I honestly didn’t expect the Xiaomi 18 Ultra story to end like this. After months of Ultra-level camera rumors, fresh reports now suggest Xiaomi has cancelled the phone before launch — and the hardware we apparently lost sounds absolutely ridiculous.
The biggest surprise? Xiaomi reportedly planned three 200MP rear cameras, continuous optical zoom and even a magnetic external lens. But the expected price may have killed the project.
Xiaomi 18 Ultra Cancelled Over Its Price
According to fresh information attributed to leaker Digital Chat Station, Xiaomi had already shelved the 18 Ultra because its planned price was simply too high for the company to expect healthy sales. The reported starting price was ¥9,999, around $1,490, for a relatively basic 12GB RAM + 256GB configuration.
That would have been a massive jump over the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, which started at ¥6,999 in China. The problem becomes obvious when you look at what Xiaomi was apparently asking buyers to pay for the base model.
I can understand Xiaomi’s concern here. Spending nearly ¥10,000 on a phone with just 256GB of storage is a difficult pitch, especially when buyers can find other flagship configurations offering considerably more storage.
The cancellation itself is still not officially confirmed by Xiaomi, so I’d treat this as a strong leak rather than a company announcement. Multiple reports, however, are now pointing in the same direction.
Three 200MP Cameras Would Have Been Insane
This is the part I’m most disappointed about.
The leaked Xiaomi 18 Ultra camera system reportedly included a 200MP 1/1.12-inch LOFIC main camera, a 200MP 1/1.56-inch ultrawide and a 200MP 1/1.28-inch LOFIC periscope telephoto. The telephoto was also expected to support continuous optical zoom.
Xiaomi apparently wasn’t stopping there. Reports mention a multispectral sensor and a magnetic external lens, which could have pushed the phone closer to a compact-camera replacement than a conventional smartphone.
The periscope camera is especially interesting to me. Giving the telephoto such a large sensor while adding continuous optical zoom could have made long-range photography the phone’s biggest advantage.
And then there was the rest of the hardware: a flagship Snapdragon-class processor, a flat display with roughly 1mm bezels, symmetrical stereo speakers and Xiaomi’s large 0916 vibration motor.
Xiaomi 18 Pro Max Becomes the Big One
With the Ultra reportedly gone, Xiaomi’s Pro Max is expected to take the top position in the 18-series lineup.
Earlier reports already suggested that Xiaomi was moving forward with the Xiaomi 18, Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max, without an Ultra model. The Pro Max could therefore become the enthusiast-focused model for this generation.
There’s also a bigger strategic angle here. Xiaomi has reportedly been dealing with rising memory and component costs, making an ultra-premium phone increasingly difficult to price competitively.
If Xiaomi had launched the 18 Ultra around ¥9,999, the European price could have approached €1,900 based on current reporting. That is a very different market proposition from the Xiaomi Ultra phones we’ve become accustomed to.
What I Think
Honestly, this is probably the most frustrating Xiaomi cancellation I’ve seen in a while.
The triple-200MP setup sounds excessive on paper, but that’s exactly why I wanted to see it. Xiaomi could have created one of those phones where the camera hardware itself became the story.
At the same time, I think Xiaomi may have made the practical decision. If the company believed customers wouldn’t accept a ¥9,999 starting price, launching a compromised Ultra would arguably have been worse than cancelling it.
The good news is that the Ultra branding may not be gone forever. Earlier reports have pointed toward Xiaomi potentially bringing the Ultra concept back with the Xiaomi 19 Ultra, giving Xiaomi more time for component costs and pricing to make sense.
For now, though, the Xiaomi 18 Ultra cancelled story looks increasingly real — and that triple-200MP camera monster may remain one of Xiaomi’s most interesting phones that never reached store shelves.
Would you have paid ¥9,999 for the Xiaomi 18 Ultra with those cameras? Drop your thoughts below!
