In the past week, both Samsung and Xiaomi have taken the wraps off their latest superphones, but only one of them has properly impressed me. I spent weeks testing Xiaomi’s Leica Leitzphone before its launch at MWC 2026 and concluded that it’s the best camera I’ve ever used. I even gave it a CNET Editors’ Choice award because it’s so impressive — and I think Samsung should be worried.
Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra is a jack-of-all-trades phone, packing a supercharged processor, a stunning privacy screen and that all-important S Pen stylus. But its cameras have seen only minor improvements, with larger apertures on the main and telephoto cameras being notable improvements. Other than that, it really comes down to various Samsung AI software tricks, like being able to change the style of hat you’re wearing in a photo.
The S26 Ultra’s cameras haven’t seen much improvement this year.
This has become a trend at Samsung, with the last few Ultra phones doubling down on the previous camera setup, adding a few megapixels here and there but relying heavily on software updates to make up for the lack of hardware innovation. While Samsung’s flagship phones have been among the best camera phones in the world, Xiaomi and Leica’s Leitzphone have shown what true photography looks like.
This beast of a camera packs a premium. We will start with the LOFIC image sensor, which stands for Lateral Overflow Integration Capacitor and is basically a new type of sensor technology that improves dynamic range in a single image. It can take good pictures in all conditions, including at night. Samsung is rumored to be considering LOFIC sensors for their phones (as is Apple) but has apparently chosen not to go down this route yet.
Xiaomi’s Leica Leitzphone has amazing photography capabilities that help it take photos that are almost identical to the ones I take on my original Leica camera.
The Leitzphone was also among the first phones to use truly movable lens elements for its telephoto zoom, allowing for true lossless zooming rather than only jumping between certain zoom levels. It works well and a similar setup was rumored to appear in the last few Ultra generations, but never actually happened.
Then there is the physical control ring around the Leitzphone camera, the amazing Leica color profiles built into the camera experience and the pure quality Leica Summilux optics used in the lenses.
The Photos I Captured on the Xiaomi Leica Phone Are Some of My Best
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By partnering with such a photography icon, Xiaomi has truly reinvented its photography, bringing many firsts that improve the photography experience. As a professional photographer and true enthusiast myself, I’ve been blown away by the photos I’ve been able to capture with my phone.
But Samsung did not please me this time. Its new AI generation tools may be fun gimmicks, but they don’t appeal to a serious photographer like me. The S26 Ultra needs to be more than a camera phone, of course — it needs to be “ultra” in every sense of the word. But Samsung’s latest model shows that decent photography isn’t the company’s priority.
The Leitzphone is arguably more than a camera phone.
Thus Samsung risks losing a large number of photographers and content creators (both professional and educated alike) who will look to competitors like Xiaomi for products that can meet their imaging needs.
