Introduction
Xiaomi is skipping the number 16 for this year’s flagships, and it’s jumping straight to 17, implying that it’s ready to take on the iPhone 17 series directly. Further underlining those ambitions the Xiaomi 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max are very similar to the iPhone 17 counterparts design-wise, but there’s a big twist.
Xiaomi’s latest Pro models feature a secondary OLED screen right next to the cameras, which is undoubtedly their most eye-catching feature. It’s not something we haven’t seen before, even from Xiaomi. The Xiaomi 11 Ultra from a few years ago had a second screen on its back, but this one is bigger, brighter and overall much better.
Looking into the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max specifically, we see an updated front screen as well. The Pro Max features a 6.9-inch LTPO OLED panel with thinner, symmetrical bezels all around. It’s said to be brighter than the previous lineup, but we need to complete testing the device before confirming the accuracy of those claims.
The secondary display measures 2.9″ and has the same 120 Hz refresh rate as the main one. Peak brightness on both is reportedly 3,500 nits, according to Xiaomi.
Naturally, the 17 Pro Max runs on the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, promising performance and efficiency improvements, as always. Impressively, the 17 Pro Max comes with 512GB storage in its base version.
The camera system gets a small update, with the main camera now featuring a slightly larger sensor, the new Light Fusion 950L developed by Xiaomi in collaboration with Leica. The 50MP 5x telephoto did get minor tweaks to the prism layout allowing a bigger 1/2″ sensor. In contrast, the 50MP ultrawide unit loses the autofocus ability, for some reason. You can still get excellent macro shots with the zoom camera, though, which focuses from really close distances and is better suited for macro work anyway.
To our utmost surprise, Xiaomi is finally replacing the old 32MP selfie camera with a seemingly much better 50MP shooter with autofocus. A well overdue update.
The battery receives a massive update as well. The 17 Pro Max is now equipped with a power pack worthy of a small tablet, boasting 7,500 mAh capacity. There’s no compromise in the fast charging either, as the handset supports 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. That’s even small step up from last year’s Xiaomi 15 Pro.
Now let’s take a tour around the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max – join us on the next page!
