The Xiaomi 17 Ultra has some impressive features that make photography fun

In the US, discussions of high-end phones start with iPhones, the Samsung Galaxy series, and, more recently, the Google Pixel. In contrast, people in Asia and parts of Europe get more options with companies like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo upping their camera game.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra, which has recently been established worldwideis one of these devices, which has a large camera equipped with different sensors, and a collaboration with the German camera manufacturer Leica to provide software and sound changes to the way images are shot.

The camera has tons of options to choose from, from different heights on the hardware side to different filters and settings to change how the final image looks.

Xiaomi has also released an external accessory that shoots like a screen to the camera, as well as a USB accessory that provides hardware buttons to shoot video or photos. Although these accessories don’t add much, they make the camera easy to operate with one hand.

Apart from the camera, Xiaomi has packed its phone with advanced features to compete with the best smartphones of the year. I’ll talk about the camera in detail, but let me cover the rest of the hardware.

Electronic devices

Xiaomi 17 Ultra uses Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor, which will be the top choice this year. On the front, there is a 6.9-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1200 x 2608 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz.

The screen is very bright at a maximum brightness of 3,500 nits. This is useful for using the phone in bright environments and makes for a better viewing experience.

The 6,000 mAh battery is probably one of the best results of the Silicon/Carbon-Ion technology that Xiaomi is using. Considering the size of the battery, it can last you a few to medium days, and it also has a good standby time. Despite the bigger battery, the phone is still lighter than the iPhone Pro Max, so that’s another win for the company’s engineering team.

The phone supports 90W of wireless charging, and you can use the charger that Xiaomi provides with the phone or a PD (Power Delivery) 3.0 or PPS (Programmable Power Supply)-based charger. It also supports 50W with Xiaomi’s own charger.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra has 16GB of RAM and two memory options of 512GB and 1TB.

Camera

Xiaomi is using a 1-inch 50-megapixel sensor with an f/1.67 aperture for the main camera, aiming to capture more light. The camera takes sharp and clear images without losing white. The sensor is good at capturing detail in a variety of lighting conditions. Like the iPhone Pro Max, with a larger camera, you can change it to 23mm, 28mm, and 35mm to make it the same.

The phone has a unique 200-megapixel telephoto lens. Instead of offering standard optical zoom options like 2x and 4x, it has an even higher magnification range from 3.2x to 4.3x. On the face of it, this doesn’t seem like much, but when taking pictures of pets or creating other objects within the frame, it’s very useful. One drawback is that on the camera UI, you can jump to the 75mm, 85mm, 90mm, and 100mm focal lengths, but you have to press the controls and scroll around the dial if you want to go to other focal lengths between 75mm and 100mm.

The company is using a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera with f/2.2 aperture. This lens is also useful for large images. Overall, this camera is adequate, but it loses a bit of detail compared to the other two cameras in some images. There’s also a 50-megapixel selfie camera, but remember to turn off all the fancy filters.

Camera control is a common practice, but the way to get a picture of the same thing in different ways is enough. By default, the camera follows the Leica color scheme, but with one tap, you can change it to Leica Vibrant. There are filter options that give you options like good and bad movies; Original Leica filters like vivid, natural, black & white, speia, and blue; and Xiaomi filters like cinematic, monsoon, teal mist, and red.

The company’s two accessories are called The 17 Ultra Photography Kit and The 17 Ultra Photography Kit Pro. The basic model is like a cover and fits directly into the phone. It connects to the phone via Bluetooth, has a two-way button (for autofocus and shooting), and a video recording button. The case uses a charger to connect its battery.

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra Photography Kit Pro packs a cover and a camera-like controller that attaches to the phone via USB-C. Kit Pro also has a 2,000 mAh battery to keep it running. The grip allows you to easily hold the phone with one hand.

Above the handle, there is a dedicated shutter button and video recording button. There are other dials that can control exposure, filters, ISO, shutter speed, or white balance. You can also use this dial to browse through the gallery. The Kit Pro also comes with a ring, with which you can attach 67 mm camera filters.

I used the Kit Pro all the time when I was walking around the streets because I could hold the phone with one hand and take pictures and control the cameras in my hands. In addition, using an accessory like a camera made it fun to take photos and videos. I really appreciated having a hardware monitor.

Both devices use the Fastshot software inside the camera, which has simple controls for street photography.

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra will face competition in the global market from upcoming devices such as the Vivo X300 Ultra, which also has cameras including a 2.35x telephoto extender, and the Oppo Find X9. But thanks to the initial launch of its phone, Xiaomi can enjoy this. Apart from the camera, the phone packs a punch if you’re okay with the large camera housing on the back.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra starts at €​​​​1,499 in Europe. The Photography Kit is priced at €99.99, and the Photography Kit Pro is priced at €199.99.