Nothing in its class comes close: the Xiaomi 17T Pro is being called the telephoto master, but how does its 5x zoom perform in reality? I took over
500 photos to find out

Date:
Thu, 28 May 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Description:
The Xiaomi 17T Pro has launched with a Leica-tuned 5x telephoto camera, and I went to Vienna to put this zoom lens to the test.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Xiaomi isnt being coy about the camera capabilities of its new 17T series.

Nothing in its class comes close, reads the latest advertisement for the Xiaomi 17T and Xiaomi 17T Pro , both of which are being described by the Chinese tech giant as no less than The Telephoto Master. Thats big talk for a pair of devices positioned directly below the Xiaomi 17 and Xiaomi 17 Ultra , but as sub-flagship smartphones go, Xiaomi might actually have a point. Only really the Honor 600 Pro and OnePlus 15 can rival the Xiaomi 17T Pro and its cheaper sibling for zoom hardware in the upper-mid-range price bracket all four phones have 50MP telephoto sensors but neither offer the 5x optical
zoom range boasted by Xiaomis new devices (for reference, the Xiaomi 15T Pro already uses a 50MP 5x telephoto lens, but the Xiaomi 15T can only manage 2x optical zoom). Latest Videos From You may like Xiaomi 17T Pro review: small but meaningful improvements Xiaomi 17 Ultra hands-on: 3 upgrades I love and 2 things it's missing Leica Leitzphone vs a $3,000 mirrorless camera can you tell which photo is which?

The second reason for Xiaomis enthusiasm is its ongoing partnership with Leica. You get the same Leica image processing on the 17T series as you do on the flagship Xiaomi 17 series, and the German brands signature color science which is particularly suited to street and portrait photography, as youll see below can be applied to all lenses and focal lengths.

So, is the Xiaomi 17T Pro really The Telephoto Master? I took the new phone
to Vienna to answer that very question, but heres an early spoiler: as a loud and proud iPhone Air user, Ive never missed having a telephoto lens more. @techradar

original sound - TechRadar Hitting the streets The Xiaomi 17T Pro in Deep Blue (Image credit: Future) When testing the Xiaomi 17T Pros telephoto lens,
I used the phone in its out-of-the-box state; I didnt toggle any advanced settings, nor the 50MP resolution option. I also stuck to the Leica Authentic preset, rather than the punchier Leica Vibrant style, which tends to skew too far towards the artificial for my liking.

The photos below were captured at the phones fixed 115mm-equivalent focal length (5x), and are my unedited favorites of around 500 snaps taken during
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us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Image 1 of 13 Theseus Defeats the Centaur at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Image credit: Future) A hallway in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Image credit: Future) The Schnbrunn Palace gardens (Image credit: Future) A flower in the Schnbrunn Palace gardens (Image
credit: Future) The front of the Schnbrunn Palace (Image credit: Future) The Schnbrunn Palace gardens (Image credit: Future) A man waits at a crosswalk in Vienna (Image credit: Future) A hallway in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
(Image credit: Future) The front of the Neue Burg museum (Image credit: Future) A stickered lamppost in Vienna (Image credit: Future) A man drawing
in the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Image credit: Future) A man photographs a model in Vienna (Image credit: Future) A four-storey advertisement in Vienna (Image credit: Future) Now, those photos were shot using Auto- HDR , so what you see may vary depending on your devices display. But hopefully you can visualize just how well the Xiaomi 17T Pro reckons with the challenges of light and color in difficult scenarios.

In every example, the details are sharp, and the colors are vibrant; theres definitely a Leica flavor to the latter element in each photo, but the colors dont look outright unreal, as they might have done if captured using the alternative Leica Vibrant profile.

As you can see in the photos of the man at the crosswalk and the lamppost in front of the Schnbrunn Palace, the 17T Pro is also particularly adept at maintaining detail in instances where there isnt one subject to focus on (i.e., theres a deep depth of field). What to read next I shot the Champions League on the Oppo Find X9 Ultra with its teleconverter here's what happened The Oppo Find X9 Ultra phone takes telephoto cameras to new extremes Xiaomi 15T review: a surprisingly premium mid-ranger

Thats not to say the details are universally perfect. If you zoom in on the photo of the Neue Burg museum, for instance, youll notice a strange smoothening effect that makes the building looks like its wrapped in a protective net; between the trees to the left of the garden picture (where
the woman is sitting on the bench), theres an unnatural, almost angelic glow, which obviously wasnt present in reality; and in the photo of the museum hallway, the signpost text is a little garbled, which is a tell-tale sign of botched AI intervention. It looks like Xiaomi's software is trying to make sense of this signpost text (Image credit: Future) This post-processing trickery has become a feature of Xiaomi, Honor, and Oppo phones in recent years, and while its certainly different from the approach taken by, say, Apple , it does result in some decent (and, crucially, subtle) detail enhancement most of the time. If you go looking for errors, though, youre
sure to find them.

For portraits, I switched from Leica Portrait to Master Portrait, as the former tends to overexpose images. Here are a few examples of the Xiaomi 17T Pros 5x portrait capabilities: Image 1 of 3 A street performer in Vienna (Image credit: Future) A man standing in front of the Schnbrunn Palace (Image credit: Future) A street photographer in Vienna (Image credit: Future) As has been the case for a few years now, Xiaomis edge detection is supremely accurate if you zoom in on the street performers chin or the loose hairs in the second subjects beard, for instance, youll see that edge detection
working overtime.

The bokeh is great across the board, too; I particularly like the seamless transition from detail to blur in the photo of the man with the camera.

To nobodys surprise, the Xiaomi 17T Pros 10x zoom skills arent as good as its 5x ones, but you can still get some decent snaps at this sensor-cropped
range: Image 1 of 4 Theseus Defeats the Centaur at the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Image credit: Future) The front of the Schnbrunn Palace (Image
credit: Future) The roof of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Image credit: Future) A flower in the Schnbrunn Palace gardens (Image credit: Future)
Colors are handled just as well as they are at that fixed 5x optical
distance, and while details are definitely softer at 10x, Xiaomis artificial smoothening isnt all that noticeable unless you zoom in (see the tourists in the photo of the Schnbrunn Palace, for example). The Telephoto Master? All told, then, the Xiaomi 17T Pro is a capable and versatile shooter, and as we noted in our Xiaomi 17T Pro review , the standout [feature of the phone] is the telephoto. The reach of the 5x lens sets it apart from the competition
and provides some lovely compression when used for close-ups.

For 799 (or 649 if you opt for the cheaper-but-identically-equipped Xiaomi 17T), I cant think of a phone with better zoom capabilities (neither phone is available in the US or Australia), and as a regular user of the iPhone Air
and iPhone 17 , the Xiaomi 17T Pro has left me wishing for a dedicated telephoto lens on the rumored iPhone Air 2 and iPhone 18.

Does the Xiaomi 17T Pro earn its designation as The Telephoto Master? Considering the hardware offered by similarly priced competition, it's hard
to argue against that claim. You'll get more pro-level features and better wide and ultra-wide performance from the very best camera phones on the market, but you'll pay more for the privilege of owning those phones. As a telephoto-first camera phone, the 17T Pro offers stellar value for money. Today's best Xiaomi deals Xiaomi 17 Ultra 1,499 999.30 View See all prices Xiaomi 17 879 View See all prices Xiaomi 15T Pro 699 499 View See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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