Just a few hours after the official launch in China, the new smartphone Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition showed up in the very first English-spoken hands-on video. The comparison with the smartphone Vivo X300 Pro was handled by the well-known tech YouTuber Ben’s Gadget Reviews, who managed to secure a version with the iconic red Leica logo even before the phone reached store shelves.
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For this product, shipping is available completely free of charge. However, this is the slowest delivery method and the item may take 20 days up to 1 months to arrive.
When ordering from the Chinese warehouse, AliExpress will add the customs duty in your cart—approximately 3,70 € per order. When you receive the package, you won’t pay anything extra.
For this product, shipping is available completely free of charge. However, this is the slowest delivery method and the item may take 20 days up to 1 months to arrive.
When ordering from the Chinese warehouse, AliExpress will add the customs duty in your cart—approximately 3,70 € per order. When you receive the package, you won’t pay anything extra.
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Premium hardware that’s taking its own path
We have to mention that although this isn’t a full review, this almost 15-minute video delivers exactly what we want to see first: unboxing, a quick hands-on with the hardware, first photos, videos, and even a direct comparison with one of the biggest competitors.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition should arrive globally later, probably under the name Leitzphone powered by Xiaomi. Right now, though, it already feels like a device that isn’t afraid to be different. Ben criticizes the missing physical shutter button on the side, but at the same time praises the details that make this phone stand out.
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The knurled frame feels robust and premium, while the rotating zoom ring with haptic feedback is exactly the kind of feature classic camera fans will appreciate. After the initial setup of the Chinese version of the system and installing Google Play services, Ben quickly moves on to the most important part—the camera.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra vs Vivo X300 Pro: a showdown of zoom, colors, and reality
The first comparison is with the Vivo X300 Pro, which ranks among the current top tier in mobile photography. In some scenes, the Vivo comes out sharper, especially when it comes to fine details, but the Xiaomi does a better job capturing the colorful atmosphere in the background—for example, the yellowish tones of the walls.
However, neither of the phones is without flaws. Vivo tends to overdo AI interference, which results in unnaturally smoothed faces. Xiaomi, on the other hand, feels softer—and sometimes even too gentle. It’s exactly the kind of difference that will split fans into two camps.
Video, night streets, and zoom right up to the limit
An interesting part of the video is also the first video clips from the streets of Hong Kong. Xiaomi earned praise here for the smooth transition between optical and digital zoom, especially around the 100 mm focal range. Up to about 10x zoom, the shots look very convincing, but at higher values, artifacts start to appear.
Night photos from narrow alleys in a Chinese big city look attractive at first glance, but on closer inspection you can see that moving people aren’t always perfectly sharp. This is exactly the area where long-term testing will show whether Xiaomi has the edge—or if it’s just masking the software limits well.
The video was primarily focused on first impressions of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, but even this kind of quick look at how it compares to the Vivo X300 Pro offers an early glimpse into the qualities of its sensors and possibly the post-processing as well.
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First verdict? Big potential, but the final judgement is still to come
From the first impressions, it’s clear that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition aims to join the absolute photographic elite. Ben seems happy with the phone, and he already hints that this will be one of the most interesting photography phones of early 2026.
Full video:
Only detailed tests and further comparisons will show whether it can compete long-term with the very best. So if you’re into mobile photography and you follow every new flagship model, this is a device worth having on your list.
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