• 50MP 1-inch LOFIC main sensor, 50MP Samsung JN5 ultrawide, and a 200MP periscope telephoto with continuous 75-100mm optical zoom
• Continuous optical zoom on a periscope, which means no jumping between fixed focal lengths
• Photography Kit Pro adds a physical shutter button, a video record button, and a mappable dial for hands-on control. But, is sold separately.
I’ve already published a dedicated deep dive on the Xiaomi 17 Ultra’s camera system, where I shot over 350 photos across daylight, street, portrait, zoom, and low-light conditions over several days. That piece covers the full picture of what these cameras can and cannot do, so I would point you there for the complete breakdown.
What I will say here is that the camera system is the single best reason to buy the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, and for the right buyer, it is more than enough reason on its own. One thing worth addressing specifically is LOFIC, the sensor technology Xiaomi has been leaning on heavily in its marketing. I’ll be honest, I went in fairly skeptical about it. It sounded like another one of those spec-sheet buzzwords that sound impressive but don’t translate into anything meaningful in real life. But after comparing shots with the Pixel 10 Pro across a few different scenes, things started to become clearer. The dynamic range difference in high-contrast situations is actually noticeable, and highlights that would have blown out on other phones stayed controlled here.
The 200MP periscope telephoto with its continuous optical zoom is in a completely different league from what any other smartphone offers right now, and the Photography Kit Pro takes the experience even further for anyone who wants physical, tactile control over their shots. It comes at an added cost, and is purely for folks who are going to make the 17 Ultra their primary photography device.
