The Canadian smartphone market is rather monotonous, with well-known brands like Samsung, Apple, Google, and Motorola taking the majority of the market. While those brands are great, the global market has so many more phones to offer. I’ve been checking out the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, and this phone is wacky. It sort of reminds me of the Nokia 9 PureView, which was definitely more camera than phone; however, considering this isn’t a global device and lacks the Google Play Store, all I did was take pictures with the camera system.
I think it’s worth taking a look at this amazing camera system and comparing it to what we have in Canada. If we don’t, we’ll never know if we’re keeping up with the rest of the world or falling behind.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra is definitely a great phone to compare with. The handset has a 200MP periscope camera with a f/2.4-3.0 variable aperture, which means you can widen your aperture to capture more light or narrow it to create a better bokeh effect. Samsung previously had a variable aperture on its Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S10, and is rumoured to be bringing it to next year’s Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra. Apple is also rumoured to bring this technology to the iPhone 18 Pro Max later this year. On top of this awesome camera, the 17 Ultra also has three more 50MP cameras, a primary and ultrawide on its rear and another on the front.
Xiaomi’s handset even has a rotating bezel called the Zoom Ring that goes around the camera system, so you can adjust the zoom with a nudge of your finger. It’s cool, but sometimes I would accidentally zoom when I didn’t want to. The Zoom Ring further accentuates how this phone is more of a camera than a phone.
Check out the galleries below to see how the Xiaomi 17 Ultra camera stacks up against other flagship smartphones available in Canada, like the iPhone 17 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, and the Pixel 10 Pro XL. It’s worth noting I didn’t mess with the settings for these pictures. I figure since most people like to point and shoot, I took the same approach.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra
18 images
iPhone 17 Pro Max
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
Google Pixel 10 Pro XL
14 images
Features 
Features 
Features 
Features 