Tech Advisor
The Xiaomi 17T series has already launched, and it could set a new standard for cheap flagships. After launching recent generations in September, Xiaomi has brought the unveiling of the 17T and 17T Pro forward significantly. Many of the details concerning these two phones were leaked ahead of launch, and have proven to be right on the money. As expected, they look a lot like last year’s Xiaomi 15T and Xiaomi 15T Pro . The Xiaomi 17T Pro leads the way as the larger, more capable phone. It measures a not inconsiderable 162.2 x 77.5 x 8.25mm, and weighs a significant 219g. That’s thicker and heavier than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra . At least some of that bulk can be attributed to the phone’s 7,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, a huge increase on the 5,500mAh cell in the 15T Pro. Meanwhile, an impressive charging provision incorporates both 100W wired and 50W wireless standards. Xiaomi It also features a more impressive 6.83-inch 1.5K LTPO AMOLED display than its little brother, with an elevated 144Hz maximum refresh rate and a peak brightness of 3500 nits. The screen bezels measure just 1.29mm on all four sides. Powering this Xiaomi 17T Pro is a flagship-grade MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip, together with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM. There are three available storage capacities: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The Leica-branded camera setup is slightly more impressive on this Pro model, too. There’s a 1/1.31-inch 50Mp Light Fusion 950 image sensor leading the charge, together with an f/1.67 aperture and OIS. This is accompanied by a 50Mp f/3.0 5x telephoto camera (which is also on macro duty) and a 12Mp f/2.2 ultra-wide. There’s a 32Mp camera around front. Xiaomi 17T specs The Xiaomi 17T is a smaller, slightly less in-your-face device, though it’s still pretty substantial. Its body measures 157.6 x 75.2 x 8.17mm, and weighs 200g. There’s a slightly smaller 6,500mAh silicon-carbon battery on board, though this is still a full 1,000mAh larger than its predecessor, plus 67W wired and 50W wireless charging. Around the front, you get a smaller 6.59-inch 1.5K AMOLED display with a lesser 120Hz refresh rate, but the same 3500 nits peak brightness. Xiaomi It runs on a less capable MediaTek Dimensity 8500-Ultra processor, too, together with 12GB of RAM and either 256 or 512GB of storage. The telephoto, ultra-wide and selfie cameras appear to be the same as the Pro, but the main 50Mp camera features a lesser (and smaller) 1/1.55-inch Light Fusion 800 image sensor and a fractionally smaller f/1.7 aperture. The Xiaomi 17T Pro ships in Deep Blue, Deep Violet, and Black. The Xiaomi 17T comes in Opal White, Violet, Blue, and Black. Both phones are IP68 certified, and both run on Xiaomi’s Xiaomi HyperOS 3 on top of Android 16. Unwelcome price rises Unfortunately, the battery and camera upgrades have yielded some unsavoury price rises. In the UK, the Xiaomi 17T starts at £649, while the 17T Pro is available from £799. Both are £100 more expensive than their predecessors in the Xiaomi 15T and 15T Pro , and means the 17T Pro is no longer cheap enough for us to consider it a mid-range phone . While the battery upgrades are significant, that alone isn’t enough to justify the increase. Instead, it’s likely to be a direct result of the ongoing global RAM shortage, which is pushing up prices of this crucial component. Xiaomi does at least offer a free Redmi Pad 2 Pro (worth £299) when you buy either. With no specific release date revealed, it seems to be available straight away: Buy the Xiaomi 17T Buy the Xiaomi 17T Pro While smartphone competition is intense at this price point, there’s an opportunity for Xiaomi to set a new standard for affordable flagships and mid-range phones. Of course, whether it does will depend on how it fares in real-world usage. Xiaomi 15T Pro Read our review Price When Reviewed: 799,90 Euro Best Prices Today: €699.9 at Xiaomi
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