Xiaomi 17 Ultra: Leica-powered cameras in Beijing

Xiaomi 17 Ultra (and its variants) are among the first smartphone lenses to receive the Leica APO optical lens certification, with three specialised glass elements reducing chromatic aberration.

Also, the telephoto camera is able to provide continuous optical zoom across the 75-100mm range, which is about 3.2-4.3x zoom if we use the 23mm camera as the “1x zoom” baseline.

The main camera is also upgraded and has Leica’s UltraPure optical design with one glass and six plastic elements across three groups. There’s an MgF2 (Magnesium Fluoride) coating for glare reduction, and the lens is backed by Xiaomi’s new 1-inch Light Fusion 1050L image sensor that uses Xiaomi’s latest LOFIC HDR technology. 

With both of these new lenses, Xiaomi is billing the Xiaomi 17 Ultra as the “Master of Night”, with exceptional telephoto and low-light performance. Our sample photos test if it lives up to its own claims, with most shots taken with the Leica Vibrant colour profile.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra: Gorgeous shots, endless takes

By default, you get a 0.6x zoom (focal length 14mm) for ultrawide shots. The “no zoom”/ 1x zoom (23mm) crowns the main camera. There are also other digital zoom levels, using the different cameras:

• 1.2x zoom (28mm), 1.5x zoom (35mm) and 2x (46mm) are taken from the main camera
• 8.6x zoom (200mm), 17.2x zoom (400mm), 30x zoom (690mm), 60x zoom (1380mm) and 120x zoom (2760mm) are all taken from the telephoto camera

As seen in the photo samples above, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra performs incredibly well, regardless of overcast situations, bright afternoon sunlight or even indoors.

Xiaomi’s camera engineers also mentioned that Leica is involved in the colour tuning process from a very early stage, which results in the aesthetic Leica colour science through Xiaomi’s rendition.

Super Macro shots are now handled by the telephoto camera. While we’re not a fan of the 30cm focusing distance required, the results are generally decent, even if they’re not true macro shots.

That’s only just the beginning. The phone really starts to shine once you get into the Portrait mode.

No slacking for portrait photos

In Portrait mode, you get to choose from eight focal length shortcuts: 23mm, 28mm, 35mm, 46mm, 70mm, 85mm, 90mm, and 100mm. There are also five different bokeh effects to choose from. For our sampling, we mostly used its default, standard effect.

Xiaomi believes its portrait shots are the highlight of this camera system, and within the 70-100mm range, you’ll see the telephoto lens really shine, as expected.

The phone handles challenging photography situations with ease, whether it’s a shot taken in a sunny outdoor situation or a snap of a performer in an indoor, low-light environment.

We give kudos to Xiaomi’s handling of hair separation from the background. The phone also doesn’t indulge in excessive artificial beautification or skin smoothing commonly found on other Chinese brands. That’s great news if you’re looking to capture accurate skin tones and textures, or if you’re into street photography.

400mm telephoto’s detail retention

We put the telephoto lens to the test at the Forbidden City in Beijing, Mainland China. The results are very impressive, with the 17.2x zoom (400mm) offering excellent detail retention. If you look at the signage, you can see the building’s weathering, and it brings out cracked blue paint, with the discolouration of the chipped golden roof tiles clearly visible.

We don’t doubt that its computational algorithms are at work, but we also recognise the hardware does a lot of heavy lifting to ensure the images turn out sharp with no chromatic aberration and little noise. 

Even better HDR photos

Thanks to the LOFIC HDR technology in the new Light Fusion 1050L sensor, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra offers a 6.3x increase in full well capacity compared to the previous-generation 1-inch sensor. In simpler terms, the sensor’s pixels can hold that much more light before becoming too saturated. 

Since more light data gets captured, it also results in better HDR performance in challenging situations. As seen in the photos, Xiaomi 17 Ultra can handle high-contrast backlit shots or night shots with plenty of very bright light sources.

Whether it’s a shot of street stalls and bright signboards, or floodlights illuminating the foreground while the background isn’t lit up, the phone handles it all competently. However, if you’re constantly taking ultrawide photos in low-light situations, it does seem to end up quite a bit darker and moodier. 

More about the Xiaomi 17 Ultra

The model we have on hand is the unit that will be sold in the Singapore market with HyperOS 3, so the imaging performance should be similar.

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra (16GB RAM, 512GB storage) retails at S$1,799. More information, like its features, specs, and where to buy can be found in our other article below.