Xiaomi Teases 17 Pro And 17 Pro Max With Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 To Take On iPhone 17

Xiaomi has confirmed the launch of its new 17 series smartphones with the Xiaomi 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max packing the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. Hold up, did Qualcomm and Xiaomi wake up one day and decided to mess with our heads with skipped product generations and odd naming conventions?

If you recall, Xiaomi's flagship phones last year were part of the Xiaomi 15 series, so what's up with the numbering skip? After all, "16" is a particularly auspicious number in Chinese numerology, meaning "things will go smoothly."

Still, Xiaomi announced that the number skip was to literally compete with the Apple iPhone 17. Talk about a blatant throw down. Xiaomi's boss Lu Weibing said, "Five years ago, we embarked on our premium strategy, learning from our greatest competitor and resolutely benchmarking against the iPhone."

 Lu added, "The success of the iPhone 17 series is evident to everyone, but we remain confident, which is why we are directly competing with the iPhone in the same generation and at the same level.”

Now, the most interesting feature of the Xiaomi 17 Pro and Pro Max is a large, integrated "Magic Back Screen" on the rear of the phone. While Xiaomi experimented with a small secondary screen on the Mi 11 Ultra in 2021, this new display is apparently far more ambitious. Teaser videos from the company show the screen integrated into the camera island, where it can be used for a variety of functions, including displaying the time and notifications, acting as a viewfinder for rear-camera selfies, and showing custom graphics. It remains to be seen how much more functionality will be eked out of this screen in terms of third-party app support, however.

Under the hood, the Xiaomi 17 series will be the first smartphones in the world to be powered by Qualcomm’s newly branded Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. If you're still trying to wrap your head around the name, the gist is that Qualcomm is simply following generational numbering, i.e. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 3, and the 8 Elite (which technically is Gen 4).

Furthermore, the Xiaomi 17 series is expected to pack a triple 50-megapixel rear camera setup, complete with a periscope telephoto lens, plus will, once again, be tuned in partnership with Leica. The devices are also rumored to come equipped with large batteries—up to 6,300mAh for the Pro and a monstrous 7,500mAh for the Pro Max, both supporting 100W fast charging no less.