We prefer the first photo from Vivo because it is noticeably sharper, although the yellowish background of the wall is captured better by the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. In the second shot, neither image is ideal. On the X300 Pro, the face looks overly AI-processed, while the Xiaomi 17 Ultra makes it look soft. The reviewer then goes on to share his first video footage from Hong Kong. Xiaomi seems to have done a good job with the transition from the optical zoom range to digital zoom starting at 100mm.
Up to around 10x, the results still look very good. After that, the first artifacts become noticeable. Some of the photos from the dark alleys of the Chinese megacity may look convincing at first glance, but moving people are often not rendered sharply. It remains to be seen if Ben will pay more attention to these details in further test videos, but for now he seems quite happy with the initial results. Anyone who wants to see more Xiaomi 17 Ultra test results from China and comparison photos with other camera flagships should check out our recent in-depth coverage.