Smartphones have become like modern electric cars. They're all damn fast, they all have huge screens, and they're all completely characterless. You slide across glass, press nonexistent buttons, and feel absolutely nothing. Where's the drama? Where's that mechanical "click" that tells you you've just created a work of art and not just another selfie for Instagram? The Xiaomi 17 Ultra apparently read my mind, kicked minimalism in the butt, and brought physics back to us.
If this phone were a car, it would have a 6-liter V12 engine under the hood. Xiaomi didn't skimp. While other manufacturers (I'm looking at you, Apple) have been polishing the same sensors for years and years, Xiaomi has thrown a 50 MP Light Fusion 1050L one-inch sensor (1-inch). In the photo, as with the engine displacement, sensor size means everything. More light, more detail, less of that digital noise that looks like dirt on a windshield. That's why it's Xiaomi 17 Ultra exceptional.
But the real star of this show is the telephoto camera. 200 MP Samsung HPE periscope camera (1/1.4″ sensor) is a technological absurdity in the best sense of the word. It offers continuous optical zoom. That means when you zoom in, there's no cheap jump between lenses where the image freezes for a moment. It's fluid. It's seamless. It's the way it should be. And with the ultra-wide camera with 50MP, which finally has decent autofocus, have covered all angles – from macro shots of an insect on your car's hood to wide panoramas of mountain passes.
“This is not a camera phone. This is a high-end optical device that, by some strange coincidence, has Android loaded.”
Leica Edition: Back to the buttons
But here things get personal. Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition It's not just a phone in a different color. It's a rebellion against sterility. It has mechanical zoom ring.
Yes, you read that right. A physical, rotating ring. You don't slide your sweaty finger across the glass, but you physically turn the mechanics to adjust focal length, exposure, or white balance. It feels like you're operating an old, expensive Leica M series, or adjusting the air conditioning in a Bentley. Click, click, click. Tactility is back. The body of the phone is two-tone, with a texture reminiscent of the leather of a steering wheel, and a red Leica logo, which means as much to the world of optics as the red horse to the world of motoring.
Engine under the hood: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
To power all those pixels, you need some serious cavalry. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is currently the most powerful engine on the market. This is not an engine for city driving, this is an engine for the racetrack.
In combination with up to 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB UFS 4.1 of memory (which is more space than most laptops have), this phone flies. Opening apps? Instant. Processing 200MP photos? Instant. The HyperOS 3.0 interface runs as smoothly as butter on a hot pan.
The screen is a story in itself. 6.9-inch (17.5 cm) M10 AMOLED LTPO panel with refresh 120 Hz and resolution 2608x1200 The pixel count is amazing. But the data that really strikes is the brightness: 3,500 nitsThis means that you will see the content crystal clear even if you are standing in the middle of the desert at noon and staring at the sun (which I do not recommend).
Battery: Diesel's reach in the electric age
The biggest frustration of modern technology? A battery that dies before dinner. Xiaomi said “enough” and built it in silicon-carbon battery with a capacity of 6,800mAh.
For comparison: most of the competition stops at 5,000 mAh. This phone has a “tank” that will last for two days of serious abuse. And when you finally run out, you’ll be able to top it up with 90W wired charging or 50 W wireless charging. It's not the fastest charging in the world (the Chinese can go up to a crazy 200 W), but with such a capacity it's a smart compromise for battery longevity. Plus, the phone has IP69 certificate. This means you can literally wash it with a “vape”. The waterproofness is at the level of a submarine.
Conclusion: Finally something that isn't an iPhone
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra, especially in this Leica guise, is proof that engineers can still dream. It's not about the specs on paper, although those are impressive. It's about feeling. The mechanical control ring is what separates a toy from a tool. It gives you control. It gives you joy to use.
Price in China for Leica Edition (16GB/1TB) is around 1,200 EUR (8,999 CNY). When (and if) this comes to Europe, add in taxes, duties, and margins, and we'll probably be close 1,600 EUR. A lot of money? Absolutely. But for that money get the best “camera”, that you can fit in your pocket, a phone that you won't have to charge every night, and most importantly, a device that has character. And in a sea of boring glass tiles, character is priceless.
Would you buy it? If my camera were stolen tomorrow, I'd probably buy this instead of a new one. That says it all.