Xiaomi’s 17 Ultra Leica edition has a rotatable camera zoom

Xiaomi took advantage of the Christmas period to launch its flagship phone of the year, the 17 Ultra. It removes the extra rear screen that is the 17 Pro’s main selling point, but instead adds the option of a manual zoom ring, built right into the phone’s camera island.

This rotating zoom is only included in the new Leica edition of the phone, which also contains touches such as the Leica red dot logo and a textured finish on the sides of the phone. The ring can be reprogrammed for exposure or focus if you prefer, and the Leica version also has a few custom software touches, like unique film simulation effects and physical accessories like a branded lens cap and cleaning cloth.

Otherwise, the Leica 17 Ultra is identical to the classic 17 Ultra. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, with up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM. The OLED screen is large, at 6.9 inches, as is the silicon-carbon battery, at 6,800 mAh.

Like all of Xiaomi’s Ultra phones, its cameras are the real focus. The 50-megapixel main camera uses a 1-inch type sensor and a wide f/1.7 aperture, with selfie and ultra-wide cameras at the same resolution.

The biggest change is the telephoto lens: instead of the 15 Ultra’s two separate zoom lenses, the new phone has a single 200-megapixel periscope camera that can range from 3.2x to 4.3x. Even more impressive, it features continuous optical zoom, a trick first used in the Sony Xperia 1 IV phones, with a variable aperture of f/2.4-3.0.

The 17 Ultra starts at ¥6,999 (around $1,000), and the Leica model starts at ¥7,999 (around $1,140). Xiaomi has confirmed plans to launch the 17 Ultra globally in 2026, but we don’t know when exactly or if the Leica edition will be included. The Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra were rolled out internationally at MWC 2025 in March, so a repeat could be possible in the coming months.