Xiaomi has officially confirmed that this coming September it will launch its new premium smartphone series. Surprisingly, though, it won’t be the expected Xiaomi 16 series—the company has decided to skip this generation and instead introduce Xiaomi 17 straight away.
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This change was announced by the company president, Lu Weibing, who also explained that this line will deliver the “most significant leap in the brand’s history”.
Xiaomi 17 series: Three models, Ultra (for now) won’t be coming
According to Weibing, there will be three models: Xiaomi 17, Xiaomi 17 Pro, and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max. The base model will remain a compact flagship phone with the same price tag as last year’s Xiaomi 15.
Xiaomi 17 Pro will offer even more premium craftsmanship in a smaller body, while the 17 Pro Max—according to management’s statements—will be the best camera phone the brand has made so far. Nothing has been said yet about the Xiaomi 17 Ultra model version—it's expected only next year.
A new chip and a direct challenge to Apple
The phones will debut globally with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, placing them in the very first tier of mobile performance. An interesting detail is that Xiaomi isn’t hiding the reason it skipped the 16 series—its new generation is meant to be a direct response to iPhone 17. The goal is clear: to show that Xiaomi can compete with Apple “in the same generation and on the same level”.
Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun adds that the new series isn’t about second place—it’s about a full-on showdown with Apple. “Five years ago, we set out to get into the top tier, learn from the best competitor, and eventually surpass it,” he wrote.
Five years of R&D investment
Lu Weibing emphasized that in the past five years, Xiaomi has invested massively in research and development—overall more than 100 billion RMB. Over the next five years, they plan to double those investments to as much as 200 billion RMB.
The result isn’t just a hardware leap, but also a focus on user experience. From the philosophy “specs are everything,” the company has shifted to an approach of “no weak points—from top-tier specs to a finely tuned experience.”
Weibing said directly on Weibo:
“Thank you for your patience. A completely new Xiaomi 17 series will be unveiled later this month. It will be the biggest leap in the history of our number-series lineup, and it’s coming even one month earlier than last year.”
Strategic direction
Lei Jun admitted openly that iPhone 17 is still a very strong competitor, but Xiaomi today has enough confidence to step into a direct battle. The reason is continuous progress—technology innovations, software-and-hardware synergy, and new features that will make its smartphones interesting again.
Lu Weibing added on social media:
“Xiaomi 17 will be historically the most powerful standard flagship with a big shift in every direction—more performance without raising the price. Xiaomi 17 Pro will become a compact flagship-level camera phone, and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max will be the most advanced device for mobile photography that we’ve ever made.”
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