The photography-focused Xiaomi 17 Ultra smartphone is coming to global markets in 2026, the Chinese company has confirmed. Following the recent launch in China, Xiaomi was quick to confirm those looking to the far east with green eyes won’t have to wait too long for those Leica-branded camera optics to make their way west.
In a post on X, the company says all-new Xiaomi flagships will be available globally this year. We’d suggest it might make the global debut at MWC 2026, in Barcelona, which happens in late February.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra has already turned heads, with its 23mm 1-inch Leica sensor and a Leica 200-megapixel sensor with 75mm-100mm optical zoom. There’s also a 14mm ultra-wide lens to round out the triple-camera system.
The company explains: “The Leica 200MP 75-100mm telephoto camera adopts three precisely matched lens groups and a prism, addressing traditional limitations in mid-to-long focal length image quality. Its second and third lens groups can move independently to adjust focal length and focus, enabling optical zoom across the 75-100mm equivalent range. Throughout this range, Xiaomi 17 Ultra fully utilises its 1/1.4″ large telephoto sensor and supports native 200MP image quality without digital cropping.”
Hopefully, we also see that Leica Edition phone that comes with a manual zoom ring for a more camera-like feel.
Elsewhere, there’s a 6.9-inch OLED display with a 120Hz LTPO refresh rate and 3,500 nits of peak brightness. A Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset with Adreno 840 graphics does the heavy lifting and there’s also an enormous 6,800 mAh battery to keep everything ticking over.
Xiaomi says, at just 8.29mm, it’s the thinnest-ever Ultra model and it’s all wrapped in a smart, micro-curved aluminium alloy frame. The camera module is higher, the camera deco diameter is smaller and the company says, as a result, it’ll feel better in the hands.
The overall package might be an early contender for the Android phone to beat in 2026. The Samsung Galaxy S26 faces a fight.
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