Alongside a worldwide launch for Xiaomi’s 17 Extremely (examine that proper here), the firm introduced an additional deepening of its relationship with Leica. The CEO of Leica, Matthias Harsch, took to the stage to announce a brand new Leitzphone, which seems to be an excellent deeper collaboration than 17 Extremely by Leica, which is a totally different telephone. Confused? That is truthful.
Design-wise, Leica has shifted again to a single tone physique colour, which appears extra “Leica” to this digicam dilettante’s eyes. And when you’re pondering you’ve heard of the Leitzphone before, you in all probability have: it was a sequence of telephones made by Sharp that launched in Japan in 2021. All of them had a 1-inch digicam sensor, as does Xiaomi’s first Leitzphone. It additionally has a mechanical, bodily ring dial round the digicam unit to management settings like zoom, publicity and shutter velocity.
The digicam interface is additionally designed by Leica. It is designed to be as intuitive as potential, with an Important mode in the digicam app that strips away all these modes and labels, showcasing no matter you are trying to shoot. You may swap between a monochrome taking pictures mode and a extra acquainted punchy, contrasty Leica filter. And that is it.
Apart from that there isn’t any main standout interface or UI adjustments that I may spot whereas attempting out the Leitzphone briefly at Xiaomi’s MWC keynote. Nonetheless, when you’re intrigued by the performance — or the cameras — try our hands-on protection and pattern images of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. The cameras are good.
Picture by Mat Smith for Engadget
All three iterations (the common Xiaomi 17 Extremely , the “by Leica” version and the Leitzphone) have a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and a 6.9-inch 120Hz show that may attain up to 3,500 nits of peak brightness. Whereas cameras are naturally the focus, it’s a flagship gadget by just about any metric. It additionally has a 6,000mAh battery for prolonged trip photograph shoots.
Barring some Leica-tinged wallpapers and design accents, it is rather a lot like the 17 Extremely by Leica, simply with totally different messaging. This is Leica’s telephone, made by Xiaomi, however does a rose by every other title nonetheless have nice low-light pictures? Possibly elevated Leica branding might be sufficient to coax its digicam followers into making this their subsequent smartphone, maybe.
Picture by Mat Smith for Engadget
After years of collaboration (and cute little badges), this can be the first pure “Leica telephone” manufactured by Xiaomi however offered immediately by each firms. It is priced at €1,999 (roughly $2,362), but it surely’s not recognized but whether or not this telephone will launch in the US. Welcome to MWC, everybody.
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