Xiaomi has made the base model of its 17T series smaller, but it still has the same telephoto camera with fivex zoom as the larger Pro model. Larger batteries are available for both models, but only the Pro charges wirelessly.
In previous years, Xiaomi has always presented the T series at the end of September. The manufacturer is not revealing why the announcement is being made four months earlier this year. It merely vaguely states that the reason will be revealed later in the year. It could be that another product launch is due in the autumn for which the T series has been postponed - or that the Xiaomi 18 will not be coming to Europe after a six-month delay.
The Xiaomi 17T will be smaller than the 17T Pro
The predecessors of the 17T and 17T Pro are the same size. That changes. Xiaomi has reduced the touchscreen of the base model by 0.24 inches. This makes the smartphone 4.6 millimetres shorter, 2.3 millimetres narrower and 19 grammes lighter than the Pro model. Both AMOLED displays achieve a peak brightness of 3500 nits with HDR content. The refresh rate of the Xiaomi 17T Pro can be flexibly adjusted from 1 to 144 Hertz. The 17T reaches a maximum of 120 Hertz and does not come down that far.
The blue variant of the Xiaomi 17T Pro.
This also makes the battery of the Xiaomi 15T smaller than the Pro version, but still offers more capacity than its predecessor. The silicon-carbon batteries of the smartphones require less volume for power storage than in the 15T series. Xiaomi speaks of an energy density of 841 Wh/L. At 7000 mAh, it is the largest battery in a Xiaomi smartphone sold outside of China. The 17T Pro charges its battery faster via cable than the base model, which also does not support wireless charging and has a 500 mAh smaller battery.
The Dimensity 9500 and 8500 Ultra are the next generation. This is associated with an increase in performance and greater energy efficiency. Exactly how much will be revealed in tests.
The edges of the camera hump are not flattened like on the predecessor.
There is only one change to the cameras per smartphone, of which the telephoto camera on the 17T is the most exciting. With a focal length of 115 mm (KB equivalent), it is on a par with the Pro version. The main camera of the Pro has a new image sensor, the Light Fusion 950, which still has to prove its quality. Apart from that, the cameras remain identical:
Moving photos with Leica Live Moment and QuickShare sends to AirDrop
With the 17T series, Xiaomi continues its collaboration with Leica. The latest fruit is the renaming of «Live Moment» to «Leica Live Moment», which now match the Leica look in terms of colour. The principle remains unchanged: When the function is active, the camera not only saves a photo when the shutter release button is pressed, but also a short video clip of the one to two seconds preceding it.
The stage mode, on the other hand, is completely new. It is designed to capture the difficult lighting conditions at concerts and other events on a stage more realistically than the automatic mode.
The smaller Xiaomi 17T in the same hand.
With the Xiaomi 17T series, HyperOS 3, which is based on Android 16, will be able to display even more apps in its «Hyper Island». The function, which is suspiciously reminiscent of the iPhone's Dynamic Island, displays information from apps in a small field around the front camera.
The two smartphones are also the first from Xiaomi to QuickShare will be able to connect with AirDrop to wirelessly send pictures and other files directly to iOS devices. With QuickShare, this was previously only possible within Android and manufacturers are gradually enabling the function after Google made the start for its Pixel smartphones.
HyperOS 3 includes several AI tools.
Xiaomi offers different lengths of software support for the new smartphones. While the 17T Pro will receive function updates for five years and security updates for six years, the 17T will only receive function updates for four years. It will also receive security updates for six years.
As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.
