Xiaomi 17 Series Teased with Rear ‘Magic Back Screen’ to Challenge iPhone 17
Xiaomi’s next line of flagships has been officially teased on the brand’s Weibo account. The Xiaomi 17 series is expected to launch in China this month and will consist of the Xiaomi 17, Xiaomi 17 Pro, and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max. Sound familiar? That’s because the naming convention closely aligns with the recently unveiled iPhone 17 series.
This is by no means a coincidence, as Xiaomi President Lu Weibing has openly expressed the brand’s intention to challenge the latest iPhones. Taking to his Weibo account, Lu Weibing wrote:
“Five years ago, we launched a high-end strategy to learn from our greatest rivals and firmly benchmark iPhone. So far, Apple is still very good. Everyone has seen the success of the iPhone 17 series, but we are still very confident that we will face the iPhone in the same generation.” (Machine translated)
In fact, aside from staking claim over the ‘Pro’ and ‘Pro Max’ tags, Xiaomi also leapfrogged the supposed ‘Xiaomi 16’ model name, instead jumping from the Xiaomi 15 series released this year straight to the upcoming Xiaomi 17 series.
However, unlike the iPhones, Xiaomi’s latest flagship will feature a secondary display integrated into the rear panel of the phone. Dubbed the ‘Magic Back Screen’, the display spans the entire width of the back panel and takes up a quarter of the rear. It does look a little cluttered, considering that the display also houses the two camera cutouts.
Xiaomi hasn’t elaborated much on the full specs and capabilities of the ‘Magic Back Screen’, except to confirm that you’ll definitely have the option to display several watch faces. Additionally, the company hinted that it could display notifications or be used as a camera viewfinder.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a second screen on a Xiaomi device. The Mi 11 Ultra, released in 2021, also sported a rear panel display—albeit a much smaller 1.1″ AMOLED panel.
Xiaomi Malaysia has not confirmed any upcoming launch dates for the Xiaomi 17 series just yet. However, given the brand’s strong and growing presence in the country, let’s just say we’re hopeful.
On a related note, what has been confirmed for release in Malaysia is the Xiaomi 15T Series, an affordable extension of the flagship Xiaomi 15 series. According to Xiaomi Malaysia’s Facebook post, the 15T phones will be unveiled on 25th September at 4 PM MYT.
Source: [1] Xiaomi via Weibo, [2] Lu Weibing (Xiaomi President) via Weibo
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