Did the name in the title sound familiar? Well, that’s exactly what Xiaomi wanted to do. They copied the name to steal the spotlight, but it didn’t go that way.
What ended up becoming one of the most underrated flagship phones of 2025. First, it was the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra that stole the show, then came the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and there was a line of new Pixels and the OnePlus phones. That’s how the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max fell off the radar.
I have been using it for the last two months, and it has impressed me in every way possible – great cameras, beast performance, and that little functional display at the back is good.
If you have been looking to upgrade your phone without splashing 1000 bucks just to get the flagship experience, Xiaomi 17 Pro Max might just be the right choice.
I said ‘might’ just be the right choice because there are some things that I wish to see improved.
If you want to know all about them, read on to find out more.
How I Test Phones
Before I dive right into the review, let me explain how I test phones.
As a tester, I can’t live the true experience of a phone until I am using it daily as my main phone. So, I had to put my SIM card in and use it as my main phone.
What do I do on the phone I am testing?
Everything. From calling to playing games on it, I do everything that you guys might do on your phone. And to make sure this step is seamless, I rely on high-speed internet because most of the tasks I perform need an active internet connection.
For that, I rely on Xfinity Internet. Xfinity has been my choice since 2022 for these reasons: its plans are affordable, its network is dependable, and it offers multilingual Xfinity Servicio al Cliente for Spanish speakers living in the US.
Once I am done with my thorough testing of the phone, I check on forums for aspects of the phone that I might have missed. I recheck those features, and then I write reviews about them.
So, it is pretty extensive work. Now, let’s get to the work I did for the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max.
Great Display With an Added Surprise
It has one of the biggest displays in the market, measuring 6.9 inches corner to corner. It isn’t just a big display; it is a beautiful one. You have to look in person to see what’s going on.
The first thing you will notice is how thin its bezels are – it is a whopping 92.3% screen-to-body ratio, which is one of the highest in modern smartphones. There is a small cutout for the camera, which is rarely an issue.
It is smooth at 120Hz, and it gets plenty bright outdoors with brightness peaking up to 3,500 nits.
Oh, and there is a secondary display at the back. It is a highly functional one and works just like the outer display of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series. You can see the frame while looking at the back of the phone and taking pictures with the main cameras, see notifications, and do so much more. I love that feature, and I wish other manufacturers would copy it.
If a great display is a priority for a new phone, you won’t go wrong with Xiaomi 17 Pro Max.
Top-Notch Performance
The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 with at least 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM. It can go up to a massive 16 gigs, but I have the 12-gig variant.
The GeekBench scores are slightly lower than those of other Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 phones, but it isn’t that big of a deal because it works perfectly fine when intensive tasks are thrown at it.
I have tested it by playing games, editing content, listening to music, and doing the regular tasks on it. I’m sure that you won’t have any troubles, at least performance-wise, on this phone.
A Massive Battery for Two-Day Usage
I really cannot complain with a massive 7,500 mAh silicon carbon battery. This is an easy two-day phone that can go beyond, depending on how you use it.
As I mentioned earlier, I have tested it extensively, and even with that testing, it just wouldn’t give up on the same day. All credits go to the silicon carbon technology that can hold more charge without compromising the thickness of the phone.
Incredible Cameras with Amazing Performance
It is a triple camera setup with 50 MP sensors each for the main shooter, ultrawide, and the telephoto camera.
Specs aside, how are the pictures and videos in real life?
They are incredible. Both photos and videos are gorgeous from the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max. There is nothing significant I can complain about.
However, there is one thing that I wish were better on the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, and that is the HyperOS (unrelated to the camera).
A Great Flagship Phone, Without the Flagship Pricing
The Android skin on top is HyperOS, which is just okay. The problem with that is the bloatware, unnecessary, and sometimes clunky animations. It isn’t as refined as that of Samsung’s One UI or OnePlus’ OxygenOS.
If Xiaomi can somehow improve it, it is going to absolutely knock the competitors, but for now, I think users can live with that, especially when it costs $400-$500 less than its counterparts.
In my opinion, the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max is a great flagship phone without the flagship pricing.
