iPhone 17 Air vs Xiaomi 15 Pro

iPhone 17 Air

The 6.6-inch OLED display with ProMotion 120Hz is excellent, though peak brightness does not match the Pro models.

• The 6.6-inch display is gorgeous with vivid colors, deep blacks, and smooth 120Hz scrolling
• Peak brightness of 2,000 nits is good but falls short of the Pro models 3,000-nit panels

Xiaomi 15 Pro

The 6.73-inch 2K LTPO AMOLED is a technical marvel, hitting 3,200 nits peak brightness while consuming 24% less power than the Xiaomi 14 Pro's display. The 1920Hz PWM dimming reduces eye strain, though some users report OLED smear at low brightness levels.

• 3,200 nits peak brightness with 24% lower power consumption than the predecessor — outstanding efficiency
• 2K resolution (2670x1200) with 120Hz LTPO and 1920Hz PWM dimming for reduced eye strain
• Reports of OLED smear/ghosting at lower brightness levels when scrolling dark content

iPhone 17 Air

A single 48MP main camera delivers good photos but severely limits versatility compared to the dual and triple camera systems on other iPhone 17 models.

• The 48MP main camera produces excellent photos with great color accuracy and solid dynamic range in good lighting
• No ultrawide or telephoto means you are stuck with digital zoom and no wide-angle shots — a significant limitation for $899
• Night mode and low-light performance are decent but cannot match the Pro models computational multi-frame processing

Xiaomi 15 Pro

The triple 50MP Leica Summilux system delivers solid results with a standout 5x periscope telephoto. The main sensor with f/1.44 aperture handles most scenarios well, and AI Zoom makes 20x digital shots usable. However, the ultrawide is the clear weak link, and the system can't quite match the Vivo X200 Pro's imaging prowess.

• 5x periscope telephoto (120mm) delivers sharp, detailed results up to 10x — AI Zoom usable at 20x
• Main 50MP sensor with f/1.44 aperture and Leica color science produces pleasing, natural-looking images
• Ultrawide camera (50MP JN1) is the weakest lens — frequently criticized by users as noticeably below main and telephoto quality
• Camera scored 82% on NotebookCheck — the lowest individual category score, behind the Vivo X200 Pro

iPhone 17 Air

The A19 (non-Pro) chip handles daily tasks effortlessly but lacks the GPU horsepower and Neural Engine cores of the Pro variant.

• Day-to-day performance is indistinguishable from the Pro models — apps launch fast, multitasking is smooth
• Gaming performance falls behind the Pro models by about 15-20% in GPU-intensive titles
• Thermals are well managed given the thin chassis, though sustained workloads cause more noticeable warm spots

Xiaomi 15 Pro

The Snapdragon 8 Elite (3nm) delivers a 44% single-core improvement over the previous generation and manages thermals better than most competitors. NotebookCheck awarded a 99% application performance score, placing it among the fastest phones available.

• Snapdragon 8 Elite achieves Geekbench 6 single-core of 3,157 — a 44.4% leap over Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
• Better thermal management and sustained performance than competitors like the Oppo Find X8 Pro
• Some throttling under prolonged heavy gaming loads, though managed better than peers