Leica camera flagship Xiaomi 17 Ultra launches with 200 MP periscope telephoto

After days of teasing, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra has officially launched in China. It's the current top-end offering within the company's flagship phone lineup, and the device is geared for photography. Among the three cameras on the back is the 1-inch Leica-enhanced primary sensor.

This primary sensor is the Light Hunter 1050L and features LOFIC technology to offer enhanced dynamic range. It comes with an f/1.67 aperture and is paired with a Leica 200 MP periscope telephoto. This Samsung HPE camera has a sensor size of 1/1.4-inch, and per the samples shared, it makes the Xiaomi 17 Ultra quite capable of capturing zoomed-in and portrait shots.

There's support for telephoto macro as well, and the zoom camera can switch between 75 mm and 100 mm focal lengths without losing noticeable details. The Leica APO-certified camera phone also has an ultra-wide sensor on the back, featuring a 14 mm focal length.

Aside from the cameras, the rest of the specs are top-end as well. That includes the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the current top-performing flagship offering from Qualcomm. This SoC is said to offer better performance than the other Xiaomi 17 series phones, including the Pro Max model.

The front of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra sports a 6.9-inch LTPO AMOLED screen with a 3,500-nit brightness rating. All the internals are powered by a 6,800 mAh battery that supports 50 W wireless and 90 W wired fast charging (150 W Anker Prime charger curr. $115.99 on Amazon). Other notable highlights include multiple camera modes, narrow screen bezels, an improved cooling setup than the predecessor, and support for the PPS charging protocol.

Xiaomi is offering the regular version in four colorways, and the base option comes with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage. This starting variant costs CNY 6,999, around $996, while the top-end option costs CNY 8,499, about $1,209, and it features 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage.