Last year, the Xiaomi 15T Pro easily won over the vanilla 15T in our poll. Now that the 17T generation has arrived, will history repeat itself? There is a good chance that it might not – the new vanilla model brings some key improvements that could improve its fortunes, but there are some issues too.
The biggest issue may be the price – the Xiaomi 17T starts at €750, while the 17T Pro starts at €900 (for a 12/256GB phone in both cases). This is a €100 price hike compared to the 15T pair. We get it, everything has gotten more expensive, especially devices that need fast RAM and storage. Even so, the T-series is supposed to be a sub-flagship line, but this one is pushing up against the €1,000 threshold.
For what it’s worth, the Xiaomi 17T Pro is fairly close to a flagship with a Dimensity 9500 chipset, a 1/1.31” sensor in the main camera, a 50MP 5x/115mm periscope and a large 7,000mAh battery with fast 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. It’s still not a Xiaomi 17 Max or 17 Pro Max, though. Neither of those are available outside of China, of course, so in most regions the 17T Pro is the closest we have to a large Xiaomi flagship that is cheaper than the 17 Ultra.
Xiaomi 17T Pro
The vanilla 17T has the Dimensity 8500 chipset, a smaller 1/1.55” sensor in its main camera and a smaller 6,500mAh battery with 67W wired-only charging. This generation it also has a smaller display – 6.59”, down from 6.83” on the 15T. Another big change between the 15T and 17T is the telephoto camera – the old 50MP 2x/46mm unit was replaced with the same 50MP 5x/115mm periscope that is on the 17T Pro as well.
The smaller screen might be seen as an improvement – we’ve seen plenty of people complain that modern phones have gotten too big – but we know that some would disagree. And having the same periscope as the Pro is a pure win.
Xiaomi 17T and 17T Pro at a glance
For reference, both the 15T and 15T Pro had 6.83” displays and 5,500mAh batteries. They were thinner too (7.5mm and 8.0mm, respectively, vs. 8.2mm and 8.3mm on the 17T and 17T Pro).
Xiaomi 17T and 17T Pro color options
If you need help deciding, check out our Xiaomi 17T review and our Xiaomi 17T Pro review (also on video).
So, what do you think about the Xiaomi 17T – is this new direction in which Xiaomi took the vanilla model an improvement? Will you consider the 17T when looking for your next phone?
What about the Xiaomi 17T Pro? It feels like a 15T Pro with a faster chipset and larger battery, which is a good thing, right? It does cost more than its predecessor, but then so does the 17T.
