The Xiaomi 17 and 17 Pro series were all announced today in China.

Without context, this is much like any other phone announcement.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

But, in the grand scheme of things, Xiaomi’s latest announcement just came in a day after the awfully-named (and very mouthful) Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 unveiling at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii.

To make it more odd, the Xiaomi 15T and 15T Pro global launch in Munich, Germany was also just a day ahead prior to this Mainland-exclusive launch.

Even weirder, they skipped the 16 lineup altogether.

So… where’s the Xiaomi 16?

Xiaomi was upfront with this change.

Skipping “16” was their strategic shift to directly rival the recently-announced iPhone 17 lineup. And if you thought it stops there, you’re wrong.

For the first time in forever, Xiaomi debuts their very first “Pro Max” model (not replacing the already-existing Ultra flagship).

To make the upfront rivalry more dramatic, both models of the Xiaomi 17 Pro series looked like the iPhone 17 Pro on steroids.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Like Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the all-new Xiaomi 17 Pro and Pro Max all have a “plateau”-like camera bar up top.

However, Xiaomi takes it to the next level by placing a 2.7 / 2.9-inch 120Hz AMOLED display on that cutout.

GIF by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

It’s like the MIX Flip 2’s cover display was transplanted onto both the 17 Pro and Pro Max models.

Much like any other flip cover screen, it functions as a digital watch, a selfie mirror, even widgets that you can fiddle every once in a while.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

Xiaomi even sells an optional Game Boy-like Retro Handheld case for CNY 299 just so you can play games on that mini screen.

Base, Pro, Pro Max

The main differentiating factor of the Xiaomi 17 and 17 Pro series are their display sizes: Both the base and Pro models have smaller screens at 6.3 inches. The difference? base has OLED, Pro has AMOLED.

Meanwhile. the 17 Pro Max, as expected, directly competes against Apple’s offering with its ginormous 6.9-inch AMOLED panel.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

That’s protected by Xiaomi’s Longjing Glass 3.0 whereas the other two only have the first-gen glass protection.

All of them have second-gen LIPO screen technology which makes their bezels ultra-narrow at impossibly 1.18mm.

There’s also 1.5K resolution, adaptive 1~120Hz refresh rate, DC Dimming, and 1 nit ultra-low to 3500 nits max brightness. DCI-P3 wide color gamut is highly-accurate backed by HDR10+ and Dolby Vision certifications.

Speaking of, there are the Dolby Atmos-powered stereo speakers complemented by Hi-Res Audio and Snapdragon Sound support.

The bigger the size, the bigger the battery is.

Obviously, the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max possesses the largest at 7500mAh. Weird enough, the vanilla Xiaomi 17 has a bigger 7000mAh capacity  than 17 Pro’s 6300mAh battery.

Phones can then be topped up via Xiaomi’s 100W HyperCharge + 50W wireless HyperCharge standard.

Lastly, all three models have triple rear 50MP Leica Camera + Summilux optics with varying differences in hardware:

Xiaomi 17 Pro Max’s Super Concentration Periscope Telephoto

All phones can record up to 8K / 30fps with only the Pro series being able to shoot 4K / 120fps.

The Elite headliner

Even though Xiaomi has managed to pull off the XRING O1 as its first in-house chipset, it’s not the SoC that powers Xiaomi’s latest flagships.

And unlike last year where the realme GT 7 Pro headlined the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, Xiaomi’s 17 series rocks the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip first in line. That’s regardless if you get the basic or Pro variants.

And as coincidental as it seems, both Qualcomm and Xiaomi made the bold move of skipping numbers: Xiaomi 17 instead of Xiaomi 16; Elite Gen 5 instead of Gen 4 (although Elite 2 would have sounded so much better IMHO).

That’s paired by either 12 or 16GB of LPDDR5X memory together with up to 512GB/1TB UFS 4.0 storage options.

No one gets left behind as all phones boast IP68 water and dust resistance rating for utmost protection against dust, splashes, rain, and water immersion.

All of them also run Xiaomi’s latest HyperOS 3.0 with smarter and more powerful AI tools in mind.

Despite rivaling Apple’s latest iPhone 17, the new update makes pairing seamless to Apple devices. Regardless if it’s an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Pricing and Availability

The hero colors of the Xiaomi 17 are the Snow Mountain Powder and Icemelt Blue.

Meanwhile, the Xiaomi 17 Pro series highlights its Morino Green and Coldsmoke Purple colorways.

Graphics by Vincenz Lee | GadgetMatch

If you want classic choice, they’re still being offered in Black and White.

Specific pricing and configurations are as follows:

Xiaomi 17

• 12+256GB = CNY 4499 (US$ 630 / EUR 540 / GBP 470 / SG$ 810 / MYR 2660 / PhP 36,280 / INR 56,000)
• 12+512GB = CNY 4799 (US$ 670 / EUR 570 / GBP 500 / SG$ 870 / MYR 2840 / PhP 38,700 / INR 59,730)
• 16+512GB = CNY 4999 (US$ 700 / EUR 600 / GBP 520 / SG$ 900 / MYR 2960 / PhP 40,315 / INR 62,220)

Xiaomi17 Pro

• 12+256GB = CNY 4999 (US$ 700 / EUR 600 / GBP 520 / SG$ 900 / MYR 2960 / PhP 40,315 / INR 62,220)
• 12+512GB = CNY 5299 (US$ 745 / EUR 635 / GBP 560 / SG$ 960 / MYR 3130 / PhP 42,730 / INR 65,950)
• 16+512GB = CNY 5599 (US$ 785 / EUR 670 / GBP 580 / SG$ 1010 / MYR 3300 / PhP 45,150 / INR 69,690)
• 16+1TB = CNY 5999 (US$ 840 / EUR 715 / GBP 625 / SG$ 1085 / MYR 3550 / PhP 48,380 / INR 74,670)

Xiaomi 17 Pro Max

• 12+512GB = CNY 5999 (US$ 840 / EUR 715 / GBP 625 / SG$ 1085 / MYR 3550 / PhP 48,380 / INR 74,670)
• 16+512GB = CNY 6299 (US$ 880 / EUR 750 / GBP 660 / SG$ 1140 / MYR 3720 / PhP 50,800 / INR 78,400)
• 16+1TB = CNY 6999 (US$ 980 / EUR 835 / GBP 730 / SG$ 1260 / MYR 4130 / PhP 56,440 / INR 87,110)

* These are just approximate, rounded-off price conversions

Again, global availability has not been announced. But looking at the past, Xiaomi always reveals their latest flagships to the world during the start of the year. We should expect them to hit international shelves by early 2026.