E-Paper
Why 'real' is the highest compliment I can give a phone camera
From weddings to the streets of Hanoi, this is a story about chasing photographs that feel honest, imperfect and wonderfully real. Ft. Xiaomi 17 Ultra.
I have bought and reviewed smartphones like a man possessed over the last decade. It started with devices like the Nexus 5, the Xperia ZR and the OnePlus One. Somewhere along the way, buying them turned into reviewing them. Since then, I've spent years shooting on everything from iPhones and Pixels to OnePlus flagships and Xiaomi's own Leica-powered phones. Very few have genuinely surprised me.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra did.
Not because it has the biggest camera module or the longest list of specifications. Those things are easy to advertise. What is much harder to explain is the feeling you get when you look at the photos afterwards.
They just look... real.
I use that word very deliberately.
In an era where almost every flagship is trying to outsmart reality with AI, boosted HDR and colours that never existed in the first place, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra takes a different route. Highlights still glow, but with that unmistakable Leica softness. Shadows remain shadows instead of being aggressively lifted. Skin tones look believable. Greens stay green instead of fluorescent. The images are not perfect, and that is exactly why they feel so convincing.
There is an honesty to them.
It is the same reason I kept going back to the Xiaomi 14 before this, and later found myself reaching for the Xiaomi 17T just as often. Xiaomi's collaboration with Leica has quietly become one of the most distinctive camera experiences in smartphones, and after spending months with these devices, I genuinely believe it is among the finest the industry has produced in recent years.
That opinion wasn't formed overnight either.
Earlier this year, while we were deciding the winners of the HT Tech Power List Awards, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra eventually walked away with our Smartphone of the Year award. It wasn't an easy decision. Everyone had a favourite. Some argued Vivo's portraits looked better. Others admired the iPhone's colour science. A few couldn't stop talking about Oppo's incredible detail.
Yet almost everyone agreed on one thing.
The Xiaomi's photos had an oomph that was difficult to quantify.
Again, they simply felt real.
As someone who spends an unhealthy amount of time obsessing over cameras, that mattered more than any benchmark ever could.
That obsession eventually led me to make a slightly ridiculous decision
I photographed one of my closest childhood friends' wedding on the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.
Could I have carried a dedicated camera? Absolutely.
Did I have access to other flagship phones? Yes.
Did I still choose the Xiaomi?
Without hesitation.
From portraits and candid moments to abstract close ups of intertwined hands during the pheras, the phone encouraged me to slow down and look for photographs rather than simply take pictures.
Many of my favourites ended up being in black and white.
Strangely enough, they never felt like they were missing colour. The textures, the light and the tiny imperfections carried enough emotion that the absence of colour almost became irrelevant. They felt timeless.
One moment from that evening still makes me smile.
I was standing well away from the ceremony, using the telephoto lens to stay out of everyone's way. I noticed the couple briefly holding hands and instinctively framed the shot.
A second later, I looked at the display.
I genuinely paused.
The image had this incredible sense of depth and texture. It was one of those photographs that instantly tells you you've captured something special.
A few minutes later, the official wedding photographer walked over.
He had been quietly watching from the side.
His first question wasn't about the photograph.
It was, "What phone are you using?"
The enormous camera module had already caught his attention. What surprised him even more was learning that it was a Xiaomi carrying Leica optics.
The funniest part came afterwards.
He recreated a similar composition with his professional camera.
And honestly, good for him.
Great photographers inspire each other all the time.
The difference was that before the ceremony had even finished, I had already edited the image, shared it with friends and watched it appear across Instagram stories. That immediacy is something dedicated cameras, brilliant as they are, still struggle to match.
Photography has always been about capturing a moment.
Smartphones add something else.
They let you share that moment while it is still unfolding.
Vietnam was where the Xiaomi 17 Ultra truly came alive for me
Walking through the narrow lanes of Hanoi, photographing cafés tucked into old buildings, scooters weaving through traffic and strangers bathed in late evening light, I found myself shooting almost instinctively.
The camera rarely got in the way.
Subjects separated naturally from their surroundings. Bright highlights rolled off softly instead of blowing out. The photographs carried a depth that reminded me more of larger cameras than smartphones.
Most importantly, they made me want to keep shooting.
That, to me, is the hallmark of a truly great camera.
Not the megapixel count.
Not the AI features.
Not even the specifications.
Just the simple desire to lift the phone again because you cannot wait to see what the next frame will look like.
And over the last decade of testing smartphones, very few cameras have made me feel that way.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is one of them.
