8. Xiaomi 17 pricing and availability<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\nXiaomi 17 review<\/h2>\n If you\u2019re shopping for a small, flagship-grade phone by a reliable brand with parts to match, it\u2019s not easy to find one these days. Choices are rather limited, so it\u2019s nice that Xiaomi still has that option via its base Xiaomi 17<\/b>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unlike other brands, where non-Ultra flagship phones tend to receive nerfed components, Xiaomi\u2019s approach is to include everything, but in a smaller, sleeker form. <\/p>\n
In general, compact phones already trade screen and battery size in favour of lighter builds with slimmer camera bumps. Xiaomi 17 doesn\u2019t cheap out by including flagship components like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5<\/b>, 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and UFS 4.1 storage.<\/p>\n
Just like the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, Xiaomi has decided that the upgrades to this phone are enough to justify a S$150 price increase, bringing\u00a0the 512GB version to S$1,249<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s see if it holds up as a top choice for compact phone lovers.<\/p>\n
An even smaller display, but still high quality<\/h2>\n In a rare move, Xiaomi has made the screen slightly smaller to 6.3 inches<\/b>. We think that\u2019s smart, since people who buy this phone likely want a small device and are willing to sacrifice larger displays or batteries in favour of compact carry.<\/p>\n
The 191g<\/b> weight is ideal for one-handed use, and it slides perfectly into most pockets without pulling down your pants, unlike most flagship phones. It is, however, about 24g heavier than the Samsung Galaxy S26, its closest 2026 rival. <\/p>\n\nSmaller, but brighter.<\/p>\n
Photo: HWZ<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The screen itself was improved with 3,500-nit peak brightness and 2,160Hz PWM dimming. It retains the dynamic 1-120Hz<\/b> refresh rate, as well as Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support.\u00a0This is only the start of Xiaomi 17\u2019s consistent approach to being smaller but not worse than others.<\/p>\n
The sides kept their slightly curved-edge design, which provides a nice, comfortable hold in the hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the Dolby Atmos-supported stereo speakers on the phone are sufficient for watching content in a pinch, we still ended up preferring a pair of true wireless earbuds for even higher sound quality (and to avoid annoying people if you\u2019re in public).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Topping off its durability and flagship hygiene factors is the IP68<\/b> dust and water resistance rating. We expect nothing less, too.<\/p>\nRefined software<\/h2>\n
The phone runs on Xiaomi\u2019s HyperOS 3, and since we\u2019ve already covered most of the important details in our Xiaomi 17 Ultra review, we\u2019ll briefly go over our thoughts on the software and head straight to the cameras.<\/p>\n
The overall UI experience felt fluid and intuitive. Features like AI Writing and photo editing worked well, even though fringe features like the AI Search are a little wonky. Hyper Island, a notification and control strip at the top rung, is extremely nice to have if you were previously using an iPhone. <\/p>\n