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Context is everything when it comes to reviewing smartphones – my opinion on something will vary depending on what kind of competition is out there and how much the phone in question costs. It’s often the case, therefore, that a phone need only hang on until a sales period like Prime Day to finally gain my recommendation.
Let me introduce you to the Xiaomi 17.
This pocket rocket crams powerful performance and exceptional stamina into a compact build, ideal for those with smaller hands and/or pockets. It initially fell just shy of my recommendation due to the equally impressive Samsung Galaxy S26 being a little lighter and cheaper but this deal flips the script, and now the Xiaomi 17 is the bargain.
So with that shift in context, I’m recommending the Xiaomi 17 as the best compact phone deal you’ll find this Prime Day.
What is the deal?
The Xiaomi 17 only launched a few months ago, and since then it has averaged £815 in price. This Prime Day deal sees it plummet down to a new record-low of just £649.
Crucially, this is also quite a bit cheaper than the equivalent Samsung Galaxy S26, which costs £767 for the same 256GB. With that switcheroo, the Xiaomi 17 becomes the far more appealing option of the two.
Is the Xiaomi 17 a good phone?
In a word: yes. As mentioned above, it’s incredibly powerful for such a compact phone, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset delivering some of the best CPU speeds and smoothest gaming we’ve ever recorded. Battery life impressed, too, lasting for over 34 hours in our looping video test – beating the Galaxy S26 by a couple of hours.
The build is wonderfully compact, with a breezy weight of just 181g, and it’s topped by a gorgeous 6.3in AMOLED display. Thoroughly vetted with my colourimeter, this screen delivered outstanding peak brightness of over 1,800 nits when displaying HDR content and produced an average Delta E of 0.81, which indicates exceptional colour accuracy.
There are four 50-megapixel cameras on the Xiaomi 17 – a sharp selfie shooter that captures rich skin tones and crisp portraits and a trio on the rear comprising the main lens, ultrawide and 2.6x telephoto. In my test shooting, I was impressed with all four lenses, with night photography and the quality retained by ultrawide shots being particular highlights.
Add in video that shoots 4K/60fps Dolby Vision footage or 8K at 30fps, and this is an extremely well-rounded camera offering.
What are the downsides of the Xiaomi 17?
If compact flagship is your goal, the Samsung Galaxy S26 offers similar performance, camera quality and battery life in a more svelte package. It measures just 7.2mm thick (compared to the Xiaomi 17’s 8.1mm) and weighs in at just 167g.
There’s also the software to consider. I’m a regular critic of Xiaomi’s HyperOS and the 17 does nothing to assuage my concerns. The chief issue is that I find the whole thing to be overdesigned and cluttered, with excess bloatware upon boot and silly aesthetic choices like the general settings being muddled in with the quick-launch tiles in the control centre. It’s a fussy OS that takes some getting used to and I far prefer other, more streamlined launchers.
With four years of OS updates and six of security patches, the Xiaomi 17 also doesn’t offer the same longevity as other compact flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S26 or the Google Pixel 10 Pro, both of which are set for seven years of software support.
Should you buy this Xiaomi 17 Prime Day deal?
This is the best deal of any compact flagship phone that I’ve seen in the Prime Day sale. The Galaxy S26, while superior in certain areas, costs over £100 more, even discounted in the same sale, and I just don’t think that it’s better enough to justify that extra premium.
No, anybody looking to snatch up a bargain on a compact powerhouse need look no further than the Xiaomi 17. Performance is exceptional, the battery life is long, the cameras are accomplished and the display is as close to flawless as it gets.
I’m hunting down all the best smartphone bargains in the sales and gathering the top offers together in my Prime Day phone deals roundup. You can also head over to our central Prime Day deals hub to check out our top picks across all categories, from fans to TVs to coffee machines and much more.
