The best phone camera you’ve never heard of vs iPhone 17 Pro: My real-world test
Great cameras have remained a flagship "thing", but this company wants to change that.
The Xiaomi 17T Pro feels like a flagship camera | Image by PhoneArena
There are so many phones that offer great performance and even excellent battery life for a lower price than a traditional flagship, but very few give you the flagship camera experience.
That's why I was particularly excited to test out the new Xiaomi 17T Pro, which now gets a flagship-grade telephoto camera and much of the Leica Authentic color magic from the premium Xiaomi Ultra models, but at a much lower price.
And I pit it against the popular iPhone 17 Pro, the default smartphone for so many people out there.
The Xiaomi claims to be a "telephoto master" with careful tuning of images in various conditions like a concert stage or portraits in general. It also leans heavily on AI when you go over 20x zoom.
|
|
| Xiaomi 17T Pro | Apple iPhone 17 Pro |
| Main camera | |
|---|---|
| 50 MP (OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 23 mm Sensor size: 1/1.31" Pixel size: 0.6 μm |
48 MP (Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.8 Focal length: 24 mm Sensor size: 1/1.28" Pixel size: 1.22 μm |
| Second camera | |
| 12 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 15 mm Pixel size: 1.12 μm |
48 MP (Ultra-wide, Sensor-shift OIS) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 0.7 μm |
| Third camera | |
| 50 MP (Telephoto, Periscope) Optical zoom: 5.0x Aperture size: F3.0 Focal Length: 115 mm Pixel size: 0.64 μm |
48 MP (Telephoto, OIS, PDAF) Optical zoom: 4.0x Aperture size: F2.8 Focal Length: 100 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 0.7 μm |
| Front | |
| 32 MP | 18 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), Autofocus, HDR) |
See the full
Xiaomi 17T Pro vs Apple iPhone 17 Pro specs comparison
or compare them to other phones using our
Phone Comparison tool
Unfortunately, we still don't have the full specs and sensor sizes for the Xiaomi 17T Pro, but we do know that it employs a 1/1.3-inch sensor, roughly the same size as the iPhone 17 Pro.
But let's leave the technicalities aside and take a look at the real-world photos. For this comparison, I've used the Leica Authentic color profile which gives images a more "filmic" look. You can, however, switch to a more traditional look, but I think Leica Authentic is just such an artistic and beautiful profile, and the lack of a similar option on the iPhone is regrettable.
Take a look yourselves.
Main Camera
Portrait Mode
Zoom Quality
Ultra-wide
Selfies
So which phone do you think wins this comparison: the Xiaomi 17T Pro or the iPhone 17 Pro?
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