Xiaomi 17T Pro review: what is Xiaomi selling us here?

Xiaomi itself calls the 17T Pro the telephoto master. On top of that, there is Leica in the logo, a 7,000 mAh battery and a recommended retail price (RRP) of €899.90. The device arrives only 8 months after the Xiaomi 15T Pro. That raises the question: what is really new, what is marketing, and what do you get from the competition for the same money?

The 17T Pro is the middle piece in the lineup, not a cheap entry-level model and not an ultra flagship. The message: Leica camera, monster battery and a strong chip for under €900.

Camera and Leica

Leica actually worked on the optics, and there are Leica color profiles, Leica watermarks and a dedicated Leica portrait mode. This is not purely a licensing story. However, most of the image processing on the smartphone happens in software, algorithms and AI. Leica has a seat at the table there, and the added value is real, but it needs to be put in perspective.

The system consists of three cameras:

• Main camera: 50 megapixels, f/1.67 aperture, Light Fusion 950 sensor at 1/1.31 inches. Very good light capture and very good night photos.
• Telephoto: 50 megapixels, native 5x optical zoom with a periscope. Up to 10x, the quality stays very good. The telephoto is the device’s real main selling point. Stage Mode for concerts and stage photos is a nice extra that makes a difference in practice.
• Ultra-wide: 12 megapixels.

The 120x zoom is technically fascinating, but pure AI. As proof of the telephoto master, it is open to debate.

The new feature Leica Life Moment records a few seconds before you press the shutter and a few after. The result looks like a living picture. But I’ll be honest: these are glorified Live Photos. Apple has been doing this since 2015, and Google for years. Nicely implemented, with Leica branding and better integration for sharing to Instagram and TikTok, but selling it as a paradigm shift in mobile photography is more marketing than engineering.

What is really new and relevant is Movie Mode with 4K at 60 frames per second and real-time bokeh. For videographers, that is real added value, and it wasn’t possible at this level on the 15T Pro.

Chip, battery and display

• Chip: MediaTek Dimensity 9500 in 3 nanometers. Xiaomi claims 32% more single-core performance and 33% more GPU performance compared to its predecessor. In everyday use, that means a smooth system and strong gaming performance, but we already had that before.
• Battery: 7,000 mAh, the biggest battery Xiaomi has ever built into an international flagship. Almost two days of normal use. It charges at 100 watts wired and 50 watts wireless, both best in class.
• Display: 6.83-inch AMOLED with 144 Hz and up to 3,500 nits, truly outstanding. Xiaomi calls this Vision Care and has four TÜV Rheinland certifications: Flickerfree, Low Blue Light, Circadian Friendly and Intelligent Eyecare. Flickering is a real problem on many OLED displays, especially at low brightness. Xiaomi solves it with true DC dimming across the whole brightness range.
• Resolution: 1.5K at 2,722 x 1,280 pixels. Absolutely sharp, but not QHD. If you are used to QHD, you may notice it at 6.83 inches in a direct comparison.
• Glass: Gorilla Glass 7i, which came out for the midrange in 2024. The Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10 have the newer, more robust Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Here Xiaomi saved money in favor of camera and battery. Put a screen protector on it.
• Design: 8.2 mm thin, 219 g, remarkably compact for 7,000 mAh. IP68, colors Deep Blue and Violet, understated, solid and high quality.

Price and competition

The RRP is €899.90.

	Xiaomi 17T Pro	Galaxy S26	Pixel 10
Price	€899.90 RRP	from €999 RRP	€899
Battery	7,000 mAh	4,300 mAh	4,700 mAh
Updates	5 years OS, 6 years security	7 years	7 years
Telephoto	yes	no	no

The Galaxy S26 is €100 more expensive and brings One UI 8.5, Android 16, the Exynos 2600, a higher-resolution display and a more polished overall package. On battery, though, Xiaomi has simply won.

The Pixel 10 costs €899 and is the alternative that occupies me the most. Google’s computational photography is among the best camera systems, especially at night, less because of the lenses than because of the software. On top of that come 7 years of updates and the cleanest Android without any suspicion of bloatware.

What neither of them has is the telephoto lens. If you photograph at concerts or sporting events, or enjoy telephoto and macro shots, you won’t find anything comparable in this price range. In return, Xiaomi has the weaker update guarantee: 5 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches versus 7 years from the competition. I find two years less pretty bold for a device costing almost €900.

Verdict

Xiaomi is selling a device that is exceptional in two disciplines: battery life and telephoto camera. The rest is solid to very good, but not a unique selling point.

• Buy if you never again want to get through the evening with 20% battery.
• Buy if you photograph at concerts, at sports events or animals, anything far away, or like strong macro shots, and don’t want to spend more money on, say, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.
• Buy if Leica aesthetics mean something to you.

The telephoto master claim isn’t a lie: the telephoto is the best you can buy right now in this price range. But you’re only a master when you’re good everywhere, and in ultra-wide and software support there is still room for improvement. Even so, for €900 the 17T Pro gets you more battery, more zoom and more Leica than anywhere else.