trying to accomplish the same thing in other ways. And then the nice thing is once you’re in, you get a bird’s eye view of all your finances. All my accounts are in one dashboard. So, checking, savings, credit card, so I can actually see how much I spend on video gear versus other more responsible things uh without logging into five different apps. And I also like that it automatically categorizes all spending, so I can see the breakdown. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who is a little surprised by how much you eat out versus groceries. But now I know RocketMoney is free to download and you can unlock even more features with premium. So, you can head over to rocketmoney.com/mkbhd or scan the QR code. There’s also going to be a link in the description if you want to check it out. Thanks for watching. Catch you guys in the next.