The Xiaomi 17 series launched in India last week, and both devices are officially on sale starting today across major retail channels. The series includes the vanilla Xiaomi 17 and the Xiaomi 17 Ultra. In this article, I will walk you through the launch offers, where to buy, and whether the Xiaomi 17 series is the right fit as your next smartphone purchase.
Table of Contents
Xiaomi 17 series launch price and offers
If you have been waiting for the Xiaomi 17 series to go on sale, today is the day. The Xiaomi 17 is priced at Rs 89,999 for the 12GB+256GB variant and is available on EMI at Rs 9,999 per month for 9 months. Xiaomi is also running a ‘Never Run Out’ offer on this one, where the 512GB variant is available at the price of the 256GB variant, which is pretty good value if you like having plenty of storage.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra (review) is priced at Rs 1,39,999 for the single 16GB+512GB variant, but comes with a Rs 10,000 instant discount on SBI Credit Cards and Credit Card EMI transactions, bringing the effective price down to Rs 1,29,999. It is also available on EMI at Rs 14,444 per month for 9 months.
Both devices come with a decent set of partner benefits as well, including 4 months of Spotify Premium, 3 months of Google AI Pro, 3 months of YouTube Premium, and Jio benefits.
Should you buy the Xiaomi 17 Ultra?
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra (review) is right up there as one of the priciest phones launched yet in India. The ‘Ultra’ in the name alone is the hint that it is a premium product through and through and the device delivers on that promise. The phone is for users who want the best of what a camera phone has to offer, with its massive 1-inch LOFIC sensor and an otherwise all-star camera setup to boot. If you’re a photography enthusiast or just want a device that can take some banger images, this is the phone for you.
The phone is also quite well-balanced in all other key aspects, like its beautiful 6.9-inch OLED panel, top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a substantial 6,000mAh battery and more. In short, if you want a portable, highly capable camera that can also double as your personal smartphone, this is the one for you, albeit with an equally premium price tag. You can check out our detailed review of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra if you want to explore the phone in a little more detail.
Should you buy the Xiaomi 17?
The regular Xiaomi 17 sits in an interesting position this year. It shares a lot with its bigger sibling, including the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, a triple 50MP Leica camera system, and a slightly larger 6330mAh battery, all in a more compact 6.3-inch form factor.
The price, however, is where things get complicated. The Xiaomi 17 is priced at Rs 89,999, which is a stark Rs 25,000 jump over the Xiaomi 15 that launched at Rs 65,999. To put that in perspective, the 512GB variant sits at Rs 99,999 if you look past the special launch offer that doubles storage at no extra cost.
The competition also makes this a harder sell this time around. Rivals like the Vivo X300, OPPO Find X9, and OnePlus 15 bring a very similar level of hardware, on both the camera and specs fronts, at around Rs 75,000. That gap is hard to ignore, and on paper alone, the Xiaomi 17 struggles to justify the premium over them.
The compact 6.3-inch display is one area where it stands out, though, with only the Vivo X300 matching it for size in this segment. If you are already in Xiaomi’s ecosystem, prefer Leica-tuned cameras, or simply favour the brand over the Vivo or OPPO, the Xiaomi 17 still makes a reasonable case. For everyone else, the price gap is a little too wide to overlook right now.
Xiaomi 17 Ultra Images
