Xiaomi 17 Review: The Best Compact Phone in 2026?

Last year was an incredible year for compact smartphones. For the first time in a long time, small phones didn't feel like compromises. Two absolute favorite compact phones right now are the Vivo X300 and the iPhone 17.

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But now Xiaomi has kind of raised the bar with this phone — the Xiaomi 17. Because it barely has any compromise, at least on paper. It packs the latest flagship Android chipset, features the biggest battery in its segment, and has one of the best hands-on feels on a compact phone ever. So, the real question is – has Xiaomi just built the ultimate compact flagship? Or is there a catch?

After spending real time with it, in many ways, Xiaomi has actually delivered on all pillars of what makes a great smartphone.

Xiaomi 17 Specifications

• Design & Build: 151.1 × 71.8 × 8.06 mm, 191g, flat aluminum frame, matte glass back, Dragon Crystal Glass protection, IP68 rated (1.5m for 30 min), Black / White / Blue / Pink
• Display: 6.3-inch M10 LTPO AMOLED, 1220 × 2656 px (464 ppi), 19.5:9 ratio, 1–120Hz variable refresh rate, 3,500 nits peak brightness, 2160Hz PWM dimming, 1.18mm uniform bezels, 89.5% screen-to-body ratio, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, 12-bit
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3nm), Octa-core, Adreno 840 GPU, 4,497mm² vapor chamber cooling
• Memory: 12GB / 16GB LPDDR5X RAM, 256GB / 512GB UFS 4.1 storage
• Software & UI: Android 16 with HyperOS 3
• Rear Camera: Triple setup — 50MP main (OIS), 50MP telephoto (f/2.0, 60mm eq., OIS, 2.6x optical zoom), 50MP ultra-wide, Leica Master Portrait Mode
• Front Camera: 50MP, 4K@30/60fps video
• Security: Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 (aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, LHDC 5), 5G (210+ countries), GPS (L1+L5), BDS, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC, GLONASS, NFC, IR blaster, USB-C 3.2 (DisplayPort, OTG)
• Sensors: Accelerometer, proximity, gyroscope, compass, barometer
• Battery: 6330mAh Si/C Li-Ion, 100W wired, 50W wireless, 22.5W reverse wireless charging

Xiaomi 17 Review

Design and Build

Xiaomi has nailed it when it comes to design. Despite increasing the battery capacity, they've managed to keep the weight almost identical to last year. The size is just perfect, the hands-on feel is premium with even weight distribution, the glass back is matte, so there are zero issues with fingerprint smudges, and overall, using this phone feels so handy and comfortable.

Although considering the flagship price, an additional IP69 rating and the latest Gorilla Glass protection would have been a cherry on top rather than just IP68 and regular Xiaomi Shield Glass protection. It's nitpicking, but when you pay a good price, it's not wrong to expect the best.

Battery

For a compact phone, the battery endurance has been quite good. Screen-on-time came close to 9 to 10 hours on regular use, which means this is a full-day battery phone. In fact, this small phone has better endurance than both the Xiaomi 17 Pro and the 17 Ultra.

Unfortunately, Xiaomi has followed Apple and Samsung's trend of removing the charger from the box. It does support 100W wired and 50W wireless charging — much faster than what you get on the iPhone 17 or the latest Galaxy S26. This year, the Xiaomi 17 also supports USB PD with PPS and China's Unified Fast Charging Standard, which means it can get high charging speeds even with good third-party GaN chargers or compatible laptop adapters. So you're not completely locked into buying Xiaomi's own brick.

Display

Coming in 2026, if there is one thing smartphone brands have nailed, it's the display. Here, we are getting a decently sized 6.3-inch screen, which means if you have small hands, you don't have to deal with today's oversized, hard-to-manage screens.

The core quality is quite nice. It's a TCL-made panel with a 120Hz LTPO refresh rate, 12-bit color depth, fast touch response, both hardware and software-level eye protection, and brightness that is almost as good as any other flagship phone out there.

Performance

Even when it comes to overall performance, there's zero compromise. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with LPDDR5X RAM, a USB 3.2 Type-C port, and UFS 4.1 storage means the phone transfers data in a flash — faster than both the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro, which is a genuine advantage for anyone who regularly moves files between phone and laptop.

Using the phone normally isn't an issue either. It feels super fast and handles reel editing, multitasking, and all everyday tasks very well. There are a few stutters here and there, but other than that, this phone is fast and minor stutters aren't much of an issue.

Gaming holds up well too. With the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 running the show, the Xiaomi 17 performs well in almost all titles with good average fps and stable 5% lows, and the phone supports 120fps gaming. There's also a pretty big vapor chamber cooling system, so heating wasn't noticeable during heavy-duty games like Genshin Impact for around 30 minutes. It's only when running extensive benchmarks or highly taxing activities like recording in the sun for a long time that the camera module and aluminum frames get hot, with some performance throttling — but that's the only instance, and it's unlikely to be a problem in real-life usage.

OS and UI

HyperOS is not one of the most beloved Android skins, but at the same time there's nothing inherently wrong with it. It's feature-rich, very usable, and the latest version feels noticeably smoother and more refined compared to the previous generation.

Xiaomi has also upped the update game from 3+4 years to 5 years of OS and 6 years of security updates, which is great. The only feedback is that Xiaomi could benefit from having a couple of unique AI features of their own, as Samsung does — that would really help distinguish the experience from other Android brands.

Speaker and Haptics

The stereo speakers are loud, with good emphasis on the highs and mids. The bass could have been a bit better, though. The haptic feedback is crisp while unlocking the fingerprint sensor, typing, and general interaction — overall, interacting with this phone is a nice experience.

Cameras

For a compact phone, the camera experience is not that bad. Xiaomi hasn't changed the camera specs much from last year. It's still a 50MP triple camera setup with an upgraded Omnivision sensor for the main camera, the Samsung JN5 telephoto, and a downgraded ultra-wide camera. The cameras are still optimized by Leica, but similar performance to the more expensive Xiaomi 17 Ultra shouldn't be expected.

Day time

The primary lens produces nice images in almost all lighting conditions — sharp, with good dynamic range, better than the iPhone 17, and even in the default vivid mode the saturation levels are not indigestible; they're quite close to natural. The only thing that needs improvement as far as the 1x images go is the white balance.

Portrait

The portraits from the telephoto lens are good for sharing on social media. Skin tone comes off a bit bright sometimes, but it's not a problem — in fact, most of the time the results are preferable to the iPhone's yellow-brownish color reproduction. Shadow processing on the face could be a bit better in the default 2.6x mode; for some reason shadows are better processed in the 3.2x option. The telephoto also takes nice macro photos with a minimum focusing distance of just 10cm, so you can get really close to the subject with impressive results.

Selfie 

The selfie camera is improved this year, up from 32MP to 50MP. Details could be better, but most selfies turn out quite pleasing. It's not as wide as the iPhone, but the width is decent. Selfie videos are similarly decent — not as wide as the iPhone but stabilization is nice enough.

Ultrawide

The only thing that's actually not up to par is the ultra-wide. The lens is just 17mm wide so images aren't wide at all, and details despite the 50MP sensor are quite muddy, especially at night. 

Night

Ultra-wide videos at night are particularly weak, and results are subpar even in good ambient lighting. The main 1x and telephoto lenses perform well in both day and nighttime video, though — sharp, stable, and not much to complain about.

Xiaomi 17 Review: Conclusion

After using the Xiaomi 17, what can be said is that for a compact phone, it doesn't really feel like a downgrade when switching from a daily driver like the iPhone 17 Pro. The only real compromises are the weak ultra-wide camera and maybe the slightly less versatile zoom range. Other than that, this year's Xiaomi 17 is an almost perfect all-rounder compact phone with no major flaws.

Xiaomi 17 Review Pros and Cons

Pros

• Flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 performance
• Great main and telephoto cameras
• Premium  display
• 5 years OS + 6 years security updates

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Cons

• Weak ultra-wide camera
• Occasional minor UI stutters