Xiaomi 17 Ultra has a fantastic telephoto lens. See how it shoots

Less can be more, and the flagship camera phone Xiaomi 17 Ultra proves it. It was recently introduced to the Czech market with a price of 35,990 CZK (or 48,499 CZK for the Leica Leitzphone powered by Xiaomi version). While its predecessor featured two separate telephoto lenses with different focal lengths and optical sensors, the new model only needs one, which is even more capable. Let’s take a closer look at how it works and what kind of photos you’ll be able to get from it.

Telephoto lens with four focal lengths

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra inherited its telephoto lens sensor from last year’s model. It features a 200Mpx Samsung ISOCELL HPE sensor with a 1/1.4” area, which is essentially as large as the sensors powering main cameras in mid-range phones. For what should be an accompanying lens, it’s, colloquially speaking, “pretty decent.”

The practical implications are clear. Thanks to its larger optical format, the sensor can capture more light, providing noticeably better results even in low-light conditions. If you don’t currently own a more expensive flagship, or at least not one as hardware-advanced, you’re probably used to at least somewhat noisy and less detailed telephoto shots. With the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, however, as you’ll see below, it’s a different story. 

The real technological advancement, however, is related to the zooms themselves. The telephoto lens works with focal lengths in the range of 75 to 100 mm, thanks to three lens groups and a special mechanism that moves them. The true optical zoom (without the need for digital cropping) thus ranges from 3.2x to 4.3x magnification. If we were to talk about zoom that is merely “at the optical level,” the Xiaomi 17 Ultra can shoot up to 400 mm – that’s 17.2x magnification for reference!

For all this, we naturally owe thanks to the long-standing partnership between Xiaomi and the German company Leica, which is responsible for the lenses. It’s fascinating to see the practical impact of the collaboration between the two brands. It’s far from being just a marketing ploy.

Stunning daytime photos at any focal length

What is also certainly not just marketing is the performance of the telephoto lens when shooting at various focal lengths. In the range of 75 to 100 mm, the color reproduction, detail, and the phone’s ability to correctly blur the background are absolutely uncompromising.

Considering the technical execution, I would like to highlight this particular photograph, which captures the facial features of the subject with an incredible amount of detail while also working very well with the bokeh effect.

Nature photography is also nicely facilitated by the macro mode, which relies precisely on the capabilities of the telephoto lens. Here you can choose one of four optical zoom levels (75 mm, 85 mm, 90 mm, and 100 mm).

The consistency across focal lengths is also stunning – when jumping from 75 mm to 90 mm, only the magnification changes, not the overall tone of the photograph.

Equally impressive are the shots taken with digital cropping, see below. At the 200mm focal length, the detail is maintained quite well, but in 400mm mode (which corresponds to that 17.2x zoom), they are not as vibrant.

Fascinating details and accuracy of night photos

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra performs impressively at night. The photos contain no noise, are full of detail, and in Leica Vibrant mode, which I used most often, they also entice with superb color reproduction. See for yourself.

As a bonus, I’m including a photo of the moon at the end. When you aim at it and zoom beyond 20x, you’ll get the option to turn on supermoon mode. The photos are quite likely enhanced by artificial intelligence, but if you want a nice keepsake, they’ll still please.

How do you like the photos taken with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra telephoto lens?