It has the best battery life of the entire iPhone 16 line — owners report ~9 hours screen-on-time and it beats even the 16 Pro Max for some.
'Pro features at a mainstream price' — the Action Button, Camera Control, A18 and same 8GB RAM as the Pro at the non-Pro price.
The redesigned 48MP 'Fusion' camera and enhanced ultrawide with macro are a real upgrade over the iPhone 15 Plus.
The big 6.7-inch screen plus strong performance make it excellent value versus the much pricier 16 Pro Max.
It's a huge, worthwhile leap for anyone upgrading from an iPhone 11/12/13-era phone.
Deal Breakers
Pros & Cons
iPhone 16 Plus
Pros
It has the best battery life of the entire iPhone 16 line — owners report ~9 hours screen-on-time and it beats even the 16 Pro Max for some.
'Pro features at a mainstream price' — the Action Button, Camera Control, A18 and same 8GB RAM as the Pro at the non-Pro price.
The redesigned 48MP 'Fusion' camera and enhanced ultrawide with macro are a real upgrade over the iPhone 15 Plus.
The big 6.7-inch screen plus strong performance make it excellent value versus the much pricier 16 Pro Max.
It's a huge, worthwhile leap for anyone upgrading from an iPhone 11/12/13-era phone.
Detailed Comparison
Design & Build
iPhone 16 Plus
A large 6.7-inch aluminium body with Ceramic Shield, IP68 and USB-C, now with the Action Button and Camera Control and a smarter vertically-stacked camera bump.
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus add the Action Button inherited from the 15 Pro and a new vertically-stacked, pill-shaped camera bump.
The vertical camera arrangement is smarter-looking than the odd-angle formation of previous iPhones, and the phone feels very durable with rounded edges.
The bezels are thicker than on the Pro models and there's no Always-On display option.
It's a big, heavy phone — some owners find it too large for pockets and are ready for something smaller.
Xiaomi 17
The Xiaomi 17 is one of the last true compact flagships — small enough for confident one-handed use while keeping an IP68 rating and tough cover glass. Reviewers are split on the derivative, iPhone-like design.
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The display is still 60Hz in 2024 with no Always-On and thicker bezels than the Pro — the most universal complaint.
There's no telephoto camera, and proper fast charging still hasn't reached Apple's labs.
Apple Intelligence shipped late, and the phone sold so poorly Apple discontinued the Plus line entirely.
Xiaomi 17
What Reviewers Agree On
Genuinely compact flagship form factor — one of the only small phones that doesn't compromise on the chipset or battery
Exceptional battery life for the size: a 6,330mAh cell (7,000mAh China) routinely delivering 6–7 hours of screen-on time, more on lighter days
Very fast 100W wired charging — roughly 0–100% in 45–61 minutes — plus 50W wireless and 22.5W reverse wired
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a significant performance jump over the Xiaomi 15, with strong Geekbench and AnTuTu numbers
Bright 120Hz LTPO AMOLED rated at 3,500 nits peak that stays legible in direct sunlight
Class-leading stereo speakers — repeatedly called among the best on any smartphone
Long software commitment: 5 major OS upgrades and 6 years of security patches (EOL February 2032)
Deal Breakers
The ultrawide camera is a clear downgrade — only ~17mm equivalent, poor quality, narrower field of view and still no autofocus
Inconsistent sustained performance: prolonged CPU stress and demanding games (Genshin, Honkai Star Rail) trigger heavy throttling and heat on some units
HyperOS 3 ships with bugs and missing basics (no native screen-on-time counter) and bundles ads in some proprietary apps
The global model's 6,330mAh battery is smaller than the 7,000mAh China version, and the China ROM lacks Google services out of the box
Cons
The display is still 60Hz in 2024 with no Always-On and thicker bezels than the Pro — the most universal complaint.
There's no telephoto camera, and proper fast charging still hasn't reached Apple's labs.
Apple Intelligence shipped late, and the phone sold so poorly Apple discontinued the Plus line entirely.
Xiaomi 17
Pros
Genuinely compact flagship form factor — one of the only small phones that doesn't compromise on the chipset or battery
Exceptional battery life for the size: a 6,330mAh cell (7,000mAh China) routinely delivering 6–7 hours of screen-on time, more on lighter days
Very fast 100W wired charging — roughly 0–100% in 45–61 minutes — plus 50W wireless and 22.5W reverse wired
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a significant performance jump over the Xiaomi 15, with strong Geekbench and AnTuTu numbers
Bright 120Hz LTPO AMOLED rated at 3,500 nits peak that stays legible in direct sunlight
Class-leading stereo speakers — repeatedly called among the best on any smartphone
Long software commitment: 5 major OS upgrades and 6 years of security patches (EOL February 2032)
Cons
The ultrawide camera is a clear downgrade — only ~17mm equivalent, poor quality, narrower field of view and still no autofocus
Inconsistent sustained performance: prolonged CPU stress and demanding games (Genshin, Honkai Star Rail) trigger heavy throttling and heat on some units
HyperOS 3 ships with bugs and missing basics (no native screen-on-time counter) and bundles ads in some proprietary apps
The global model's 6,330mAh battery is smaller than the 7,000mAh China version, and the China ROM lacks Google services out of the box
It is one of the few genuinely compact flagship phones, with excellent build and design quality.
Feels well balanced and can be used one-handed without feeling like you're about to drop it.
Carries an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance and Xiaomi's Dragon Crystal Glass for scratch resistance.
The Xiaomi 17 might be a low point for original design — it leans heavily on the iPhone's look — but the upgrades may still make it worth buying.
The design makes every iPhone 17 Pro user jealous, and the hardware is absolutely brilliant.
Display
iPhone 16 Plus
A large 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED that's bright but, for yet another year, capped at 60Hz with no Always-On — the phone's defining weakness.
The display is only 60Hz for yet another year, with no Always-On option and bezels thicker than the Pro models.
The 6.7-inch screen is a key reason to choose the Plus over the smaller iPhone 16 for media and big-screen use.
For long-time 60Hz users the lack of 120Hz isn't a deal-breaker, but spec-conscious buyers find it hard to accept at the price.
The big screen plus the relatively small Dynamic Island (vs the old large notch) is a standout for upgraders.
Xiaomi 17
A compact 120Hz LTPO AMOLED that punches well above its size for outdoor brightness, though it uses a different (lower) pixel arrangement than the Pro Max and measured full-screen brightness is well under the headline figure.
The display is as good as it can get on a compact flagship — high-res, vibrant and as bright as 3,500 nits peak.
Measured over 1,000 nits in auto mode and over 3,400 nits on a smaller patch — more than enough for good legibility outdoors.
In controlled testing, manual full-screen white brightness reached only around 1,100 nits — far below the 3,500-nit peak headline figure.
The standard model's screen doesn't use the new pixel arrangement found in the Pro Max version, though it still holds certain advantages.
Peak brightness of up to 3,500 nits keeps everything clearly visible even in direct sunlight.
Performance
iPhone 16 Plus
The A18 with 8GB RAM — the same RAM as the Pro this year — delivers strong, future-proof performance, especially as an upgrade from older iPhones.
The A18 provides enhanced performance and supports Apple Intelligence — 'Pro features at a mainstream price.'
Optimisations from the new A18 chip clearly improved efficiency over the iPhone 15.
Your tired old iPhone may run iOS 18, but the iPhone 16 runs it exponentially better — the iterative criticism misses the point for upgraders.
Owners report great performance and photos, with the powerful chip making the upgrade worthwhile coming from an iPhone 13.
Xiaomi 17
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 makes the 17 one of the fastest compact phones around, but sustained-load behaviour is the single most contested topic in the coverage.
Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 on a 3nm process, claiming ~20% better CPU performance and ~35% better battery efficiency than the previous generation, with a Geekbench 6 single-core score of 3,367 and multi-core of 9,830.
If you look at benchmark scores, it is a significant upgrade over the 8 Elite that powered the Xiaomi 15.
After a month it still feels just as snappy as day one, with high-end titles running at top settings and sustained performance over long sessions holding up well.
In a prolonged CPU stress test the Xiaomi 17 did worse than expected, dipping to less than 40% of maximum and spiking continuously rather than holding stable.
In Honkai Star Rail the Xiaomi 17 began throttling after about 3 minutes of gameplay, with the device becoming extremely hot to the touch.
Got good average FPS with 120fps gaming support and didn't notice much heating in Genshin Impact even after 30–40 minutes.
The ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner is fast with no delays and works even with a tempered-glass screen protector.
Battery & Charging
iPhone 16 Plus
The Plus's headline strength: the best battery life in the entire iPhone 16 line — undercut by slow charging.
It's claimed to last up to 27 hours of video playback and up to 100 hours of audio playback.
The battery on the 16 Plus has been significantly better than the 16 Pro Max for some owners — ~9 hours screen-on-time on a single charge with excellent standby.
Battery life is excellent, a key reason to pick the Plus and a huge step for those used to a 12 Pro Max.
Proper fast-charging technology has yet to reach Apple's labs.
iOS 18 adds an 80–100% charge-limit option and visible cycle count to extend long-term battery health.
Xiaomi 17
The headline reason to buy a compact 17: an oversized silicon-anode battery and very fast charging that together solve the usual small-phone endurance problem.
The massive 6,330mAh battery is truly exceptional for a compact flagship (the China version is 7,000mAh).
You can get a full day of use, up to ~7 hours of screen-on time and sometimes more depending on usage.
In a one-month real-world test, 6–7 hours of screen-on time on regular days was normal, dropping to 5–6 hours on heavy days, with up to ~16 hours in benchmark testing.
Reached close to 9–10 hours of screen-on time on regular use — a genuine full-day battery phone — with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging faster than the iPhone 17 or Galaxy S26.
100W charging takes the 6,330mAh battery from 0–100% in as little as 45–46 minutes.
Measured charging: ~15% in 5 minutes, ~50% in 21 minutes, ~70% in 30 minutes, ~91% in 40 minutes and a full charge in about 61 minutes.
