Xiaomi 17 Review: Formulaic but totally brilliant execution
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The Xiaomi 17 is a compact powerhouse. | Image by PhoneArena
Although the new Xiaomi 17 Ultra is the most interesting new Xiaomi device that went global, the company couldn't miss the chance to release a proper rival to the iPhone 17, Galaxy S26, and Pixel 10 Pro.
The new Xiaomi 17 is the most compact flagship to feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, a massive 6,330 mAh battery, and a triple 50 MP camera in a single 6.3-inch package.
It's a device that doesn't really have a single selling point or a highlight aside from the whole package itself. It's an old-school type of flagship, one that brings the best specs in a very pocket-friendly size. You know, the way things were once.
Not available in the US
While the Xiaomi 17 went global, it isn't officially available in the US. None of Xiaomi's flagships ever were, so this isn't surprising at all. While you can buy it from a third-party reseller, don't expect to find it on Amazon or the shelves at Best Buy. Don't expect any carrier to sell it with either.
Table of Contents:
Xiaomi 17 Specs
One of the best-performing compact flagships
Here's what's clicking and ticking inside the Xiaomi 17:
|
|
| Xiaomi 17 | Apple iPhone 17 |
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| 151.1 x 71.8 x 8.1 mm | 149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95 mm (~9.3 mm with camera bump) |
| Weight | |
| 191.0 g | 177.0 g |
| Size | |
|---|---|
| 6.3-inch | 6.3-inch |
| Type | |
| AMOLED, 120Hz | OLED, 120Hz |
| System chip | |
|---|---|
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SM8850-AC (3 nm) | Apple A19 (3 nm) |
| Memory | |
| 12GB/256GB (UFS 4.1) 12GB/512GB 16GB/512GB |
8GB (LPDDR5)/256GB 8GB/512GB |
| Type | |
|---|---|
| 6330 mAh | 3692 mAh |
| Charge speed | |
| Wired: 100.0W Wireless: 50.0W |
Wired: 40.0W Wireless: 25.0W |
| Main camera | |
|---|---|
| 50 MP Aperture size: F1.7 Focal length: 23 mm Sensor size: 1/1.31" |
48 MP (Sensor-shift OIS, PDAF) Aperture size: F1.6 Focal length: 26 mm Sensor size: 1/1.56" Pixel size: 1.0 μm |
| Second camera | |
| 50 MP (Ultra-wide) Aperture size: F2.4 Focal Length: 17 mm Sensor size: 1/2.76" Pixel size: 0.64 μm |
48 MP (Ultra-wide, PDAF) Aperture size: F2.2 Focal Length: 13 mm Sensor size: 1/2.55" Pixel size: 0.7 μm |
| Third camera | |
| 50 MP Optical zoom: 2.6x Aperture size: F2.0 Focal Length: 60 mm Sensor size: 1/2.76" Pixel size: 0.64 μm |
|
| Front | |
| 50 MP | 18 MP (Time-of-Flight (ToF), Autofocus, HDR) |
See the full
Xiaomi 17 vs Apple iPhone 17 specs comparison
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Xiaomi 17 Design and Display
Formulaic and totally predictable, but feels nice in the hand
Understated design that doesn't shine with anything unique. | Image by PhoneArena
The Xiaomi 17 is the perfect poster child for a modern Android flagship phone. Flat aluminum frame, slightly rounded corners, completely flat front and back panels, and the usual amount of buttons in all the right places. Nothing extraordinary, but then again, none was necessary in the first place.
The device definitely gives off an iPhone vibe, and I think that was intentional. I know it sounds ironic, but this 6.3-inch device feels compact and nice in the hand, the way an iPhone or a Pixel does. It's 8.1 mm thin, which is slightly thicker than most small-sized Android champs these days, but that's not a big deal at all.
With a weight of 191 grams, it feels pleasingly hefty and reassuring, though it's worth mentioning that all of its rivals except for the Pixel 10 Pro are lighter. The phone sits well in the hand and is quite approachable.
The phone boasts an IP68 water- and dust-resistance rating, a standard affair these days.
Here's what other colors the Xiaomi 17 is available in. | Image by Xiaomi
The Xiaomi 17 comes in Black, Venture Green, Alpine Pink, Ice Blue, and White colors.
Inside the box, you'll find:
- Xiaomi 17
- Hard TPU case
- USB-A to USB-C charging cable
- SIM ejector pin
- Manuals
Unboxing the Xiaomi 17. | Image by PhoneArena
As mentioned, the phone arrives with a 6.3-inch AMOLED panel that supports a 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR, Dolby Vision, and has a respectable advertised peak brightness of 3,500 nits.
A very bright display with some color calibration issues. | Image by PhoneArena
And it's one super-bright screen that absolutely hits its claimed peak brightness, achieving over 3,400 nits in the display tests we ran at the office. The only downside? It's a slightly colder panel by default, delivering a slightly colder color temperature that can be somewhat warmed up in the dedicated display settings menu. Yet, it would have been better if this wasn't the case and we had better calibration out of the box.
There's an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that's fast and accurate, as well as face unlock here.
Xiaomi 17 Camera
Decent triple camera
While it doesn't have a proper hihglight, the Xiaomi 17 camera definitely does a decent enough job. | Image by PhoneArena
The phone arrives with a 50 MP main camera, a 50 MP ultrawide, and another 50 MP telephoto with fairly short 2.6X optical zoom. And no, neither camera has a hidden superpower, nor is any utilizing a large 1.0"-type sensor like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. We are dealing with a standard cookie-cutter camera here, which… actually seems to be doing a good job.
While the images taken with the Xiaomi 17 won't necessarily knock your socks off, I see nothing inherently wrong with these. Sure, the contrast might be a bit excessive in a typical Xiaomi fashion, and the colors might not be very consistent when you switch between the cameras.
Yet, the details are nice and plentiful, the sharpness is very crips, and the dynamic range is okay even in challenging conditions. While this phone won't capture better-looking photos than a more premium flagship, it also wouldn't disappoint at all, that's for sure.
Video Quality
The same applies to videos––while I'd ideally love to see slightly better dynamic range and less dramatic contrast, but the videos captured by the phone are absolutely okay for most regular use scenarios.
The phone takes absolutely passable 8K30fps and 4K60fps videos. Notably missing is a 4K120fps video-recording option, as well as a 24fps recording option.
Xiaomi 17 Performance & Benchmarks
You love to see it––no compromises in the performance
Tiny but mighty! | Image by PhoneArena
The Xiaomi 17 is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and it's an absolute joy to use. There's an ample reserve of performance available to this bad boy, which easily laps up any demanding task you might throw at it, including heavy gaming.
I wasn't surprised to see it dominate the Geekbench 6 benchmarks I ran, and it's surprisingly close to the performance you get on an iPhone 17. In fact, the Xiaomi 17 has the advantage in tasks that leverage many of its CPU cores, where it performs better than the Apple A19 chip and the Snapdragon 8 Elite inside the Galaxy S25.
CPU Performance Benchmarks:
The same applies to the graphics performance. The Xiaomi 17 easily dominates the 3DMark Extreme stress test that I subjected it to and left a delightful margin between itself and the second-best competitor.
GPU Performance
The phone comes with 12 GB of RAM, which can be further extended by an extra 12 GB of on-board storage that can act as swap memory. The phone starts with 256 GB and is available with 512 GB as well.
Interestingly, Xiaomi has reined in some UFS storage optimization algorithms that extend the storage by an additional 16 GB, so you essentially get 528 GB. Nifty!
Xiaomi 17 Software
The Xiaomi 17 arrives with HyperOS 3 based on Android 16, and it comes with many AI features on board, like an AI writer, an AI creativity assistant, an AI interpreter, AI subtitles, and more. However, I wasn't really impressed by any of these, but I'll admit my usual usage boils down to Gemini and Circle to Search.
Admittedly, HyperOS isn't my favorite Android skin. It doesn't even rank in the top three, and rightly so. It feels stuck in 2021 and lacks many bells and whistles that other skins like Samsung's One UI and Oppo's Color OS feature. There are many weird decisions and bugs here, too.
Generally, you simply have to learn to tolerate the interface instead of enjoying it, and that's an issue.
The phone will receive major Android upgrades the next four years, but security updates will be issued for six years. Mostly okay, but not up to par with other manufacturers like Google and Samsung, which offer seven years of support.
Xiaomi 17 Battery
Truly exceptional
The global version of this compact flagship boasts an impressive 6,330 mAh battery, one of the largest in the class. Granted, you can get it with an even more impressive 7,000 mAh one in China, a total overkill that I absolutely love!
The most impressive matter here is the inconspicuousness of it all. Ask any stranger on the street if they think this phone has a battery that's twice as large as the one inside the iPhone 16, and I bet ten out of ten people would be none the wiser! It's really impressive that the silicon-carbon battery technology has made this a reality.
And the battery is not only large,but also lasts long enough. Undoubtedly in concert with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, this one excels in two out of three PhoneArena battery tests that I ran.
In the web browsing test, the Xiaomi 17 clocked in at 24 hours and 48 minutes, which is well above a day of constant usage. Impressive! The video playback test was also a staggering 15 hours and 41 minutes, which is way above the average result I usually see in this test.
PhoneArena Battery Test Results:
The 3D gaming test is the only one that is partially disappointing at just six hours and 40 minutes, which is well below my expectations. Well, you can't win them all, so keep that in mind if gaming occupies a large part of your screen-on time.
Not very thin, but equipped with a massive battery. | Image by PhoneArena
Charging-wise, the phone doesn't have a charger in the box, but it supports super-fast 100 W wired and 50 W wireless charging using Xiaomi's proprietary technology. It takes the phone just 65 minutes to get fully charged, which is a great result. A 30-minute charge gets you 60% of battery, which should be good for more than a day of usage anyway.
Xiaomi 17 Audio Quality and Haptics
The stereo speakers on the Xiaomi 17 are loud and clear enough, but the bass is only okay. It's not as thumpy as larger phones out there, which could be an issue for bass heads out there. Not such a big issue for me: you'd ideally use headphones when listening to music if you really cared about audio quality anyway.
The haptics are moderately strong but very well-defined and super-crisp, just the way I like it.
Should you buy it?
The Xiaomi 17 is a surprisinly adept flagship. | Image by PhoneArena
The Xiaomi 17 is one excellent compact flagship phone that I definitely enjoyed using. It successfully combines a compact size with a no-compromise performance and also delivers truly impressive battery life. The camera, while not mind-blowing in any way, is still more than capable for 90% of most people's needs.
Pound-for-pound, the Xiaomi 17 beats its main rivals, like the iPhone 17, the Pixel 10 Pro, and will most likely beat the Galaxy S26, too, especially in terms of value.
The only major downsides here are the on-board software, which is far from the best one out there, and the limited availability. Sure, you can get it easily from many of the online outlets that resell Chinese phones in the West, but this way you won't be able to benefit from any promotions and discounts. And as we know, this is what most people buying an iPhone, a Pixel, or a Galaxy from a US carrier benefit from. So the playing field is uneven from the get-go.
Disregarding that, however, the Xiaomi 17 is an excellent phone that impressively beats most of its rivals.
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