Xiaomi 17 Series Shows Why They Should Have Sticked to Their ‘Original’ Plan

Xiaomi 17 and 17 Ultra have finally made their way over to India, but the bubble seems to have burst before the celebration could even begin. These devices are the spearhead of Xiaomi’s long-term strategy to rebrand itself as a premium player, but the tactic is faltering. Most upgrades are incremental at best, and the massive price hikes only make it difficult to hit the buy button. Let’s take a detailed look at why Xiaomi’s latest 17 series might not be the redeeming grace Xiaomi has been hoping for.

Xiaomi 17: A 40% Price Hike for Minor Upgrades?

Take a look at the Xiaomi 17; it feels more like a refresh with only three major changes across the board. Starting with the display, it has a slightly smaller 6.3-inch screen compared to the 6.36-inch panel on the Xiaomi 15. The resolution and refresh rate remain the same, while the brightness has been slightly bumped up to 3500 nits.

Another upgrade is the processor, as it uses Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 over last year’s 8 Elite. However, for a new flagship, using the latest processor is a natural expectation rather than a standout feature. In fact, you can find phones with 8 Elite Gen 5 like the OnePlus 15 for much lower price.

And if you thought a camera-centric phone would bring new camera hardware, you are wrong! It uses the same 50MP triple camera setup as last year’s Xiaomi 15. The only change is the selfie camera, which has been bumped up to 50MP from last year’s 32MP.

The third upgrade is the battery, which is 6330mAh, a modest upgrade over the 5240mAh cell on last year’s Xiaomi 15. The reason I am calling it modest is that flagships like the Oppo Find X9 offer bigger batteries while retaining a compact form factor.

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So how much do you expect Xiaomi to charge for these minor upgrades? 5K? 10K? No, the company is charging Rs. 79,999 which is 25k more, a whopping 40 percent price hike! And what do you get in return? 7 years of updates? Privacy display? New camera hardware? No, slightly better performance with a slightly bigger battery.

Xiaomi 17 Ultra: Why Xiaomi’s Premium Pivot Isn’t Working

Comparatively, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra feels like a more comprehensive upgrade, yet it remains a hard sell. Xiaomi has ditched the quad camera setup in a favour of a new triple camera one. Gone is the 50MP telephoto and you get a new 200MP 1-inch periscope sensor with continous optical zoom. However, the ultrawide and wide-angle sensors remain identical to last year’s model. Camera is where Xiaomi 17 Ultra excels. You can see a detailed breakdown in the video below.

But you don’t buy a phone just for the camera. There are DSLRs for that. No, you want the complete package including a stellar software experience. This is where Xiaomi begins to show weakness.

HyperOS – Lackluster and Bloated at Best

HyperOS feels refined than before but is nowhere close to the complete package that Samsung offers with OneUI 8. For starters, One UI offers features like Audio Eraser than even works in third party apps. There’s Now Nudge that lets Bixby provide contextual information when your friend asks for a flight ticket. Similarly, Samsung Dex lets you hook your phone to a external screen for a PC like multitasking experience. Xiaomi had a PC mode on its tablet but never introduced it on its smartphones. Not much in the name of AI features either. My point is that Xiaomi’s HyperOS lacks the finesse that skins like OneUI and OxygenOS offer to its users.

Thankfully Xiaomi hasn’t cheapened out on the 17 Ultra. The display is now bigger at 6.9-inch and it uses Xiaomi’s Shield Glass 3.0. Just like its younger sibling, it uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Ironically, the 6,000mAh battery, while bigger than the 15 Ultra, is actually smaller than the base Xiaomi 17 battery. Even the wireless charging speed has been downgraded to 50W from last year’s 80W speed.

But how much are you willing to shell out for a redesigned cameras, bigger display and slightly bump in battery? Well, if you ask Xiaomi they believe that Rs. 1,39,999 is the perfect price. A Rs. 30,000 hike over its predecessor. It’s the same price tag as the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra which Xiaomi is clearly targeting here. There’s no privacy display, 7 years of updates, polished UI experienace, cool AI features, an established ecosystem or excellent resale value that Xiaomi can offer.

And there’s no teleconverter kit here like the X300 Pro or the Find X9 Pro. Instead you get “Xiaomi Professional Photography Pro”, a detachable cover with a shutter button, dial, and built-in powerbank. The asking price? Just Rs.20,000 making it more expensive than teleconverter kit from other brands.

From Market Leader to Premium Pretender: Rise and Fall

It’s important to note that Xiaomi India has been in decline for a while now, even before the Xiaomi 17 series was announced. The company’s Note series isn’t ruling the mid-range like it once did, and popular offerings like the Mi A series, K series, and Civi series have disappeared from Indian stores.

Each series had its own identity and segment to cater to. The Mi A series offered a clean software experience, the K series showcased innovative features like pop-up cameras, while Civi focused on bringing Leica cameras to the mid-range.

In fact, a recent IDC report shows Xiaomi’s market share has declined 24.8 percent last year. Xiaomi, which once heralded itself as the market leader, now finds itself in the 6th spot. It shows that shifting your entire strategy from being a budget brand to a premium brand that goes head-on against Apple and Samsung isn’t an easy task.

The reason why Samsung and Apple have been able to establish themselves at the top is that they have an aspirational value. Xiaomi’s HyperOS feels dated and bloated, ultimately overshadowing their innovations in hardware.

The company instead took a step in the opposite direction by focusing on offline market, making it harder to unlock bootloader and launching overlapping products alienating its core audience. Whether it’s Xiaomi’s shoddy track record of providing timely updates or failure to create a rival ecosystem, the company hasn’t done much to change its image.

Xiaomi’s Original Plan – Value for Money

The reason why Xiaomi captured the hearts and minds of Indian consumers was its value quotient. Phones like the Mi A1, K20 Pro, Redmi Note 10 Pro, and Mi 4 sold like hotcakes because they had an ace up their rivals sleeves. The Xiaomi of today seems to have forgotten its origin. The techtonic shift to selling models with higher ASP rather than selling devices with lower ASP in bulk.

While Indians are value-conscious, they are also ready to pay a premium for a quality product. This is, in fact, evident from the crazy long queues we see during new iPhone launches. Sadly, Xiaomi products recently have been missing the very factor that once catapulted the company to the top: value for money. Maybe, the company will find its lost mojo back, only if it listens to consumer feedback. As a proud former Redmi Note 10 Pro and Xiaomi Pad 5 user, I would very much like to see the brand carve its way back into its glory days once again.