Xiaomi has announced today that its upcoming upper mid-range Xiaomi 17T will launch in SA soon. Seven days from now, Xiaomi will presumably make the new device available for purchase or pre-order. It hasn’t said how much the device will cost, but it has indicated almost everything else about the device. Here’s what we know.
Just the one Xiaomi, then?
Between the Xiaomi 17T and 17T Pro, it seems SA is only getting the base model. The bigger, faster, more expensive device wasn’t mentioned by Xiaomi in its announcement. Maybe it makes a surprise appearance, but we doubt it. We haven’t seen a Pro from the T-series in SA since the 11T Pro in 2021. What a device that was.
That said, the non-Pro 17T still has some respectable specs. Xiaomi usually delivers when it comes to cameras, and that doesn’t seem to have changed. The heavily Leica-branded rear triple camera system includes three 50MP sensors, one for the main shooter with OIS and a “Light Fusion 800 image sensor”, whatever that is. Another handles periscope telephoto duties with 5x optical zoom and up to 120x ‘AI Ultra Zoom’. The last 50MP camera will snap 120° ultra-wide photos (and presumably macro shots too). 4K60fps video with HDR10+ is on the table, as is recording in log format.
The display will use a 6.59in AMOLED panel with a 1,268 x 2,756px resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 3,500 nits.
A MediaTek Dimensity 8500-Ultra SoC serves as the brain here. It’ll probably get 12GB of RAM to play with, but we don’t know if we’re getting the 256Gb or 512GB SKU. Our money’s on the former if Xiaomi want to position this device competitively. Alternatively, it could bring in the 512GB version and price it out of reach. Time will tell.
Rounding out the specs is a 6,500mAh battery and its accompanying 67W wired charging. Xiaomi is using silicon carbon here, so the device only tips the scales at 200g. There will also be AI features spattered around, including “AI Writing, AI Interpreter, AI Speech Recognition, AI Creativity Assistant, Circle to Search with
Google, Google Gemini integration, and more.”
The only bit of info still missing is the price, but Xiaomi is keeping that close to its chest for now. Check back in a week.
