As part of a Mobile World Congress press event on the weekend, Xiaomi announced three new flagship phones, all of which are available to order in Australia as of today.
The most interesting device in the lineup is the Leica Leitzphone powered by Xiaomi (pictured above), a collaboration between the German camera manufacturer and Xiaomi. While Xiaomi has been using Leica lenses in its phones for a couple of years now, the Leica Leitzphone is pitched as a deeper partnership.
Not only is the Leica Leitzphone styled after Leica's cameras, the device has a physical dial around the camera bump that works like a zoom ring on a more conventional camera. On top of zoom, the ring can also be used to adjust other settings like focus or white balance.
The Leitzphone also has a Leica-inspired Android skin, as well as bonus camera filters inspired by classic Leica cameras.
Otherwise, the Leitzphone features identical specs to the newly announced Xiaomi 17 Ultra. While the Xiaomi 17 Ultra misses out on the physical ring, it and Leitzphone share their camera specs. These include a 50MP primary lens, a 200MP zoom lens, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, and a 50MP selfie camera.
Other core specifications for the pair include a 6.9-inch display 1200p+ with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage or 1TB (the default in the Leitzphone), an IP68 rating, and a 6,000mAh battery.
The pair of photography-focused flagships are rounded out by the Xiaomi 17, which acts as the entry-point to Xiaomi's high-end phones.
Key specifications include a 6.3-inch 1220p display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, an IP68 rating, and a 6,330mAh battery. The camera system is made up of a 50MP primary lens, a 50MP zoom lens, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, and a 50MP selfie camera.
Xiaomi is promising five major operating system upgrades and six years of security updates for all three new devices.
Australian pricing for the new devices starts at $1,399 for a 256GB model of the Xiaomi 17 or $1,599 for a 512GB. Customers who pick up the phone before March 18 can get a 200GB discount on the 512GB model, bringing it down to the price of the 256GB.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra sells for $1,799 for a 512GB model or $1,999 for a 1TB. And the Leica Leitzphone retails for $2,299 with 1TB of storage. Customers who pick it up before March 18 will get a free photography kit valued at $349.
Check out our first impressions of the Leica Leitzphone here.
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Alex Choros
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