Xiaomi 17 Ultra
Shares rank 38 of 46 smartphones by recommenders
Criticized more than recommended: critics say its AI moon photos are fake; those who recommend it cite cameras, periscope zoom and battery life, which owners say beat Apple and Samsung.
5 people recommended Xiaomi 17 Ultra in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from the comments below.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- mixed feelings
- 1
- warn against or regret it
- 6
The record
Recommended in 4 of 12 months
In 4 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 4 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 4 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- The biggest thread supplies 40% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 12 of the 13 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
AI moon photos mistake sun and moon
“the tomfoolery Xiaomi is doing to give the impression their phone can take a zoomed in photo of the moon”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Eclipse: The Xiaomi 17 Ultra Confuses the Moon and the Sun” “they never turned off this "fake moon" feature after being caught the first time”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Eclipse: The Xiaomi 17 Ultra Confuses the Moon and the Sun” “Great, the sun has moon craters now. GenAI at its best.”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Eclipse: The Xiaomi 17 Ultra Confuses the Moon and the Sun” - Comment from 3 Sep 2026 in “How to debloat your Xiaomi 15 Ultra without root access”
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Better cameras than Apple or Samsung
“Better battery life, larger batteries, better screens, faster charging. Much better cameras.”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “Last Year on My Mac: Look Back in Disbelief” “Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra beat any Apple or Samsung in cameras and battery etc etc”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “Nokia's 14 Years of Mobile-Phone Supremacy Ended in an Afternoon” “Neither Apple nor Samsung are capable of delivering this level of quality”
Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “How to debloat your Xiaomi 15 Ultra without root access” - Comment from 20 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook to become Apple Executive Chairman”
200MP sensor and periscope zoom
“Xiaomi’s 17 Ultra 5G stands out in the flagship segment thanks to its 200MP primary sensor”
Comment from 6 Dec 2025 on Hacker News “The only reason i use this phone is periscope camera and it's quality”
Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “How to debloat your Xiaomi 15 Ultra without root access”
Other smartphones people recommend
The four most recommended other smartphones, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone | 438 | 190 | 789 | 36% | 12 | 7 yrs97 people | — |
| Fairphone | 110 | 42 | 94 | 54% | 12 | 3 yrs14 people | — |
| iPhone 13 mini | 105 | 32 | 44 | 70% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Apple iPhone Pro | 90 | 45 | 138 | 39% | 12 | 4 yrs24 people | — |
| Xiaomi 17 UltraThis page | 5 | 1 | 6 | 45% | 4 | — | — |
Also compared with iPhone SE, Jolla Phone, Nokia N900 and Apple iPhone 12 mini.
What people said
12 of the 13 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It mistaken turning the sun into the moon.”
“Neither Apple nor Samsung are capable of delivering this level of quality”
“The only reason i use this phone is periscope camera and it's quality”
“Great, the sun has moon craters now. GenAI at its best.”
“the tomfoolery Xiaomi is doing to give the impression their phone can take a zoomed in photo of the moon”
“they never turned off this "fake moon" feature after being caught the first time”
“Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Vivo X300 Ultra beat any Apple or Samsung in cameras and battery etc etc”
“it specifically warns that a photo of you may be sufficient to unlock the phone”
“Much better cameras, larger batteries, 90-100W charging, etc.”
“Xiaomi phones are nowadays extremely difficult to root/unlock bootloader”
“Better battery life, larger batteries, better screens, faster charging. Much better cameras.”
“Xiaomi’s 17 Ultra 5G stands out in the flagship segment thanks to its 200MP primary sensor”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.