At the end of last year, I snapped and bought myself a vivo X300, completely abandoning Xiaomi. At the time, the decision seemed justified: HyperOS with all its bugs had finally driven me crazy, and my once-beloved brand still couldn’t offer me a full-fledged camera phone in a compact body. However, my first impressions of the vivo X300 purchase quickly turned into disappointment due to the non-disableable AI image enhancement. And when I studied Xiaomi 17 Ultra reviews, it became obvious: I had been too hasty. The new smartphone turned out to be such an amazing camera phone that you could even give up a compact form factor for it.
This is a camera phone that can truly blow your mind. Image: Mark Ellis Reviews
What Camera Does the Xiaomi 17 Ultra Have
Here I won’t be breaking down all the technical details of the new device like the display, processor, and battery. You can find that in the text with Xiaomi 17 Ultra specifications and evaluate the phone’s internals yourself. This article is only about the camera.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra received a set of four functional cameras:
- Main: 50 MP (1/1″, f/1.67, 23 mm, OIS);
- Ultra-wide: 50 MP (1/2.76″, f/2.2, 14 mm);
- Periscope: 200 MP (1/1.4″, f/2.4-2.9, 75-100 mm, OIS);
- Front camera: 50 MP (1/2.88″).
Besides the main sensor, whose physical size reaches one vidicon inch, I paid attention to the periscope with variable focal length. Nothing like this had previously existed in Android camera phones.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra is no longer a smartphone, but a professional camera. Image: Xiaomi
By changing the focal length in the 75-100 mm range, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra smartphone allows you to use 3.2x, 3.7x, 3.9x, and 4.2x zoom without quality loss. Even at 10x, details are preserved without AI enhancement, and the total zoom magnification exceeds 100x.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra — Photo Samples
Words are words, but photos from the Xiaomi 17 Ultra speak for themselves. There are absolutely no questions about the main camera here. Everything is crisp even in low light. And pay attention to the detail. It’s through the roof here.
The main camera is beyond all praise. Photo: gsmarena.com
The 4.3x optical zoom, thanks to the large sensor, delivers more or less the same image quality, which isn’t surprising in principle. But look at what the Xiaomi 17 Ultra does at 8.6x zoom: the same level of detail without a single hint of AI processing.
4.3x zoom. Photo: gsmarena.com
8.6x zoom. Photo: gsmarena.com
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra ultra-wide is, of course, weaker — both compared to the main camera and the telephoto. However, in challenging conditions it still doesn’t “darken,” and the only ultra-wide camera that can definitively surpass it in quality is the one on the vivo X300 Ultra — it has the best ultra-wide among smartphones.
The ultra-wide is weaker but still delivers. Photo: gsmarena.com
The zoom on the Xiaomi 17 Ultra also performs excellently when recording video. Thankfully, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor supports both 8K@30fps and 4K@120fps — with Dolby Vision extended dynamic range support to boot.
Actual Price of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra in Russia costs 124,990 ₽. Considering that its predecessor was priced at 150K here, the price looks reasonable.
The smartphone is worth the money
