Xiaomi 17 is a small(ish) phone with a big(ish) battery

Xiaomi has conscionable fixed a world motorboat to 2 of its latest flagship phones, the Xiaomi 17 and 17 Ultra, on pinch a Leica-branded Leitzphone version of the Ultra. There’s nary sign, however, of the 17 Pro, which launched successful China pinch an further show mounted adjacent to the rear cameras.

The 17 and 17 Ultra will apparently beryllium disposable soon successful the UK, Europe, and prime different markets. The 17 — sounded arsenic a rival to the likes of the iPhone 17 and Samsung Galaxy S26 — will costs £899 / €999 (about $1,200), while the larger and much tin Ultra starts from £1,299 / €1,499 ($1,750). The limited-edition Leitzphone will beryllium substantially much costly astatine £1,699 / €1,999 ($2,300), though it includes 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, on pinch a fewer other accessories.

The 17 is an highly tin small-ish flagship, pinch a 6.3-inch OLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and ample 6,330mAh silicon-carbon artillery (though sadly smaller than the 7,000mAh type launched successful China). I won’t beryllium penning a afloat reappraisal of the 17, but did walk a week utilizing it arsenic my main phone, and recovered that the artillery cruised past the full-day mark, though wasn’t rather capable for 2 afloat days of my emblematic usage. That’s acold amended artillery life than you’d find successful likewise sized phones from Apple, Samsung, aliases Google.

The cameras impressment too, pinch 50-megapixel sensors down each of the 4 lenses, selfie included. Pound for pound, you won’t find galore amended camera systems successful immoderate telephone this size.

The Ultra, unsurprisingly, takes things to different level. It’s overmuch larger, pinch a 6.9-inch display, and weighs a hefty 218g. Despite that, the 6,000mAh is really smaller, though I recovered it delivered beautiful akin longevity.

The tremendous camera is, arsenic ever for Xiaomi’s Ultra phones, the highlight. There are 50-megapixel sensors for each of the main, ultrawide, and selfie cameras, pinch a ample 1-inch-type sensor down the superior lens. The periscope telephoto is moreover much impressive: 200-megapixel resolution, a ample 1/1.4-inch sensor, and continuous optical zoom from 3.2x to 4.3x, the balanced of 75-100mm. Xiaomi isn’t the first to propulsion disconnected a existent zoom telephone — Sony’s Xperia 1 IV sewage location first successful 2022 — but the telephoto camera present is acold much tin than that phone’s, pinch earthy bokeh and awesome capacity moreover successful debased light.

The camera capabilities are supported by Xiaomi’s ongoing photography partner Leica, but it’s the pair’s Leitzphone that really emphasizes that. Slightly redesigned from the 17 Ultra Leica Edition that was released successful China past December, this includes Leica branding crossed the hardware and software, a scope of Leica filters and shooting styles, and a rotatable rear camera ringing that tin beryllium utilized to power the zoom. It’s the first Leica Leitzphone produced by Xiaomi — aft a trio of Japan-only Sharp models — and comes pinch further branded accessories, including a lawsuit pinch a lens headdress and a microfiber cleaning cloth.

Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge