4 reasons to buy and 3 reasons to skip iPhone 17

• By Saloni Tandon
Published On: 27 October 2025 | 09:45 IST

Apple launched the iPhone 17 series a few weeks ago, and our review is in. While those wanting a design overhaul may have been left disappointed, there were a few noteworthy hardware upgrades at a price bump of Rs 3,000 that make it the iPhone to buy in the new series. The iPhone 17 starts at Rs 82,900. If you’re looking to invest in the phone, here are reasons to buy and skip it, based on our review.

Reasons to buy the iPhone 17

Smooth and responsive 120Hz ProMotion display

Apple has finally spread its ProMotion display across the entire iPhone 17 line, not limiting it to the Pro models. The 60Hz refresh rate on a premium phone was a pain point for many years, and Apple finally relented. The 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling, gaming, and overall navigation feel much smoother, our review notes. Not only competing flagships but even Android mid-rangers have been offering high refresh rates for years, so this was long overdue. For those upgrading from the iPhone 16 or any other non-Pro iPhone, the responsiveness and smoothness of the new screen are quite evident.

Great portraits, reliable dual 48MP cameras

The camera setup on the iPhone 17 is a significant improvement over the iPhone 16, both on paper and in real life. Now, both the primary and ultra-wide cameras feature 48MP sensors, replacing last year’s 12MP ultra-wide lens. The upgrade ensures that iPhone 17 users don’t miss the Pro models much, as images look similar, particularly in colour and detail. According to our reviewer, portraits are great, even though the iPhone 17 lacks a separate telephoto lens. The 2x zoom is digital, but the images display excellent subject separation, natural background blur, and true colours.

The iPhone 17’s new ultra-wide camera also enhances contrast and colours, and sharpness is more than that of the iPhone 16’s. The phone performs well in low lighting, although it doesn’t keep up with the dynamic range of top Android competitors like Galaxy S25 and Vivo X200 Pro. The absence of a telephoto lens might disappoint enthusiasts. Still, Apple’s focus on image quality across lenses reflects its strategy to prioritise consistency over multiple camera setups for the base model.

Enhanced 18MP front camera with Centre Stage

For front camera users, this is the most significant upgrade Apple has made in years, and what our review calls the most “underrated”. The new 18MP sensor, combined with Centre Stage, delivers crisper selfies and more intelligent video framing, a feature initially popularised on iPads. While taking group selfies, Center Stage automatically switches to ultrawide and zooms out from vertical to horizontal aspect while holding the phone vertically. We found this to be an excellent feature for capturing selfies and one that Android OEMs should offer on their phones as well.

Apple’s processing provides natural colours and better HDR handling. It’s an indication that Apple is placing greater emphasis on creators, vloggers, and professionals who use the front camera for both work and play.

A19 chip delivers strong, efficient performance

Apple’s latest A19 chipset delivers a significant performance and efficiency boost to the iPhone 17. Based on a 3nm process, it delivers silky-smooth gameplay, rapid app launch times, and smooth animations while keeping thermals cool, even without a vapour chamber. Remarkably, real‑world tests show the iPhone 17 heating less than the Pro Max, despite its simpler cooling system, pointing to Apple’s very close hardware‑software optimisation.

The iPhone 17 felt fast, fluid, and consistent, which is what matters in real-world use, our review notes.

The distinction between A19 and A19 Pro is slight in everyday use, continuing Apple’s long‑term policy of making the standard iPhone equally capable for the majority of users. Benchmark results indicate the A19 is almost on par with the A19 Pro. Although the Snapdragon 8 Elite and MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipsets powering Android flagships register higher raw numbers, Apple’s SoC continues to provide balanced performance consistency.

Reasons to skip the iPhone 17

Battery life remains similar to last year

Even with the efficient A19 chip on board, Apple has not shifted the needle when it comes to battery life. The iPhone 17 features a marginally bigger 3,692mAh battery, from the 3,561mAh battery on the iPhone 16. Although these figures look modest in comparison to some Android devices that carry 5,000mAh or even 6,000mAh batteries, they are okay for an iPhone of this size.

During our review, the iPhone 17 comfortably lasted an entire day on regular use, usually wrapping up with about 20-30 percent charge left and about 4-5 hours of screen-on time. This is comparable to the iPhone 16, suggesting that the increased capacity is offset by the new 120Hz ProMotion screen and marginally larger screen size. Apple’s emphasis on keeping the device compact and light may limit battery expansion even in the future. This might be in line with its philosophy of minimalism, but it feels conservative relative to the competition.

Lens flare in low light

iPhone 17’s cameras offer clean detail and great HDR, but it still hasn’t resolved the persistent issue of lens flare in difficult lighting, which has hung around since the iPhone 13. When photographing cityscapes or nighttime portraits, bright light sources tend to create halos, something which the Pixels and Xiaomi 15 Ultra have all but eliminated with fresh coatings and sensor architectures. It’s a tiny blemish, but one that reminds users of how incremental Apple’s advancements can be. The lenses could have benefited from a little more innovation.

Design still looks identical to iPhone 16

Visually, the iPhone 17 is nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor and has been more or less the same since the iPhone 11. Apple seems to just be playing tic tac toe with the camera lenses and rearranging them in the name of design changes. While loyalists may argue that this uniformity strengthens brand identity, it can dampen the excitement of long-time users.

The Pro models got a long-overdue design overhaul this year, and it’s time the vanilla models also get similar treatment. Competitors like Samsung and OnePlus are experimenting with slimmer bezels and new finishes, while Apple seems content polishing its existing form. The phone does feel premium but predictable, with Apple trading novelty for familiarity.

If battery life and design are your biggest concerns, the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max are the ones to pick, as they both feature larger batteries and new designs. But if you’re looking for a value-for-money iPhone, the iPhone 17 gets some solid pro-grade upgrades this year, making it the iPhone to buy for most people.