Xiaomi 17 Extremely hands-on: The cameraphone with a monstrous zoom – Cyber Tech

Xiaomi’s Extremely line of telephones has at all times been about one factor: Peak digicam efficiency. The brand new Xiaomi 17 Extremely, launched forward of MWC 2026 in Barcelona, pushes the boundaries as soon as extra, although it suffers from comparable setbacks as its predecessors.

Notice that there was no Xiaomi 16 Extremely; the corporate determined to skip that quantity and go straight from the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Extremely to Xiaomi 17 and 17 Extremely, more likely to “catch up” with Apple, whose newest fashions additionally bear the quantity seventeen. Regardless of the change, the brand new Xiaomi telephones are very a lot an evolution of final 12 months’s flagship fashions.

On the telephone facet of issues, the Xiaomi 17 Extremely is an especially succesful Android smartphone, with a 6.9-inch, 120Hz OLED show, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, 16GB of RAM, 512/1024GB of storage, and a 6,000mAh battery with 90W quick charging and 50W wi-fi charging. It is available in three colours: Black, White, and the sparkly Starlit Inexperienced (Xiaomi despatched me a black unit, however the Starlit Inexperienced seems manner cooler).

The place the Xiaomi 17 Extremely differs from the common Xiaomi 17, which additionally debuted right here in Barcelona, is principally in display screen dimension (6.9 vs. 6.3 inches), and the digicam. The Extremely’s bought a large, Leica-branded digicam array on the again, with a 50-megapixel major digicam, a 200-megapixel telephoto digicam, and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide digicam, coupled with a 50-megapixel selfie digicam on the entrance.

At 8.29mm thickness and 218 grams of weight, it is the thinnest and lightest Xiaomi Extremely telephone ever.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The 200-megapixel, 75-100mm telephoto digicam offers this telephone otherworldly zoom capabilities, with as much as 17.2x of “optical-level zoom.” I’ve tried it out, and was in a position to take usable pictures at 100x zoom or extra, far past within the distance than what my bare I might see.

Left:
That is what the XIaomi 17 Extremely’s telephoto digicam can do.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Proper:
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Enterprise that far out, and AI takes the reins fairly heavy handedly, which you will see in the best way the system recreates the letters of an indication you took within the distance. Nonetheless, should you like the thought of getting a digicam that may take sharp pictures of a flower that is 100 yards away, that is the telephone to do it with.

Left:
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Proper:
The zoom on this telephone is so good, it is price offering one other instance. It is like having a set of binoculars.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

So as to add an exclamation level to the telephone’s digicam capabilities, Xiaomi additionally sells two non-compulsory pictures kits which consists of two totally different circumstances that flip the telephone into one thing that basically seems like a compact digicam, and add a couple of buttons, visible particulars, and battery life to the combination. The smaller Xiaomi 17 Extremely Images Equipment makes extra sense to me because the telephone nonetheless retains considerably regular dimensions; the two-part Xiaomi 17 Extremely Images Equipment Professional makes it a bit too large for my style.

The pictures kits look cool, however they make the telephone rather a lot bulkier.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The kits, as cool as they could be, illustrate the obvious downside of this telephone: it is an excessive amount of of a digicam. It is high heavy, has a smaller battery than the common Xiaomi 17, and – attributable to its huge digicam bump on the again – would not assist Xiaomi’s wi-fi, magnetic battery. Do not get me unsuitable, that is one highly effective telephone, but it surely’s primarily aimed toward pictures fans. Kudos to Xiaomi for making the Extremely lighter than ever, although at 218 grams it is nonetheless not precisely light-weight.

In order for you your Xiaomi 17 Extremely to be slightly extra…Leica, there is a particular model only for you, proven as a shock announcement throughout Xiaomi’s large unveiling in Barcelona. Known as the Leica Leitzphone, it shares many of the specs with the Xiaomi 17 Extremely, however has a considerably retro design which calls to thoughts basic Leica cameras, and a few Leica-specific pictures modes.

This one is for the Leica followers.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

It additionally has one additional characteristic: The ring surrounding its digicam bump might be rotated to extend or lower zoom. I’ve tried it out, and it seems to be fairly exact, although you do need to watch out to not place your fingers in entrance of the lens whereas capturing.

The Xiaomi 17 Extremely begins at 1,499 euros in Europe; there isn’t any data on U.S. availability but. The Leica Leitzphone is beginning at a hefty value of 1,999 euros, and will probably be obtainable in choose markets and areas.