First look: Xiaomi is positioning its latest smartphones to compete directly with the recently launched iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro. Beyond being the first devices confirmed to feature Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, unveiled earlier this week, the Xiaomi 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max also stand out from Apple's devices with small secondary displays on the rear.
Information about the Xiaomi 17 and Xiaomi 17 Pro is now available on the company's Chinese website. While the technical specifications closely mirror those of the iPhone 17, the company is also revisiting dual-screen technology.
For the curious out there, Xiaomi President Lu Weibing confirmed that the company skipped the Xiaomi 16 to better align with Apple's numbering.
Previous foldables, flip phones, and other devices have experimented with moving certain functions to smaller secondary screens. Xiaomi's approach places a large display on the rear camera module, capable of showing the time, notifications, widgets, and more.
With a 904 × 572-pixel resolution, the Xiaomi 17 Pro's 2.7-inch rear AMOLED display largely resembles the functionality of an Apple Watch attached to the back of the phone. Promotional materials are currently available only in Chinese, but the 1 – 120 Hz variable refresh rate screen appears to mimic the Apple Watch's always-on ProMotion technology, showing a simple clock when idle. The display can handle notifications, music controls, QR codes, calls, and other functions.
One of the most notable features is the rear selfie viewfinder. Taking selfies with a phone's primary camera can be challenging without a mirror, but displaying the camera feed on the rear screen allows users to frame and photograph themselves more accurately in a variety of settings.
Gaming may be the most unexpected use case for the rear screen. Xiaomi offers a Game Boy – inspired protective case with a physical directional pad and buttons positioned below the rear display cutout. The company's website demonstrates the case being used to play Angry Birds, though the screen's resolution is likely ideal for emulating retro games.
The Xiaomi 17 Pro features a 6.3-inch AMOLED primary display with a 1 – 120 Hz variable refresh rate, a 50 MP telephoto lens, a 6,300 mAh battery with fast-charging support, and configurations of up to 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 1 TB of storage. The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max increases the main display to 6.9 inches, enlarges the rear screen to 2.9 inches, and boosts the battery to 7,500 mAh.
Pricing starts around $700 for the Pro and $840 for the Pro Max. Both launch later this month in China; no word on availability outside of Xiaomi's home turf.