Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 17 Ultra (& Leica edition)

EDITORIAL: The most powerful Apple phone until 2025, delivered the best Apple had to offer. It was also the best all around phone on the market in the Fall of 2024, excelling in processor power and video recording while bringing top tier battery endurance, photos, selfies and videos. Apple never offered expandable memory, preferring to charge a lot for larger memory capacity and the use of iCloud. It will probably never include a desktop repacement option either. But this phone's USB C port does provides video-out, waiting for an app that could turn all that processing power into a desktop computer replacement dream… Oh, and Apple's iPhone lounch is still the best phone industry event, hands down.

EDITORIAL: Ten months since last Xiaomi’s Ultra comes a phone with the first-ever physical zoom ring. 17 Ultra Leica edition features a physical zoom ring, ribbed frame for better grip, encryption chip and dual satellite communication chops that plain 17 Ultra lacks. Both models loose one of the two telephoto lenses 15 Ultra had and their screens drop below 500ppi. The phones gained in width and battery size but their photography skills are better then ever. SUPERPOWER: this is the TOP 5 photo phone in the world