Clicking photos and shooting videos is my favorite hobby, and in many ways it is how I earn my living. I really believe that a camera has to motivate you to take pictures. At least, that’s how it works for me. I don’t care much for the specifications, nor the marketing narratives that brands create around their cameras. This is true whether it’s a phone or a dedicated camera.
You can see this in the cameras I have chosen for my work. The Sigma FP, Sony RX100 IV and Canon 70D aren’t necessarily the most traditional choices, yet each of them inspired me to hone my craft. And now, after spending the weekend with Xiaomi 17 UltraI can say that it inspired me too.
So while I will mention specifications here and there in this review of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra’s camera, the primary area I want to focus on is feeling. How I felt while taking these images and after capturing them. If you’re interested in understanding the perspective of a fashion cinematographer turned tech journalist, read on.
leica color science in progress
To put it simply, Xiaomi seems to have mastered the colors here. You have two LEICA color modes to choose from, LEICA Authentic and LEICA Vibrant. The Leica Authentic Color Science is close to what you’ll get with Leica cameras, while the Leica Vibrant is more in line with the performance of other flagship phones. It’s brighter and more social media ready. Personally, I believe people with more artistic inclinations will prefer the Leica Authentic look. I certainly do.
Among these color modes, you also get filters like Positive Film, Negative Film, DSLR Vivid, Camera Natural, Camera Black and White, Camera Black and White High Contrast, Camera Sepia, Camera Blue, Cinematic and more. I shot mostly in its light setting with the LEICA Natural filter. I also used positive film for some scenes. These filters are quite well implemented and can produce really beautiful images when used appropriately.
My advice would be to shoot in Leica Authentic mode using the native settings. You can always change things later if you want to experiment later. After all, these are filters rather than color science. Color science can be selected from the top right of the interface between LEICA Authentic and LEICA Vibrant.
Right off the bat, images appear highly detailed, even in 12.5-megapixel mode. Things change quite dramatically once you switch to 50 megapixel mode. The one-inch sensor used here provides a very natural depth of field. In many situations, you don’t even need to rely on Portrait mode as the natural background blur from the sensor itself is strong enough.
Another aspect I really appreciated is the autofocus speed, which is incredibly fast. I spent some time understanding how autofocus behaves when walking around, shooting while running, taking shots from the hip, and capturing moments on the fly. The phone consistently managed to lock on to faces almost instantly and rarely missed a shot.
It also helps that photography kits, which now come bundled, make the experience easier. You can press the shutter button halfway to focus and then press it all the way to take a photo. This simple addition enables the phone to behave like a real camera.
Lofic. Underrated, but very promising
Now let’s talk about LOFIC, which stands for Lateral Overglow Integration Capacitor. The name sounds like complicated technical jargon, and I think you should forget about it. But in simple terms it allows the Xiaomi 17 Ultra’s one-inch sensor to capture a wider range in its images. This technology is specific to the primary 50-megapixel sensor and does not apply to the telephoto or ultra-wide sensors.
To understand its effect, I tried shooting some extremely bright scenes. In most situations I was pleasantly surprised by how much detail the one-inch sensor was able to retain in both highlights and shadows.
Take, for example, a particularly intriguing shot I took facing the sun, where the vines were hanging with strong sunlight behind them. The phone managed to retain a lot of information without producing an image that looked overly HDR. In simple words, it seems as if there is less artificial processing and more reliance on hardware. Xiaomi seems to be paying a lot of attention to the hardware approach here, and it shows. Images don’t scatter the way they do with some rivals, and I like this approach. You can’t beat physics.
The telephoto camera also surprised me. The continuous zoom telephoto between 75mm and 100mm captures a remarkable amount of detail, and images look remarkably natural. They actually resemble the output of a proper dedicated camera. In fact, I didn’t miss my Sigma FP at all while shooting.
Portrait photography is another area where the phone performs exceptionally well. Edge detection is accurate and the Bokeh fall looks natural rather than artificial. The subjects I captured appeared realistic, and the phone was able to distinguish even fine strands of hair from the background.
This is clearly an area in which Xiaomi has improved compared to its previous phones. I remember shooting a portrait in particularly tricky lighting conditions where the phone managed to create a perfect cut out around a person’s head, capturing even the smallest strand of hair.
Bokeh also behaves in a gradual manner. It doesn’t blur the background suddenly like many competing phones. Instead, it starts out subtle and gradually increases as the background moves away.
Personally, I shoot most of my portraits using a telephoto camera. I prefer the compression provided by a telephoto lens, and the phone did not disappoint. It’s also worth mentioning that this telephoto sensor allows you to shoot high resolution 200 megapixel images losslessly in the 75mm to 100mm range.
Capturing a 200 megapixel image takes a while, but once the image is processed the level of detail is worth checking out. You can easily reframe the entire shot later. That said, I wouldn’t recommend using this mode in every situation. Since it takes time to process, you may miss a fleeting moment. This works best in a controlled environment where you know you have time to capture maximum detail.
Video. stable, detailed and organic
Video performance is another area I was really impressed with. The detail captured is excellent, but what was most interesting to me was the minimal noise in extremely dark scenes. It seems that Xiaomi has overtaken Apple in this matter.
Even small things make a difference here. Lens infections are very well controlled. Changing between 3x and 4.3x is naturally seamless due to the continuous zoom system, but the transition between 1x to 30x also feels surprisingly fluid. I will say this is the smoothest zoom transition I’ve seen outside of an iPhone.
That said, there is some color variation between lenses during these changes. Personally, I can live with this, especially if you shoot in Pro mode and lock your settings.
Another aspect I appreciated is the natural Bokeh produced by the one inch sensor while recording video. This creates a pleasant background and shallow depth of field when filming subjects. This is especially useful for product shots and even self-facing videos. In many ways, it behaves like a dedicated camera with strong background isolation.
The phone can also record slow motion videos up to 4K at 120 fps and the resulting 4K 120 fps footage looks extremely crisp.
What can Xiaomi improve?
Of course, everything is not perfect. The phone has a 50-megapixel front facing camera, but despite its specifications it doesn’t match the quality of the rear camera. In my opinion, the iPhone 17 series still sets a very high benchmark for selfies. Sometimes Xiaomi selfies can look a bit dull or ashy and some may appear too bright.
That said, the front camera includes autofocus, which helps capture reasonably detailed images. In reality, I suspect most people buying this phone won’t be too concerned about the selfie camera. This device is clearly made for enthusiasts who care more about the rear camera system. It will work for occasional selfies, but it is not at the same level as the rear camera.
Another minor complaint is the processing time. After capturing several images in quick succession, especially in 50 megapixel or 200 megapixel mode, it may take a few seconds for the phone to process them.
Verdict: It’s surprisingly hard for me to carry a heavy camera now because of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra
But ₹1.4 lakh, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is undeniably an expensive phone. That said, card offers bring the effective price down to approx ₹1.3 lakh, and Xiaomi is also bundling a photography kit at this price, which adds meaningful value to the overall package.
At this price point, it competes with the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and the iPhone 17 Pro. But after spending time with it, I actually think the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is the more camera-focused device of the three. There were several moments over the past few days when I instinctively reached for it instead of my dedicated cameras.
The color science is beautiful, the images come out stunning, and the level of detail captured by the camera is pretty impressive. Everything about the experience is built around people who truly enjoy photography.
Yes, the price has increased compared to Xiaomi 15 Ultra. But if mobile photography is something you really care about, ₹The asking price of Rs 1.3 lakh may still make sense. Especially if you are someone who would prefer not to carry a heavy camera everywhere. After using it, I can honestly say that it’s becoming harder for me to justify doing so.
