Xiaomi 17 Ultra: Leica camera upgrade and bold flagship ambitions

Xiaomi is preparing to close the year with a bang, as the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is widely expected to debut in China in the fourth week of December. Positioned above the Xiaomi 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, the Ultra is shaping up to be the photography focused flagship in the family, and early leaks suggest that Xiaomi is once again leaning heavily on its partnership with Leica to stand out in an increasingly crowded premium Android market.

The headline upgrade is said to be a new generation of Leica lens coating.

Beyond the marketing terms, this matters in real world photography: an improved coating can reduce internal reflections, tame ghosting from bright light sources and minimize chromatic aberration, those colored fringes that sometimes appear around high contrast edges. If these claims hold true, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra could deliver cleaner night shots, more accurate colors when shooting against the sun and a generally more consistent look across its focal lengths.

On the hardware side, rumors point to a triple rear camera setup, a notable change from the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, which carried a quad camera array with dual telephoto lenses. Current whispers mention a large main sensor, reportedly a one inch class Omnivision OV50X, paired with a periscope style telephoto module often referred to in leaks as an HPE unit, and an ultrawide that many tipsters believe will be a Samsung JN5. This combo would give Xiaomi plenty of flexibility while still leaving space inside the chassis for a big battery and advanced cooling.

Not everyone is thrilled about the move away from dual telephoto lenses, though. Enthusiasts are already drawing up wish lists that read like a spec sheet from the future: a dual focal length telephoto system with 3.5 times 85 millimeter equivalent reach at 200 megapixels, plus a second 10 times 240 millimeter module at around 50 megapixels, backed by three axis in body image stabilization on the telephoto and two axis optical stabilization on the primary camera. Some even want a super wide 10 millimeter ultrawide camera at 50 megapixels and larger sensors across the board to keep up with the fiercest competitors.

Those dreams highlight the gap between what hardcore camera fans want and what brands can realistically ship in a single generation. High resolution sensors like a 200 megapixel HP2 or the latest Sony and Omnivision parts bring benefits such as in sensor magnification for lossless like zoom, but they also require serious processing power, thermal headroom and budget. Packing all of that alongside dual periscope modules would likely push the device thickness, weight and price well beyond what most buyers are comfortable with.

Under the hood, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is expected to rely on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 platform, Qualcomm’s latest flagship system on a chip. Paired with fast storage and generous RAM, it should have no trouble handling multi frame computational photography pipelines, 4K and possibly 8K video, and heavy gaming. Powering all of this, leaks point to a large capacity battery, and some fans are loudly hoping for capacities in the territory of 7500 milliamp hours, inspired by lower variants in the lineup. Even if Xiaomi does not go that extreme, a big cell combined with efficient silicon could make the 17 Ultra a reliable all day camera companion.

The rest of the hardware package sounds equally ambitious. The display is said to be flat rather than curved, a design choice many users now prefer for comfort and fewer accidental touches, especially when framing photos. An ultrasonic fingerprint scanner under the display has been tipped, promising more reliable and faster unlocking even with slightly wet fingers. Satellite connectivity is also rumored, which would turn the 17 Ultra into a more reassuring travel companion in remote areas where traditional networks struggle.

Beyond the core specs, power users have their own wish list: a robust 3D face recognition system to complement the in display scanner, richer Leica shooting profiles, faster and more flexible manual modes and pro video tools, and smarter battery management to squeeze every last shot from the large battery. Whether Xiaomi checks all those boxes remains to be seen, but the conversation alone shows how much expectation now surrounds the Ultra brand.

For now, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra remains an intriguing mix of confirmed direction and speculative detail. What seems certain is that Xiaomi wants this model to be the hero camera phone of the 17 series, leaning on upgraded Leica optics, modern silicon and battery and connectivity improvements. The big question is how far the company is willing to go on telephoto hardware and sensor choices, and how closely the final device will match the enthusiast wish lists circulating online. All eyes are on the expected late December launch event, where we will finally see which of these bold rumors make it into reality.