Xiaomi 17 Ultra review: photography at its Ultra best

Xiaomi 17 Ultra review

Ahead of Mobile World Congress, we attended the press conference of the Xiaomi 17 series. We shared the preview of that, and now it's time for the review of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. The device should score even better than its predecessor; the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. And for this, it once again puts plenty of effort into the camera. Even better photos at night, sharper photos in all conditions and, of course, again with the power of Leica. We took the camera on city trips to Spanish Barcelona and Swedish Stockholm. Plenty of time to test the camera extensively.

Xiaomi has a name to uphold with photography. Last year, we published the Xiaomi 15 Ultra review. We also highlighted the differences between the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra during a city trip to Berlin. In the German city, we extensively compared the cameras. So now it's the Xiaomi 17 Ultra's turn. How do you like this device? And is it a formidable competitor to, say, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra?

Unboxing

Whereas unboxing a (new) mobile phone used to be really exciting, it has become a lot less so in recent years. After all, there is less to find in that packaging. You used to have a headset, various covers and don't know what else with your new Nokia, now it is limited to a USB cable, the SIM needle and some paperwork. With the 17 Ultra, Xiaomi additionally supplies a hard plastic case to protect your device right away. That's kind of nice. However, the case's buttons do feel a bit fragile, and make a rattling sound. Then again, we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. On the screen, Xiaomi has already stuck a plastic screen protector. This provides some basic screen protection.

Design and interface

The design of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is very reminiscent of its predecessor. And there is little wrong with that. Provided you like a hefty smartphone, because in terms of size, the device is hefty. The device offers a flat screen and thus does not flatten at the sides. It is quite a heavyweight though, weighing 219 grams, though it is still lighter than the 232-gram Pixel 10 Pro XL. The balance is different, though, because with the 17 Ultra you have the giant camera module, which is top-heavy. On the other hand, you can comfortably rest your index finger under it while using it.

The device feels solid, though it can feel a bit slippery. We got the device itself in the colour Starlit Green. This green colour shows a starry sky, which is something different from the boring familiar colours. When you move the device, as well as when it's just in your pocket, you hear a rattling sound. This is the optical image stabilisation in the camera. You do notice that this is clearly more present, than we know from other devices. You can also clearly feel this module when you shake the device.

The connectors and buttons are in the familiar places. What is noticeable here is that Xiaomi has slightly changed the design of the volume key. Not one longer button, but a circular button for higher volume, and a separate button to lower the volume. I personally find that always works just a bit nicer. The overall impression is that the device looks very premium, and is solidly finished.

Interface

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra's interface features Android 16 with HyperOS 3, and Xiaomi's skin can take some getting used to if you're coming from another brand of device. However, this layer over Android is fine to work with, and works quite pleasantly. In the menu, apps can be categorised into, for example, communication, entertainment and photography. In the apps menu, you do notice that there is still some bloatware on the device. Amazon, various Xiaomi tools, LinkedIn... it's all already on the device.

As for the interface, the Xiaomi offers the necessary options. You can use the Always-on screen, but also, for example, personalise the lock screen with different clock styles and you can also customise the animations of the fingerprint scanner. And if you want the apps spread across home screens, instead of in a menu, that's also possible. Plenty of options!

Communication and multimedia

Xiaomi's phone offers space for two physical SIM cards as well as eSIM. The call quality is nothing to complain about. In fact, you can make excellent phone calls with the green flagship. Messaging is also done in the familiar ways. Ringtones are clear to hear and the vibration motor is of sufficient power, so you won't easily miss a call. Through settings, you can choose from the standard ringtones, but you can also have fun with all the choice in an online section.

As mentioned, Xiaomi provides some bloatware, and we see this in the browser, among others. Not only can you access the worldwide web via Google Chrome, you can also do so via Xiaomi's own browser. It's a bit redundant. Internet works fine, both via 5G and WiFi. Exactly as you might expect from an expensive high-end smartphone.

Multimedia

When it comes to multimedia, you can expect a high-quality screen from the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. This was also the case with its predecessor, and is no different now. In terms of brightness, the screen can be high enough for sunny days, and dimmed enough in the darker hours. The screen is colourful and offers exactly what it needs to enjoy a film or series.

What about the sound quality? No need to worry about that with the device. The speakers of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra put down powerful, high-quality sound. The bass is also present in a pleasant way. Also, the sound can be loud enough to enjoy your music even with "a nice track".

Camera

If there is one thing that is central to the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, it is the camera. As with its predecessors, the camera has received an awful lot of attention. The camera module offers three lenses. These are a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel wide-angle lens and a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto lens. Of course, the necessary things like lightning-fast autofocus, optical image stabilisation and an LED flash are also present.

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra's camera app is self-explanatory. At the bottom of the screen, you have plenty of options. Think portrait mode, document scanning and live cinema photography. Also, you can use night mode, or get started with manual settings in pro mode. In the camera app, you can choose one of the two standard Leica styles: authentique and vibrant. The latter gives somewhat more saturated colours, while the first option sticks more to reality. Which one you like best is personal. We shot most of the photos for the review in Vibrant.

In practice

So plenty of options, but how does the camera perform in practice? We tested the Xiaomi 17 Ultra camera in Barcelona, Stockholm and at home and we can be brief: every picture you take with the 17 Ultra is a hit. The success of its predecessor is simply carried over to the new device, and every single one of them takes beautiful pictures. Bright objects in the dark should become more visible in photos thanks to new techniques, Xiaomi mentioned at the launch. And we can confirm that. These kinds of elements in a photo are captured just fine.

Looking at the pictures taken on the big screen, we notice that the photos are really of very good quality. Images feature enough colour without being overdone. Also, they are razor-sharp images and a good balance in exposure. When shooting in portrait mode, you regularly notice that your finger is partly on the picture, as the lens is quite low in the camera module. This is certainly something to take into account in the beginning.

Zooming

For zoom work, the phone is equipped with a hefty telephoto lens that lets you use 75-100 millimetres of optical zoom. We tried this feature in various conditions, and the results are really impressive. Even with considerable zooming in, you get a nice photo as the end result in almost all cases. If you zoom in far, sometimes a bit of AI is used to optimise the image, without producing a bad picture.

The photos we took with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra can be found in the extensive digital photo album, with more than 100 photos! Below and above you will find some images straight from the device in advance. The photo below first shows the Sagrada Familia with the main lens, and then with the zoom lens.

Video camera

With the Xiaomi 17 Ultra's camera, you can go either way, but we shouldn't discount the video camera either. Where the device's photos are already crisp and clear, it's no different with the video camera. The video camera lets you shoot videos in up to 8K video quality, with a frame rate of 30fps, or at a higher frame rate in 4K and other resolutions. Though with 4K 120fps, for example, you can't reach all the zoom distances you can with 4K 60fps. We took the videos below with the phone. The bottom video was taken during Melodifestivalen, at a large arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The result is a cracking hell

Performance and battery life

Xiaomi has opted for Qualcomm's high-end chipset again this year. This means that under the green-coloured bonnet of the 17 Ultra, lies the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. This processor has proven itself many times in top devices, and performance is very good with this model too. Tasks are completed quickly and all without hiccups or annoying lags. On board the device is 16GB of RAM and in terms of storage, you have a choice of 512GB or 1TB.

Battery

In such a hefty device, a hefty battery also fits. Xiaomi has equipped the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with a 6000mAh battery. This is a so-called silicon-carbon battery, which means it has a higher energy density. With such a hefty battery, endurance must be fantastic, right? And that's where we come down with a cold surprise. It will last you a day, but a city trip with a concert afterwards will be a bit tighter if you also want to use Google Maps to navigate back to the hotel. We note a screen-on-time of between 5 and 5.5 hours, with occasional spurts to up to 6 hours, but then it really does stop. You would expect better results from a battery of this capacity. Unfortunately, it is also the drawback the Xiaomi 15 Ultra was punished for. What exactly caused it is hard to say, but what is certain is that Xiaomi could get a lot more out of this. Very unfortunate.

Charging is nice and fast though, with a power of 90W. If you prefer to charge your smartphone wirelessly, you can do that too, with 50W.

Update policy

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra's update policy is as follows: six years of security updates and five Android upgrades. That's reasonable, although Google and Samsung will continue for another year. For a device with a recommended price of 1499 euros, as far as we are concerned, seven years would also have been fine. It is, however, one more Android update than its predecessor.

Review

Expectations were high with us, for the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. After all, we were also very excited about its predecessor. However, that predecessor had one really big drawback: battery life. Although the Xiaomi 17 Ultra has a larger battery, and this battery life is often sufficient, for its battery capacity, it is really a letdown. And that's a shame, because the 17 Ultra is a very fine smartphone. The camera takes really outstanding photos and the zoom function also adds a lot of value. The device's screen is beautiful, the device feels premium and it is also blazingly fast.

If you want a smartphone with an insanely good camera that will make you happy in almost all areas, and you can live with a not-so-ordinary battery life, then we would definitely recommend the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.

You'll get the device at Belsimpel, Mobile, Bol.com and Coolblue.