Luxury phone with a red dot: Leica introduces the Leitzphone

Leica is entering the smartphone manufacturing business, at least a little. At MWC in Barcelona, the camera manufacturer from Wetzlar is showcasing its Leitzphone, which is essentially an enhanced version of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, also introduced at the same time. For the first time, the Leica smartphone will be available for purchase globally. Previous versions of the Leitz Phone, then written with a space, were exclusively available in Japan and were developed in cooperation with Sharp. This time, Xiaomi is the manufacturing partner.

The newcomer's full name is Leitzphone powered by Xiaomi. And the name says it all: the Leica smartphone differs only in details from its sister model, which we have already subjected to a detailed test. The hardware and camera are identical; the Leicaphone earns its red dot primarily due to a customized camera app and a mechanical camera ring.

The camera ring is a control ring that can be assigned various functions and surrounds the smartphone's circular camera element. It can be used to zoom, correct exposure, and apply ISO or shutter speed, as well as various "Leica Looks," i.e., filters, to photos. During testing, the tactile feedback of the ring was pleasing, allowing for much more precise zooming than with two fingers on the touchscreen. In addition to the 13 Leica Looks, the camera app includes an "Essential Mode." This allows for monochrome photography in a profile inspired by the Leica M9, or shooting as if with a Monopan film.

Novel 1-inch sensor

Behind the main camera is a 1-inch LOFIC (Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor) sensor from OmniVision. Its special feature: a capacitor collects excess charge from pixels in bright image areas. This allows the camera with the LOFIC sensor to expose a scene for longer than other models, thus collecting more information in dark image areas without overexposing other areas. The overall light yield is therefore better, the dynamic range is higher, and image noise is lower. The identical Xiaomi 17 Ultra even outperformed the Pixel 10 Pro in tests. The 200-megapixel telephoto lens is equipped with an optical zoom of 75 to 100 mm. Several lenses are positioned vertically to the camera opening on a movable slide between the light incidence and the 1/1.4-inch sensor. The ultra-wide-angle and wide-angle cameras are equipped with a 50-megapixel sensor.

The hardware is state-of-the-art: the Leitzphone features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, accompanied by 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of flash storage. The 6.9-inch OLED display has a resolution of 2609 x 1200 pixels and, according to the manufacturer, covers the DCI-P3 color space.

Leica slightly adapts Xiaomi's Android interface, HyperOS, by displaying icons monochromatically. While this may look more sophisticated than Xiaomi's brightly colored interface, the phone also comes with pre-installed Xiaomi bloatware. The Leica phone costs 2000 Euros at market launch, making it 300 Euros pricier than the 1 TB version of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.

(rbr)