Redmi’s number series has always offered a mix of useful features, good battery life, and reliable everyday performance without pushing the price too high. The Redmi 17 5G follows that same approach, with a massive 7,500mAh battery, a large 6.9-inch display and the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 chipset. However, after using the phone for a while, I realised there’s more to it than what you see on the spec sheet. During my testing, I wasn’t just looking at whether the phone had a big battery, a smooth display, or a capable camera. I wanted to see how it would fit into my everyday routine and whether all these features actually made a difference when using the phone day after day.
I have used plenty of smartphones across different price segments, so I went into the Redmi 17 with fairly straightforward expectations. I never expected it to go head-to-head with premium flagship or gaming smartphones. And after using the Redmi 17 for about two weeks now, here’s what I think of it.
The Redmi 17 5G is 8.8mm thick and weighs 232 grams. The smartphone has a simple design. However, the weight and thickness did not bother me much during regular use. The handset also features a vegan leather finish on the back, giving it a more premium feel. However, the choice of material ultimately comes down to personal preference, as some users may prefer a smoother, glass-like finish, while others may value the added grip.
The large size also makes sense when you look at what Redmi has packed inside. You get a 6.9-inch display on the front and a massive 7,500mAh battery under the hood. Redmi has also added IP64 dust and water resistance, which gives the phone some protection against everyday exposure to dust and water.
One thing that I really liked is that the Redmi 17 comes with a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which is rare, as wired headphones are becoming less common on smartphones. Other than that, the device also comes with stereo speakers, which sound good when watching videos or listening to music without headphones.
The Redmi 17 gets a large 6.9-inch LCD display with a 1600 x 720 pixel HD+ resolution and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The 720p resolution means the screen is not as sharp as some higher-resolution panels, but I found it comfortable to use for everyday tasks.
Redmi claims a peak brightness of 675 nits, which goes up to 825 nits with High Brightness Mode. In my usage, the display performed well outdoors. Even in direct sunlight, I had no trouble seeing the content on the screen.
As the device comes with an LCD panel, naturally the viewing experience differs from that of an AMOLED display. However, I spent a lot of time using social media and watching videos, especially when I was outdoors. The wide screen made watching content more enjoyable. The handset supports a 120Hz refresh rate that makes the scrolling smooth.
The Redmi 17’s display also performed reasonably well in our colour accuracy tests. It covered 99.72% of the sRGB colour gamut, which means most everyday content should look close to how it is intended. The ColorChecker test recorded an average DeltaE 2000 of 3.27, with a maximum of 8.54, showing some visible colour differences in certain shades.
The grayscale test showed an average DeltaE 2000 of 5.22, while the RGB balance had a slight blue bias at higher brightness levels. The EOTF curve also stayed fairly close to the target, so brightness transitions looked consistent across most of the range.
The Redmi 17 draws its power from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 chipset under the hood. The SoC is built on a 4 nm process and is accompanied by up to 8 GB of RAM and up to 128 GB of internal storage options. The makers also ship the device with Xiaomi HyperOS 3, which is an Android 16-based skin.
When talking about everyday tasks like browsing the internet, watching videos, and scrolling through social media, the Snapdragon chipset holds up well. However, one thing I noticed is that there were a few small slowdowns when switching between apps, but they were not frequent or serious. Furthermore, I also did not experience any app crashes during my testing.
To get an idea of the smartphone’s raw performance, I also ran several benchmarks. The Redmi 17 5G scored 7,33,057 on Antutu. In Geekbench 7, it scored 835 points in the single-core test and 1,491 points in the multi-core test. For graphics performance, the phone scored 1,544 in 3DMark Wild Life, with an average of 9.25 FPS. In 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, it scored 403, with an average of 2.42 FPS.
The stress tests also showed that the phone was able to maintain fairly consistent performance. It recorded 99.5 per cent stability in Wild Life Extreme and 99.3 per cent in the regular Wild Life test.
Having said that, in real-world use, I found the Redmi 17 5G good enough for the kind of tasks most users will perform every day. HyperOS 3 also feels smooth on the device, although there are occasional minor slowdowns when switching between apps.
If you’re a gaming enthusiast, I’d say the Redmi 17 is better suited for casual gaming rather than heavy games. The Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 can handle regular gaming, but I wouldn’t pick this phone if gaming is your main priority.
I tested BGMI on this phone for a good while, with graphics set to HD and frame rate set to High. I got around 30-40 FPS, which is not as steady as I would like. The game was playable most of the time, but the frame rate dropped during intense team fights, and the lag was easy to notice there. The smartphone was also a bit warm after I played the game for about 45 minutes.
I also tested Subway Surfers, and the experience was smooth with no noticeable lag or slowdown. Hence, I believe that for casual games, the Redmi 17 should be fine, but for demanding and competitive gaming, you may want to look for a more powerful phone.
The Redmi 17 comes with a dual camera setup at the rear end. It includes a 50MP main sensor accompanied by a secondary lens. It also sports an 8MP camera at the front for selfies and video calls. On paper, this is a fairly straightforward camera setup, but after using it for a good amount of time, I found the camera to be one of the more pleasant surprises of the phone.
In daylight, the main camera takes photos with good colours and decent accuracy. The colours can sometimes look a little warm, but overall, I liked the way the photos turned out. The images have good detail, sharp edges, and good overall clarity.
Portrait mode also works well, with decent separation between the subject and the background, especially in good lighting.
However, when you zoom in on the photos, you can notice some grain and a loss of fine details. This becomes even more noticeable in low-light and night shots, where the images can look softer and less detailed.
The Redmi 17 packs a massive 7,500mAh battery, which is easily one of its biggest strengths. In our PCMark battery test, the Redmi 17 lasted 27 hours and 18 minutes, which is an excellent result. More importantly, this also translated well to my everyday use.
The phone took around 70 minutes to go from 0 to 100 per cent, which I think is a reasonable charging time considering the size of the battery. The combination of a large battery and reasonably fast charging means you do not have to worry about charging the phone too frequently.
The 7,500mAh battery is clearly one of the biggest reasons to consider the Redmi 17. Even with regular daily use, I did not find myself constantly looking for a charger, which is exactly what I would expect from a phone with a battery this large.
After spending about two weeks with the Redmi 17, running it through benchmarks and using it as my daily driver, I feel that Redmi has focused on the things that matter most in this segment. The phone is big and heavy, but I found it comfortable enough to use. The 6.9-inch display is large and smooth. While the HD+ LCD panel isn’t as good as an AMOLED display, it works well for everyday general stuff and is bright enough to remain visible outdoors.
One of the strongest points of the Redmi 17 is its massive 7,500mAh battery, which lasted around 27 hours and 18 minutes in our PCMark battery test. Paired with the LCD display, this makes the Redmi 17 a capable device for entertainment, especially for users who prioritise long battery life.
When it comes to performance, the Redmi 17 does a good job with everyday tasks. Browsing, social media, video streaming, and other regular tasks were handled without any problems. You can also play some light games on it when you want a break.
The camera was also a pleasant surprise. The 50MP main camera takes good photos in daylight, with decent detail and colours. Portrait shots also have good edge detection, especially in good lighting.
So, is the Redmi 17 5G a good choice? The smartphone landed in the Indian market with a starting price of just Rs 23,999, and whether it’s a good choice for you or not largely depends on what you expect from your phone. If your priorities are excellent battery life, a large and smooth display, reliable everyday performance, and a decent camera, the Redmi 17 is a solid pick. It also gets useful features such as stereo speakers, IP64 protection, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, which are becoming harder to find on modern smartphones.