At a time when smartphone prices are soaring due to the global RAM shortage, the Xiaomi 17T seeks to offer flagship-grade performance without the flagship price tag. Its 256GB storage fetches Rs 60,000. Upgrading to 512GB will cost you an additional Rs 5,000. Both variants have 12GB RAM. The smartphone is powered by the Dimensity 8500 Ultra SoC, which is one of the finest mobile processors in MediaTek’s catalogue, only bested by the flagship Dimensity 9500. We used the smartphone for a week to find out whether it’s worth buying over a premium handset. Here is our in-depth review of the Xiaomi 17T.
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In This Article
Xiaomi 17T Review: Design and Display
Box Contents
- Smartphone
- 67W power adapter
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- Silicone cover
- SIM ejector
- Quick start guide
The Xiaomi 17T follows the design language of the Xiaomi 17 (our review here). It uses a similar camera island with a square shape and rounded edges, but its lenses do not jut out from the chassis. Instead of an LED flash, the module houses an IR blaster in a separate cutout. The flash is positioned outside the island. The back panel is made out of reinforced plastic, which doesn’t feel as premium as the pure glass back of the Xiaomi 17. The same goes for the plastic frame, which isn’t able to recreate the in-hand feel of an aluminium unit.
The right edge of the frame houses the volume rocker and the side button. The SIM tray, microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille are positioned on the bottom edge. The earpiece acts as the secondary speaker. The device is rated IP68 for dust and water resistance. It can survive being submerged in static freshwater up to 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes.
The 6.59-inch LTPS AMOLED display has a 120Hz refresh rate and can reach a peak brightness of 3,500 nits. It maintains perfect legibility in bright outdoor conditions. The bezels around the screen are sleek and uniform. The touch response is very smooth. The optical fingerprint scanner under the display is not as snappy as the ultrasonic units we’re used to seeing in this price bracket, but it does its job quite well.
During the review period, we used the Xiaomi 17T to stream movies and TV shows across major OTT platforms, including Netflix, Prime Video, and JioHotstar. The 1.5K display produced a phenomenal viewing experience with rich visuals, excellent contrast, and deep colours. The audio output produced by the dual speaker setup was warm and well-rounded.
Xiaomi 17T Review: Performance and Cameras
At the heart of this smartphone lies the MediaTek Dimensity 8500 chipset. It is equipped with 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and comes in 2 UFS 4.1 storage options:
- 256GB: Rs 59,999
- 512GB: Rs 64,999
We ran a couple of benchmark tests on the device. Here is how it performed.
- AnTuTu 3D: 1,728,191
- Geekbench 6: 1,732 (single core) | 6,682 (multi-core)
Daily driving the Xiaomi 17T is a breeze. There is no routine task that the device can’t demolish with absolute ease. You can juggle a dozen apps at the same time, and the 12GB LPDDR5X RAM will ensure that the transitions remain smooth. With UFS 4.1 storage on board, apps take virtually no time to load. To top it off, the haptic motor produces a crisp and satisfying vibrational feedback.
Running power-intensive gaming titles on the Xiaomi 17T presents no problems either. We played BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile at the highest possible settings and were pleased to see that the gameplay wasn’t marred by stutters and frame drops. The 3D IceLoop cooling system did a decent job of keeping the internal temperature in check. We started noticing warmth along the back panel after hitting the 15-minute mark.
Software duties on Xiaomi 17T are handled by Android 16 skinned with HyperOS 3. Xiaomi has promised 5 major OS updates and 6 years of security patches for this device. You get some bloatware apps out of the box, but they can be removed easily.
HyperOS 3 feels light and well-optimised. The animations and transitions bring forth an intuitive browsing experience. Some of the elements feel inspired by iOS, but that isn’t a bad thing at all. For instance, the front camera cutout expands into a Dynamic Island-style animation whenever you plug in the charger, play a song on Spotify, start a timer, or carry out other functions. The Quick Settings panel has a translucent background effect. We like that you can customise the app drawer to get rid of the app categories and increase the background transparency. This gives it a much cleaner look.
Xiaomi HyperAI isn’t the outright best AI suite we’ve seen on an Android phone, but it has all the essential features you need. ‘AI Writing’ helps you draft emails and refine the text; ‘AI Creativity Assistant’ offers an expansive photo-editing suite; ‘AI Translate Conversation’ helps you have a face-to-face conversation with someone who doesn’t speak your language; while the ‘AI Interpreter’ translates speech over a call. You also get Google’s Gemini Assistant and Circle to Search.
The 6,500mAh Si/C battery pack on this phone holds enough juice to last a day with ease. You don’t need to worry about finding a power source on your way back home from work if your screen time doesn’t exceed 6 hours. We wouldn’t call this a 2-day phone as there are phones with 7,000mAh or bigger batteries that have laid claim to that title. The 67W takes close to 2 hours to fully charge the phone. There’s no option for wireless charging.
The Xiaomi 17T does not make any tradeoffs when it comes to its camera setup. Its rear camera island houses a 50MP primary shooter, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 50MP periscope telephoto lens with 5x zoom. All of these lenses are tuned by Leica. You can choose between Leica Vibrant and Leica Authentic profiles in the native Camera app.
The 50MP primary shooter captures delightful images in outdoor daylight conditions. These images flaunt vibrant colours, sharp details, and tasteful contrast. The smartphone doesn’t go overboard while processing these images. Even the shots taken on the Leica Vibrant profile seem balanced and lifelike. In limited lighting conditions, the camera relies on Night Mode to light up the shot and get rid of the grain.
The 12MP ultrawide lens manages to retain the colour palette of the primary lens. While the results are a tad soft, they make up for it in splendid vibrancy. Rest assured, you won’t ignore this lens while using this phone. It comes in quite handy while taking group pictures and landscape shots. In limited lighting, this camera takes good pictures, but some noise manages to creep into the final results.
The 50MP 5x periscope telephoto lens is the star of the show. During the course of the week, it became our most-used sensor in this camera array. It takes sharp, crisp shots with lush colours and fine dynamic range. It is super reliable while capturing the subject from a distance.
The telephoto lens pulls its weight and puts up an MVP performance while taking portrait shots. The Portrait Mode in the native Camera app lets you capture images in 3 zoom levels – 1x, 2x, and 5x. While the former two produce good results, the 5x telephoto lens blows them out of the water with its phenomenal focusing skills and delectable background blur. If you’re a fan of DSLR-like images, it is hard to imagine not becoming a fan of this lens.
The 32MP front-facing camera takes clear and sharp selfies without messing with the subject’s skin tone and texture. This camera, along with the ultrawide lens, can record 4K videos at 30fps. Meanwhile, the primary shooter and telephoto lens can capture 4K footage at 30 and 60 fps.
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Verdict
The Xiaomi 17T is easily the most underrated smartphone in its segment. It won’t get all the laurels due to its understated design and lack of flashiness, but it quietly outperforms its peers on several metrics. As a daily driver, you can rely on this phone to always back you up with power, no matter the task at hand. The AMOLED display is smooth, bright, and vivid. The 6,500mAh battery pack keeps battery anxiety at bay.
The big highlight is the camera module – more specifically, the 50MP 5x telephoto lens. You’d be hard-pressed to find a phone with anything comparable to this sensor. If you enjoy taking portraits, this should be your go-to phone. At Rs 60,000, 12GB RAM and 256GB storage isn’t a bad deal either.
Pros
- Bright display
- Powerful performance
- Good battery life
- Amazing telephoto camera
Cons
- Plastic build
- No wireless charging
