Xiaomi’s headline phones don’t typically make it to South Africa via official channels, but the newest release, which includes the Xiaomi 17 Pro and Pro Max, will make you wish that wasn’t the case. The Chinese brand has always turned out excellent hardware at the top of the price bracket, but it’s throwing more extras than ever at users.
One of these is the inclusion of a secondary screen at the back of the device. This combination only applies to the Xiaomi 17 Pro and its beefier brother; the standard Xiaomi 17 doesn’t go quite as far to get your attention. There is some common ground between all three devices, but once you check out the rear end, you’ll notice the differences.
Xiaomi 17 Pro gaming move
The Xiaomi 17 Pro shares the same front display as the stock 17, a 6.3in AMOLED with support for Dolby Vision, HDR Vivid, and HDR10+, as well as a 120Hz refresh rate and 3,500 nits of brightness. The 17 Pro Max includes all of these specs but ups the screen size to 6.9in. Gotta justify that ‘Max’ suffix somehow. All three use Xiaomi’s own Dragon Crystal Glass, because Chinese companies are becoming tired of buying from Corning.
Also in common are Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipsets across the range, and storage/RAM combinations. The base phone loses out on the 1TB/16GB model, while the 17 Pro Max starts at 512GB/12GB. Other options include 256GB/12GB and 512GB/16GB, with the Xiaomi 17 Pro being the only handset that gets one of each.
Wait, a secondary
The Xiaomi 17 Pro and Pro Max include a rear-side display — a 2.7in 572 x 904 AMOLED in the case of the former and a 2.9in 596 x 976 AMOLED for the latter. Both use the same screen specs as the front display, and they’re for… well, notifications, selfies, that sort of thing. If they’re just present to tick a box, they’ve at least done so emphatically.
The second screen also lets the Chinese company sell a new bit of kit. Xiaomi’s Retro Handheld Console Case adds a set of physical buttons to the back, letting users muck around with SNES and Genesis games from days past while standing in line… wherever it is people still stand in line. The case includes a 200mAh battery, boasts a 40-day charge, and prevents users from charging their 17 Pro or Pro Max wirelessly. It’s also only confirmed for China at present.
I need about tree fiddies
Xiaomi’s new headliners all include three 50MP camera sensors in their back end, though the quality of each differs based on what you’re paying. If you’re assuming the Chinese company has more, that would be correct. Each of the 17s also has a 50MP sensor in front, with the f/2.2 21mm sensor being common across all models.
The Xiaomi 17’s three fiftys are spread across wide (f/1.7, 23mm), telephoto (f/2.0, 60mm), and ultrawide (f/2.4, 17mm, 102°) sensors. The Xiaomi 17 Pro and Pro Max share most of this camera loadout, with the 50MP telephoto swapped out for an f/3.0 115mm periscope telephoto that adds 5x optical zoom to the pricier packages.
Beefier batteries are also coming, with the 17 packing a 7,000mAh, the 17 Pro a 6,300mAh, and the 17 Pro Max a 7,500mAh. 100W wired charging is common across the range, too.
Pricing in China starts at about R11,000 for the Xiaomi 17, at R12,500 for the 17 Pro, and R15,000 for the 17 Pro Max. Those are price tags to sigh about. Remember how we mentioned that you’d want one of these, even if they weren’t available through official channels? We were correct, weren’t we?
2 Comments
Hi Brett
Sad that the local distribution isn’t selling the nice Xiaomi phones. What would be the cheapest, yet safe, way to buy one of these from a Chinese retailer in South Africa?
This is so cool. I wish I could get it on my next contract upgrade.