Xiaomi 17 Launches in Europe With Premium Pricing and Leica Partnership

Xiaomi Goes Premium at MWC 2026

Xiaomi has given a global launch to its latest flagship phones at MWC 2026 in Barcelona: the Xiaomi 17 at €999, the 17 Ultra at €1,499, and a limited-edition Leica-branded Leitzphone at a wallet-thinning €1,999. All three pack Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset.

For a company that built its reputation on delivering flagship specs at mid-range prices, these numbers tell a clear story: Xiaomi is no longer playing the value game. They’re going head-to-head with Apple and Samsung on pricing, betting that their hardware can justify the premium.

The Xiaomi 17: Small Phone, Big Battery

The Xiaomi 17 is positioned as a compact flagship rival to the iPhone 17 and Galaxy S26. Its 6.3-inch OLED display qualifies as “small” by 2026 standards, and the 6,330mAh silicon-carbon battery is genuinely impressive for its size — far outpacing similarly sized phones from Apple, Samsung, or Google in battery life.

All four camera lenses (including the selfie camera) pack 50-megapixel sensors. The Verge’s hands-on found the cameras impressive pound-for-pound for a phone this size. The one downside: the European version gets a 6,330mAh battery compared to the 7,000mAh unit in the Chinese model — a notable cutback.

The 17 Ultra and Leica Leitzphone

The Ultra steps up to a 6.9-inch display and weighs 218 grams — not exactly pocketable. The headline is the camera system: a 1-inch-type main sensor, a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto with continuous optical zoom from 3.2x to 4.3x (75-100mm equivalent), and natural bokeh that rivals dedicated cameras.

Then there’s the Leitzphone at €1,999. This is Xiaomi’s first Leica-branded Leitzphone (following Sharp’s Japan-only models), coming with Leica filters, shooting styles, a rotatable rear camera ring for zoom control, 16GB RAM, 1TB storage, and branded accessories including a case with a lens cap. It’s a photography enthusiast’s dream — if you’re willing to pay camera-body prices for a smartphone.

The Bottom Line

Xiaomi’s hardware is genuinely impressive. The battery life, camera systems, and build quality compete with the best in the industry. But at €999 to €1,999, the value proposition that defined Xiaomi for years is gone. In Europe, where Xiaomi’s ecosystem of services and apps is thin compared to Apple’s or even Samsung’s, the question isn’t whether the phones are good — they clearly are. It’s whether European consumers will pay Apple-level prices for a brand that still lacks Apple-level software integration and resale value.