No room for a rear screen, as the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is expected to go all-in on cameras

It was only a month ago that we were treated to the Chinese release of the Xiaomi 17 series of phones. The biggest noteworthy announcement of the 17 Series was that they were aiming to "redefine the next generation of premium smartphones with an attention-grabbing 'Dynamic Back Display'."

With that fresh in our mind, we were expecting to see the same feature on the soon-to-be- Xiaomi 17 Ultra. Maybe we were wrong to assume because, according to a recent leak from the trusted Digital Chat Station, there's no mention of a display.

In fact, we're not sure there would be any room for a rear display, even if they wanted to include one. The leak suggests that the circular camera module is expected to occupy so much of the rear panel that there's simply no room for it. Despite it featuring on the Xiaomi 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, Xiaomi appears to be maxing out their camera lineup instead.

A rumored 200MP telephoto lens

According to rumors, the flagship quad-camera system is expected to feature an OmniVision OV50X 50 MP main with a substantially larger sensor compared to the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. Don't forget, Xiaomi are passing over the number 16 in favor of lining up with the numbering system of the iPhones. This main camera is likely to be backed up by a pair of 50 MP lenses for the ultra-wide and one of the telephoto cameras.

Assuming the leaks are correct, it's actually the periscope telephoto camera that will be the star of the show. This will feature a Samsung HPE 200 MP lens that will also support multiple focal lengths without any loss in image quality. In addition, the rumors suggest it'll feature telephoto macro shooting with a good level of magnification.

The front camera will likely be an OmniVision OV50M 50 MP lens, which seems limited compared to the periscope telephoto but in reality is a rather impressive resolution for a selfie camera. All in, this set of five cameras, represents a significant upgrade on the Xiaomi 15 Ultra.

A flagship processor and an imminent launch?

Aside from cameras, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is expected to boast the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which is the latest flagship mobile processor from Qualcomm, announced in September 2025. The display is rumored to be a whopping 6.8-inch OLED screen with a 2K resolution. It'll also include a 120 Hz refresh rate, which is ideal for a superior mobile gaming experience.

Rumors around the launch date are in abundance, but they're not particularly unified. Some claim that it'll be launching early 2026, while others have announced that it could come to the Chinese market before Christmas. Either way, it doesn't look like you'll have to wait long to see the official specs of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.

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