Xiaomi 17 Ultra with zoom rotating ring instead of second display

Jan Johannsen

30.12.2025

Translation: machine translated

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is available in a Leica Edition. It has a rotating ring around the camera module that can be used to control functions such as zoom and aperture. The technical features are identical to the normal 17 Ultra.

Unlike the Xiaomi 17 Pro, the 17 Ultra does not have a display on the back. Instead, the manufacturer relies on the large round camera module already familiar from the previous Ultra models. This contains a telephoto camera with a continuous optical zoom.

Leica Edition with rotating ring

Xiaomi has been working with the venerable camera manufacturer Leica for several years. The Leica Edition of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is the first to feature the company's red logo prominently next to the camera module on the back. The biggest special feature, however, is the rotating ring around the cameras.

It can be used to control the zoom, aperture, exposure compensation and colour temperature. This should give the user the feeling of holding a classic camera in their hand.

Exclusively reserved for the Leica Edition are also special shooting modes in the camera app that mimic well-known Leica cameras - namely the Leica M9 and M3, as well as the black-and-white film Monopan 50.

Infinitely variable optical zoom for all Xiaomi 17 Ultra

Except for the rotating ring, the Leica logo and the special software functions, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and the Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition are technically identical. This also applies to the continuous optical zoom. This only covers the telephoto camera's focal length range of 75 to 100 millimetres (KB equivalent). This also changes the aperture between f/2.4 and f/3.0. The optical zoom of the 200-megapixel camera with a 1/1.4-inch sensor is realised by the manufacturer using movable lenses through which the light is directed laterally through the smartphone.

The main camera (1-inch sensor, 23 mm focal length, f/1.7 aperture) and the ultra-wide-angle camera (1/2.76 inch, 14 mm, f/2.2) each have a resolution of 50 megapixels.

Other features of the top smartphones include a 6.9-inch OLED display, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and a 6800 mAh battery that draws up to 90 watts when charging. There are memory variants with 12 and 16 gigabytes of RAM as well as 512 gigabytes and 1 terabyte of storage space.

Price and availability

Xiaomi has only launched the 17 Ultra in China so far. I expect it to be unveiled for Europe in early March at the Mobile World Congress. Then it will also be clear whether the Leica Edition will also be available here and which storage variants the manufacturer is offering.

An official price for Europe is not yet available. In China, Xiaomi is selling the Leica Edition of the 17 Ultra for a promotional price of 7999 yuan. This is the equivalent of around 900 francs or 965 euros - excluding customs duties, taxes and import costs. The conventional 17 Ultra is slightly cheaper at 6999 yuan.

Jan Johannsen

Senior Editor

Jan.Johannsen@galaxus.de

As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus. more

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