Xiaomi, for its latest flagship line, decided to skip the “16” moniker and jumped straight to the Xiaomi 17. Is it because it’s really that much better than the Xiaomi 15? Or because they want to align their line-up with Apple? We only have speculations.
But that doesn’t hide the fact that we have a very interesting smartphone in our hands. While the attention is mostly on the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, we’re still very excited about its baby brother, the Xiaomi 17.
Maybe it’s the fact that this feature-packed, true-flagship phone has a compact design, something we desperately crave in today’s flagships. Or maybe it’s just the fact that it’s the next best thing we can have, since the Xiaomi 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max are yet to come out of China.
Whatever the case is, we’re entering this Xiaomi 17 review with high expectations. Let’s start.
Xiaomi 17 Specs
- Android 16, HyperOS 3
- Dual SIM, Dual Standby
- 6.3-inch 2.5K LTPO AMOLED display, 2656 x 1220 pixel resolution, ~464ppi
- 120Hz refresh rate, 2160Hz PWM dimming
- 3500-nit peak brightness
- Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR Vivid
- Xiaomi Shield Glass
- 4.6GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor
- Adreno 840 GPU
- 12GB RAM
- 512GB UFS 4.1 internal storage, non-expandable
- 50-megapixel front camera
- 50-megapixel (Light Hunter 950, f/1.7, dual-pixel PDAF, OIS) + 50-megapixel (Periscope 2.6x telephoto, f/3.0, PDAF, OIS) + 50-megapixel (ultra-wide) rear cameras, LED Flash
- Leica Technology
- IP68 dust and water resistant
- Optical fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
- Stereo speakers
- Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res Audio, Hi-Res Wireless Audio
- HSPA+, 4G LTE, 5G
- WiFi 7, dual-band
- Bluetooth 5.4
- dual-band GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC, BDS
- NFC
- IR blaster
- Ultrawide Band
- USB-C
- Dimensions: 151.1 x 71.8 x 8.1mm
- Weight: 191g
- Colors: Purple, Green, White, Black
- 6,330mAh non-removable battery, 100W wired, 50W wireless, 22.5W wired and wireless reverse charging
Design and Build Quality
We can’t get over how compact this device is. Equipped with a 6.3-inch screen, the Xiaomi 17 offers good height and width for comfortable all-day use while still providing enough screen real estate for consuming content and productivity.
It’s not the thinnest nor the lightest smartphone, though, at 8.1mm and 191g, respectively. Still, the flat frame and smooth curved corners provide a very secure and comfortable grip.
Moreover, the device is still fairly durable with its IP68 dust and water resistance rating, but we would’ve loved to see it upgraded to IP69/69K.
The aluminum frame is also very sturdy, as we found after a couple of light bend tests. The rear has an unnamed frosted glass, which does a great job of keeping it clean from dirt and smudges, unlike the glassy surface of the camera island.
On the front, there’s the Xiaomi Dragon Crystal Glass, which some claim is harder than the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Still, Xiaomi has slapped it with a pre-applied screen protector for extra protection.
The design is forgettable, though. Last year’s model looks more distinct, as they went with an iPhone-like camera island on this one, and it’s not even the newer iPhone Pros.
On the upside, the colorways are quite flexible. There’s the his-and-hers Ice Blue and Alpine Pink, a subtle Black, and a more unique Venture Green.
Overall, we like the size, form, and durability of the Xiaomi 17. The design? Simple but good enough.
Taking a tour, we have the said 6.3-inch LTPO AMOLED screen on the front, with very thin bezels and a punch-hole for the 50-megapixel selfie camera.
We only see two antennas on the top, which are only found on the other two sides of the device.
The bottom has the speaker grill, microphone, USB-C port, and a SIM tray for two nano cards.
We then have the camera island in a 2×2 layout. It starts with the 50-megapixel main camera, next to the ultra-wide, with the telephoto and LED flash below.
Display and Audio
The Xiaomi 17 has a 6.3-inch 2.5K LTPO AMOLED screen that has a 2656 x 1220 pixel resolution, ~464ppi, 120Hz refresh rate, 2160Hz PWM dimming, 3500-nit peak brightness, and support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+.
It has an Adaptive Color feature that adjusts the screen colors based on your surroundings. The screen refresh rate is also adjustable. Oddly, the resolution isn’t.
We got incredible colors and contrast from the Xiaomi 17’s display. The smoothness of the high refresh rate is really felt, the brightness gets very high for watching HDR content and for using the device at sunny outdoors.
The stereo speakers impressed us, too. The top speaker is an amplified earpiece, which was not a problem as it’s decent enough. The treble is clean while the bass makes music and movies sound full and deep.
Volume is good as well as the stereo separation. It goes without saying that we’re very impressed.
Hardware and Performance
Being a true flagship, the Xiaomi 17 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, with Adreno 840 graphics, 12GB of RAM, and 512GB of UFS 4.1 non-expandable storage. The Xiaomi 3D IceLoop system has a 4497mm2 heat dissipation area, 31.9% bigger than before.
Xiaomi 17 Benchmark Scores
Basic and day-to-day performance is very solid, no surprises there. It blazes through web browsing, taking pictures, multitasking, and more. However, it did lag behind in some of the benchmark stress tests due to throttling.
On the upside, the throttling hasn’t affected gaming performance. Genshin Impact was seamless under the Highest preset at 60fps. No overheating issues to report here.
Competitive shooter games ran well, too. PUBG Mobile performed great at Ultra HDR graphics with Extreme frames, Call of Duty Mobile under Max settings, and Farlight84 under HD graphics at 120 frames.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang was very smooth under the highest available settings, as well as Asphalt Legends Unite.
To no one’s surprise, the performance on the Xiaomi 17 is solid on both day-to-day tasks and gaming.
| Game | Graphics Settings |
| Genshin Impact | • Render Resolution: Highest • Visual Effects: High • SFX Quality: High • FPS: 60 |
| PUBG Mobile | • Graphics Quality: Ultra HDR • Frame Rate: Extreme |
| Call of Duty: Mobile | • Graphics Quality: Max • Frame Rate: Max |
| Farlight84 | • Graphics Quality: HD • Frame Rate: 120 |
| Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | • Resolution: HD • Map Quality: Ultra • Frame Rate: Ultra |
| Asphalt Legends Unite | • Visual Quality: High Quality • Frame Rate: 120 |
Software and User Interface
The Xiaomi 17 runs on Android 16 with HyperOS 3. It is guaranteed to receive 5 Android upgrades and 6 years of security patches. That’s pretty generous and more than the usual expectations from Android phones.
It’s still far from being the cleanest interface out there, but at least the bloatware was kept at a minimum for this one. It feels cleaner, lighter, and more straightforward.
The Xiaomi HyperIsland, as the name suggests, is Xiaomi’s take on Apple’s Dynamic Island.
We then have Google Gemini as the standard AI assistant. Plus, AI Writer, AI Speech Recognition, AI Search, AI Translator, AI Interpreter, AI Subtitles, and AI Dynamic Wallpapers are powered by DeepThink.
Many AI features are also found in the gallery. There’s the Ultra HD (quality enhancer), AI Beautify, AI Expand, and AI Eraser.
It also has extensive connectivity features, allowing you to share screen, files, notifications, and more to other Android devices and even iPhones and iPads.
Cameras
The Xiaomi 17 has four 50-megapixel cameras. The main one uses an OmniVision OVX9500 sensor with an f/1.67 aperture, PDAF, and optical image stabilization. We also have an ISOCELL JN5 2.6x telephoto lens, an ultra-wide with no AF, and another one for selfies.
It can record videos at up to 8K@30fps or 4K@60fps. There’s also a Teleprompter mode for talking-head shots which is useful at times.
There are two presets you can switch to when taking stills: Leica Authentic for a cleaner look and Leica Vibrant for an extra touch of color.
Daytime photos from the main camera are just incredible. They are sharp, have colors that pop but are realistic, very wide dynamic range, and nice contrast.
That same sensor is responsible for the 2x (46mm) zoom shots, which is great for portraits. The image quality remains great, as if they were taken from a dedicated telephoto lens.
It has the same impressive colors, contrast, and dynamic range, but obviously, details are not exactly the same.
Night and indoor shots look great as well. We’re seeing ample details, good dynamic range, and well-balanced colors.
You get to the 60mm telephoto camera by tapping the 2.5x zoom.
The Xiaomi 17 continues to impress with great colors, details, dynamic range, and natural depth of field.
The ultra-wide camera has a marginally narrower 17mm field-of-view, which we prefer as it naturally eliminates barrel distortion. What’s annoying is the lack of autofocus, which many competitors already have.
Details are not as sharp as we want them to be, but still usable. On the upside, the dynamic range and colors continue to impress.
What has autofocus is the 50-megapixel selfie camera, which has plenty of detail, realistic skin tones, and great dynamic range.
The Xiaomi 17 offers a great photography and video experience, and not even the slightly disappointing ultra-wide camera can change our minds.
Battery and Charging
Unlike the Chinese model, the Xiaomi 17 has a smaller 6,330mAh (from 7,000mAh) silicon-carbon battery. It is paired with 100W, 50W wireless, and fast 22.5W wired and reverse wired charging.
Thanks to the small display, it got one of the best scores in our tests. It lasted for 22 hours and 44 minutes in PCMark’s synthetic battery test.
In our more realistic 1080p YouTube Video Loop Test, the device lasted for 22 hours and 23 minutes. Really impressive for a small flagship phone.
We also got good speeds in wired charging, albeit units in the Philippines won’t come with a charging adapter. We did our charging test with a third-party USB-C 120W adapter and it was all fine.
Overheating can be an issue at extreme speeds, so be on the lookout for that. See the test results below:
- 15mins: 0-33%
- 30mins: 63%
- 45mins: 89%
- 1hr: FULL
Verdict
Xiaomi has a reputation for creating flagship phones that are great value for money, and the Xiaomi 17 is no different.
We’re a big fan of its bright and vibrant display, loud and beefy speakers, long battery life, and fast charging for both wired and wireless.
The extensive software support is also commendable, the cameras are also incredible, and we can’t ask for anything more from its performance.
Of course, there’s also the compact design, which we wish more brands were giving more attention too.
Far from perfect, the design is forgettable, the ultra-wide desperately needs an upgrade, and Xiaomi could gun for a higher durability rating.
Still, the Xiaomi 17 is a solid device and is easily one of the best in the market today, especially if you’re looking for a almost no-compromise and powerful compact flagship phone.
Xiaomi 17 pricing and availability in the Philippines
The Xiaomi 17 is now in the Philippines with a price of Php55,999. You can get it at Xiaomi Authorized Stores and online through Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.
Pros
- Compact, durable build
- Exceptional performance
- Impressive main, telephoto, and selfie cameras
- Extensive software support
- Incredibly long battery life
- Fast wired and wireless charging
Cons
- Boring design
- Ultra-wide camera needs an upgrade
- IP69K durability would be better