This 'Ultra' flagship looked like a spec monster, but no one will be able to buy it

Xiaomi’s top-of-the-line flagships have, until this year, carried the “Ultra” moniker. Last year, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra sat above the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, but things have changed this time around. In August, we saw reports that said the company canceled plans to launch the Xiaomi 18 Ultra, opting instead to limit its lineup to the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Pro Max. Now, a new leak offers insight into what the Xiaomi 18 Ultra could have been like and why it was canceled.

According to a Weibo post by leaker Digital Chat Station (DCS), had Xiaomi not canceled the 18 Ultra, it would have boasted extremely impressive specs. The leaker states that it would have featured a high-end flagship chipset with a benchmark score over 500 million, paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

The phone would have also packed a 200MP LOFIC main camera, a 200MP ultrawide camera, and a 200MP periscope telephoto lens. DCS adds that the phone would have included a multispectral lens and a magnetic external lens, possibly similar to the external lenses seen on phones like the vivo X300 Ultra. It could’ve also featured symmetrical dual speakers.

The leaker further noted that Xiaomi originally planned to launch the phone at CNY 9,999 (~$1,490). However, the launch was reportedly canceled because the company felt the price was too high and sales would not be sustainable.

It is worth noting that the Xiaomi 17 Ultra launched at CNY 6,999 (~$1,044) and was priced at €1,499 in the EU. Had Xiaomi launched the 18 Ultra at CNY 9,999, it could’ve been priced at a whopping €1,899 in the EU. It’s easy to see why Xiaomi might consider that “too high” and worry about low sales.