Xiaomi pushes premium photography with stronger Leica ties in its latest flagship phones

Xiaomi has kicked off the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with a big launch event, including three new premium handsets. It saw the launch of the Xiaomi 17, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and a special Leica Leitzphone version.

While Xiaomi has partnered with Leica for previous generations of its flagship phones, this year sees an expansion of the relationship and for the first time, a dedicated Leica version.

In addition to the phones, Xiaomi also revealed its latest flagship tablet, the Xiaomi Pad 8, and a selection of connected products, from the Xiaomi Watch 5 and Xiaomi Scooter 6 series.

Not forgetting its vehicle tech, Xiaomi also announced a hypercar concept for Gran Turismo, the Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo, which will be added to the game in the coming weeks.

• Read our full Xiaomi 17 Ultra review

Xiaomi 17

While previously announced in China, the Xiaomi 17 was revealed for the European market and will be coming to the UK, priced from £899 and €999 in Europe. It uses the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor and has a huge 6330mAh battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging.

The phone features a 6.3-inch 120Hz AMOLED display and runs HyperOS 3, based on Android 16. On the camera side, it features a triple array on the rear, with a 50MP Leica main camera, a 50MP Leica telephoto, with 60mm equivalent, and a 50MP Leica ultra-wide camera. There's also a 50MP autofocusing camera on the front for selfies.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra

The European version of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is priced from £1299 / €1499 and has a different spec to the Chinese version launched earlier this year but really ramps things up for photographers. The highlight is the Leica 200MP 75-100mm telephoto and 1-inch ultra dynamic camera that offers camera-beating specs.

This new handset has a larger 6.9-inch Hyper RGB OLED display with 120Hz variable refresh rate, 3500 nits peak brightness, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support. The phone runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor and has a 6000mAh battery, with 90W wired HyperCharge and 50W wireless charging.

The rear camera array is a triple affair, including 50MP ultrawide, a 200MP mechanical optical zoom, adjusting from 75mm to 100mm (3.2x to 4.3x), and a 50MP 1-inch sensor main camera. These are all Leica Summilux optical lenses. There's also a 50MP front camera.

Leica Leitzphone

To mark Leica's 100th anniversary, the Leitzphone is a unique version of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra that features a Leica Camera Ring around the camera array that can control zoom, exposure and more, to feel like a traditional camera operation.

There's also a Leica-tuned interface to the camera functions with a mix of professional features and easy style modes to mimic classic Leica styles. The model comes in just the 1TB storage version and is priced £1699. / €1999.

Xiaomi Electric Scooter Series 6

Xiaomi has released a whole series of electric scooters this year as its sixth-generation models. The Xiaomi Electric Scooter 6 Ultra is the flagship model starting, followed by the 6 Max, 6 Pro, 6 and 6 Lite.

Connected devices

With a full assortment of products, from the Pad 8 Pro to the Xiaomi Watch 5, these new devices are both competitive in price and in features.

The latest Watch 5 features a 1.54-inch display with double-sided sapphire glass and a stainless steel frame. It runs on Wear OS by Google to work with all Android devices. It also features Google Gemini for AI assistance and new gesture controls.

A new UltraThin magnetic power bank has a 5000mAh capacity with 15W wireless charging and 22.5W USB-C charging, and can charge two devices at once.

The Xiaomi Tag supports both Google and Apple Find My systems to allow you to track all of your belongings, no matter which platform you use. And finally, the Redmi Buds 8 Pro offer smart noise cancellation and up to 33 hours of battery.

Vehicle tech

Completing Xiaomi's Human, Car, Home ecosystem, a new concept Xiaomi car will be joining the vision lineup on Gran Turismo. This car is a hypercar designed from a tech perspective. It is engineered to efficiently manage airflow, with a boat-like rear and a teardrop side profile. Even the Xiaomi halo tail light has an active wake system to guide the airflow and reduce drag.

It's an impressive-looking car with a drag coefficient of 0.29, 4.1 aerodynamic efficiency and a -1.2 downforce. Inside the car, it provides a cockpit experience that blends comfort and performance. The Xiaomi intelligence assistant wraps around the dash, while the steer-by-wire egg-shaped steering wheel features a built-in screen that looks like a gaming wheel.

There's also a drive simulator that you can put in your home that mirrors the interior of this Vision hypercar cockpit.