Flagship smartphones in 2026 are no longer about all brands trying to achieve the common goal – be better than the iPhone. Take the Xiaomi 17 as an example – it may have an uncanny resemblance to the iPhone 16 Pro, but this is all about delivering a unique camera experience. With the Leica badge on its back, the Xiaomi 17 promises to deliver a premium photography and videography experience resonating with the German camera maker. That’s different and exciting for the smartphone buyer in an era when the narrative has become all about AI.
The Xiaomi 17 also has all the AI wizardry, but none of it is ‘in-your-face’ AI – it’s all there, sitting where you expect it to be. On paper, it’s got a big battery, a nice build quality, and one of the most powerful processors you can find on an Android phone. But the price tag – Rs 89,999 for the base model – marks it as more expensive than the iPhone 17. That price puts the Xiaomi 17 in a spot, and that makes it tricky for me to deliver a verdict on this phone.
Leica camera on a phone: Does it deliver?
To be honest, I have occasionally played with Leica cameras and never delved deeper into how different photography systems differ in their output. For all I know, the ‘Leica look’ has always celebrated a high-contrast, warm colour science, unique bokeh, and little imperfections to give the output a distinct character. The Xiaomi 17’s camera system tries to uphold that Leica character with its photo output.
Xiaomi has used three 50MP sensors to cover different focal lengths and as an enthusiast, the photography experience has been mixed. I am usually inclined towards the iPhone’s real-life lighting rendition and near-lifelike colour science, which makes the Xiaomi 17’s camera tuning out of my preference. Once I started playing with the hundreds of filter combinations, the Xiaomi 17 churned out interesting takes on the photo. Be it indoor portraits or outdoor landscapes, every phone tends to get the Leica look, with an artistic flair, warm overtones, slight overexposure, and most importantly, popping colours. When you are in the mood to go for full flair on your photos, the Xiaomi 17 impresses.
There has been no dearth of details and exposure management in photos, whether it be bright daytime stills or the challenging low-light imaging – it’s all about the colour profile this phone chooses – warm overtones and saturated colours for artistic flair, with some of them toying with the temperature and balance. If you admire Leica camera systems, you will like the results from the Xiaomi 17’s camera. The same is applicable for videography too.
Think of the Xiaomi 17’s camera as one that’s too fixed on getting the Leica style of photography right. I wish the Xiaomi development team took time to offer a mode, or even a filter, to keep the other kind of photographers happy.
What else does the Xiaomi 17 offer
The Xiaomi 17 is a compact phone, and at 191 grams, it feels hefty for its handy 6.3-inch frame. It is undoubtedly a beautifully finished phone, with a premium matte finish on the rails. Compared to today’s gigantic flagships, this phone feels easier to use. The fibreglass back panel promises to be more durable and keep the weight down, but the matte finish adds to its appeal. You get the full IP68 dust and water resistance certification, and Xiaomi’s Shield Glass protection promises to manage accidental drops and damage. On the whole, this is a nice phone to hold.
The Xiaomi 17 is also a nice phone to behold. The display is slightly cramped at 6.3 inched but this is a vibrant LTPO OLED panel that allows for smooth animations and great contrasts. Outdoor legibility is great, even under the afternoon Sun, and there’s no uncomfortable flickering in extreme low-brightness situations. The ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner is fast and reliable, while stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos tuning deliver loud and clear audio.
Performance: Fast as expected but…
Under the hood, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset (paired with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage) allows for flagship-level performance. Hence, if you are into gaming or video editing, where you need the raw processing capabilities handy, the Xiaomi 17 complies. Throughout my time with it, the phone ensured smooth app transitions and simultaneously using multiple apps at once. I even played games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Wreckfest for at least an hour on weekends, and the phone continued to run them flawlessly at their highest settings. The phone’s frame tends to heat up, but the vapour cooling chamber doesn’t let it affect the overall performance.
What seemed bothersome, though, was Xiaomi’s HyperOS 3 interface. Reminiscent of the old MIUI interfaces, Xiaomi’s new UI seems to be the only weak point in its otherwise premium package – the aesthetics feel lacklustre, belonging in its cheaper Redmi-branded phones. When the phone focuses on delivering a charming camera experience, it is sad to see the UI lifted straight from a cheap Redmi phone — that’s a jarring mix-n-match of components. The UI is smooth, however, and I didn’t see the phone struggle with lags or stutters in its animations.
Xiaomi’s persistence on switching on the Glance lockscreen adware while changing wallpaper every time is annoying. Any of the customisation features are buried within cluttered interfaces, mixed with ads. Even the weather app is littered with ads, and has less information than Google’s stock weather app (which is considered generally basic). Additionally, the pre-installed app stores in the form of Game Center and Indus App Store don’t seem to do justice to a phone that costs Rs 90,000! Add to that Xiaomi’s reputation for being slow at releasing updates and this ends up making us more disinterested.
Battery life and charging
With a massive 6330mAh silicon-carbon battery, the Xiaomi 17 can easily last an entire day on heavy usage patterns. Xiaomi’s battery optimisation has always been among the best in business, and hence, you get a compact phone that doesn’t demand a power bank as a necessary accessory. With a 100W charger in the box, you can top up the battery from 0-100% in 50 minutes. There’s also support for 50W wireless charging (only if you buy Xiaomi’s wireless charging accessory/10W wireless charging as usual).
Verdict on the Xiaomi 17
It is difficult to answer as to who should consider buying the Xiaomi 17. Xiaomi pitches it as a camera phone, resting on its collaboration with Leica for delivering a unique photography experience. The spec sheet tempts buyers, too, especially with its high-end processor, a big battery, and a well-crafted build. However, the value aspect remains a crucial one for premium phones in India, and Xiaomi doesn’t quite deliver on that front.
Starting at Rs 89,999, the Xiaomi 17 is pricer than both the Apple iPhone 17 (Rs 82,900) and Samsung Galaxy S26 (Rs 87,999)– two phones that define this category of smartphones with universally likeable photography credentials, polished software, and an overall premium user experience. The Google Pixel 10 (Rs 74,999) and Vivo X300 (Rs 75,999) are two other compact premium phones in this category that priortise a fancy camera system, along with a well-tuned daily user experience, and both of them cost far less than Xiaomi’s asking price for the 17.
In my opinion, the cluttered HyperOS 3 software experience and far too ‘style-obsessed’ tuning of its camera struggle to justify the premium Xiaomi is asking for the Xiaomi 17.
Hence, we can only recommend the Xiaomi 17 if you buy into Xiaomi’s idea of a premium phone — distinctive ‘Leica-look’ photography, a highly capable Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset paired with solid battery life in a compact body, and a somewhat cluttered HyperOS interface.
(Disclaimer: This review reflects the opinion of the author and doesn’t reflect the publication’s stand on any subjective statement.)