The Xiaomi 17 is in the world’s first phone equipped with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Z5 processor, making it the most powerful compact phone globally.This new chipset puts Xiaomi ahead of the curve and positions the Xiaomi 17 as one of the most powerful compact flagship phones available right now.
Apart from raw performance, Xiaomi 17 has also launched a strong battery, branded cameras, and premium design in the market, which is rapidly expanding its reach.
Table of Contents
Design and Build Quality
- The Xiaomi 17 is a new “Snow Mountain Powder” color with a mild pinkish tone and a smooth matte finish, similar to the iPhone 17 matte glass back.
- The phone weighs 191 grams and is 8.1 mm thick, which is impressive for a phone with a 7000mAh battery.
- It uses premium materials: an aluminum metal frame and Dragontrail glass on both front and back.
Physical features include
- USB Type-C 3.2 port (fastest standard),
- Dual SIM physical slot (unlike iPhone 17),
- Stereo speakers (one at bottom, one in the earpiece),
- Power button and volume rocker on the right,
- IR sensor on the back near the camera,
- IP68 dust and water resistance (up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes).
Display Features
The Xiaomi 17 supports a 6.3-inch compact flagship M10 LTPO display with:
- Adaptive refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz,
- Full HD+ resolution,
- 3500 nits peak brightness (an improvement over Xiaomi 15’s 3200 nits),
- Ultra-smooth visuals with almost no visible bezels, providing a true flagship display experience.
- Display technologies supported include HDR V8, Dolby Vision, HDR10+.
- Features an ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor positioned near the center of the screen.
- The phone includes an adaptive refresh rate “Pro” mode that switches from DC dimming to PWM dimming to enhance smoothness but causes flickering and eye strain; thus, the reviewer keeps this mode off.
Performance Overview
- The phone is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, built on TSMC’s 3nm second-generation node, paired with Adreno 840 GPU.
- Xiaomi has incorporated a vapor chamber for heat dissipation to address heating issues seen in Xiaomi 15.
- The reviewed model has 512GB UFS 4.1 storage and 16GB LPDDR5X RAM.
- It supports Wi-Fi 7, but surprisingly includes Bluetooth 5.4 instead of Bluetooth 6.0 (which Xiaomi 15 was later upgraded to). NFC and 5G support are present in the Chinese variant.
- The reviewer performed extensive benchmarking and battery drain tests (totaling ~2 hours) under controlled conditions:
- Brightness was set to 25%,
- Performance mode enabled,
- Battery fully charged,
- Initial phone temperature 28°C.
Camera Overview
- Rear cameras: Xiaomi 17 having three 50MP sensors with LKA branding, a reputable camera brand.
- Front camera: available in 32MP or 50MP sensors, with all four sensors across front and rear capable of 50MP capture.
Zoom capabilities:
- Up to 60x zoom for photos,
- Up to 15x zoom for videos via telephoto lens.
Sample photos show:
Excellent dynamic range and color accuracy in wide-angle shots. Textures and colors are very clear at 10x zoom, but slightly less impressive at 60x zoom.
Portrait Mode:
Speaking of Portrait Mode, the 1x and 2.6x zooms produce good portraits. Backgrounds look good, but at 2.6x zoom, there’s some strange blurring at the edges.
Selfies:
- Dual zoom options (0.8x and 1x) available,
- The reviewer was moderately impressed but not fully satisfied; some skin tones appeared overly brightened.
Video Recording Capabilities
- Front camera supports 8K 30fps video recording.
- Rear cameras support 4K 60fps video recording on all lenses, including wide, main, and telephoto (up to 15x zoom).
- Video stabilization is described as natural and effective without enabling super steady modes.
- Daylight video samples showed good dynamic range and color reproduction, particularly handling bright skies well.
- Nighttime video recording was tested on a n:
- Main sensor performed well with good color and stabilization despite low light,
- Wide-angle and telephoto lenses showed significant detail loss due to smaller apertures and lower light capture ability.
- Color shifting was noted between lenses at night.
Battery and Charging
- The lincludes a 7000mAh silicon-carbon battery with approximately 17-18% silicon carbon content for durability.
Charging capabilities:
| Charging Type | Power | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Wired Charging | 100W | Fully charges the phone in approximately 35–40 minutes |
| Wireless Charging | 50W | Fast wireless charging supported |
| Reverse Wireless Charging | 22.5W | Can charge other compatible devices |
Screen-on time during testing was around 5.5 to 6 hours, better than Samsung S25’s 4 to 4.5 hours but still has room for improvement via future software optimizations.
Software Experience
- Runs on Android 16 with Xiaomi’s Hyper OS 3, but the reviewer notes:
- No significant new improvements or standout features visible in the Chinese version,
- Global version updates and features are uncertain and expected later.
- The user interface is described as very smooth and fast, with fluid animations.
- The reviewer confidently calls it the fastest compact phone he has used to date.
- The Chinese software version is free of ads and offers good customization options, including new and iconic wallpapers and AI-based photo editing tools such as AI Erase, AI Expand, AI Ultra HD, and AI Beauty Mode.
Xiaomi 17 Features & Specifications
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Processor | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (TSMC 3nm) with Adreno 840 GPU |
| RAM & Storage | 12/16GB RAM, 512GB |
| Display | 6.3-inch M10 LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, HDR10+, up to 3500 nits peak brightness |
| Battery | 7000mAh silicon-carbon battery |
| Charging | 100W wired fast charging, 50W wireless charging, 22.5W reverse wireless charging |
| Rear Camera | Triple 50MP LKA camera setup |
| Front Camera | 32MP / 50MP (variant dependent) |
| Zoom & Video | Up to 60x photo zoom, 15x video zoom, 8K video recording |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, 5G |
| Build & Design | Premium metal frame with Dragontrail glass |
| Dimensions & Weight | 8.1mm thickness, 191g weight |
| Water & Dust Resistance | IP68 (up to 1.5m for 30 minutes) |
| Software | Android 16 with HyperOS 3 |
| Audio | Stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and Snapdragon Sound |
Conclusion
- The Xiaomi 17 is considered a very good compact flagship phone with top-tier performance, excellent display, massive battery, and decent cameras..
- Some software and optimization issues, especially regarding battery drain and heat management, can be expected to improve with update