Xiaomi 17 review: Well-rounded premium compact phone with impressive camera

Last month, Xiaomi launched the company's premium flagship Xiaomi 17 series in India.

It comes in one configuration-- 12GB RAM + 512GB storage- for Rs 89,999 in the subcontinent.

Design, build quality and display

The Android-powered phone comes in a classic candybar design with a compact form factor. The flat rail is very easy to hold and operate, and to do texting single-handedly.

The device is made of a high-grade metallic frame around the display. The latter is protected by Xiaomi Shield Glass against scratches.

Also, it comes with an IP68 rating, meaning it can survive an accidental drop in a swimming pool for up to 1.5 metres (around five feet) for close to 30 minutes.

Xiaomi 17.

Further, the company offers a free cover case, which can safeguard the device from cracking during an accidental fall on a hard surface.

Xiaomi 17 sports a 6.3-inch 1.5K (2656 x 1220p) M10 12-bit OLED 20:9 LTPO display, 1-120Hz variable refresh rate, up to 3500 nits peak brightness, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision.

Also, the device boasts of TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light (Hardware Solution) certification, and comes with TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free Certified and TÜV Rheinland Circadian Friendly Certified.

It is amazing for multimedia consumption. Though it has no dedicated anti-reflective coating, when put to the max brightness, the screen is legible to read messages or watch videos with less hassle outdoors.

It supports Wi-Fi 7 Ready, Bluetooth 6.0, dual-SIM slots, a USB Type-C port, stereo speakers tuned with Dolby Atmos, four microphones, an infrared sensor and an in-display ultrasonic fingerprint. The latter works brilliantly with a low false rejection rate.

Performance

Xiaomi 17 is powered by a 3nm class Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 octa-core with Adreno 840 GPU, 12GB LPDDR5x RAM with 256GB / 512GB UFS 4.1 storage.

The device is super fast and works smoothly without breaking a sweat. It supports almost all the graphics-rich AAA gaming titles available on the Google Play Store.

It boasts of Xiaomi's 3D IceLoop system, which ensures efficient heat dissipation when performing heavy-duty tasks.

Xiaomi 17.

Also, it doesn't break a sweat while running generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) apps such as Gemini and related features such as Circle to Search, and photography tools.

Some of the notable native AI apps coming with the Xiaomi 17 include Al Speech Recognition, Al Interpreter, Al Search, Al Dynamic Wallpapers, Al Creativity Assistant, AI Writing and more.

The device runs on Android 16-based Xiaomi HyperOS 3.0. It is clean and easy to navigate through the settings. Also, there are plenty of options to customise the user interface, wallpapers, and themes to match your taste.

The device houses a 6330mAh Xiaomi Surge battery. It can easily last more than a day under normal usage with mixed dependence on Wi-Fi and cellular internet.

It also boasts of 100W HyperCharge. It can go from zero to 100 in under 45 minutes. It also comes with 50W wireless HyperCharge capability.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Photography

Xiaomi 17 sport a triple-camera module-- main Leica 50MP camera (with 1/1.31-inch Light Fusion 950 sensor, f/1.67 aperture, Hyper OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation, Leica Summilux lens) + 50MP 102-degree Leica ultra-wide angle lens (with f/2.4) + 50MP Leica 60mm floating telephoto camera ( f/2.0 aperture, OIS) with LED flash on the back.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Thanks to Leica's advanced camera system, it takes brilliant photos in almost all light conditions. Xiaomi 17 is one of the very few handful of phones in the market, which gets you clean, crisp photos with subjects, be it a human face, a pet or a flower, they look natural with near accurate colours.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

It takes brilliant portrait images with sharp focus on the subject and artfully blur the background to deliver a perfect bokeh effect.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Not everything has to be tuned with gen AI tools to make the photo look pretty. I am happy with the raw images. The only time people will need filters and tools is for removing unwanted people/objects in the family portrait at popular landmarks. Or those pictures taken behind the glass, Xiaomi offers tools to remove the reflections.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

At night, it takes pretty nice photos with less noise.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

It also excels with the ultra-wide-angle mode. It retains full details in the frame.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

With optical zoom, as you can see, the country fowl's eyes are sharp, and all the tiny hair follicles around it are captured neatly.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

It supports digital zoom up to 60X. The picture retains quality and sharpness up to 20X, but beyond that, it begins to accumulate noise.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample with 60X digital zoom.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample with 60X digital zoom.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample with ultra-wide angle mode.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample with normal mode.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample with 2X zoom.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample with 5X zoom.

It can record up to 8K videos at 30 frames per second (fps). The quality is good, on par with rival brands in its class.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

On the front, it houses a 50MP front camera (with f/2.2 aperture). It gets nice, clear pictures in the sunlight. Also, it comes with AI Beautify and filters to further enhance the appearance of the face, making it photogenic and worthy to be shared on social media platforms.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

It supports 4K video recording at 60 frames per second. the quality is decent for its price tag.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Going by the photo samples, I am sure the top-end Xiaomi 17 Ultra will be even better than most of the competitors.

Xiaomi 17's camera sample.

Final thoughts

Xiaomi 17 is a feature-rich flagship phone in a compact form factor. It excels with smooth performance, impressive photography and delivers long battery life.

Xiaomi 17.

Xiaomi 17 comes in four colour options-- Alpine Pink, black, ice blue and venture green, with 256GB and 512GB storage variants for Rs 89,999.

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