Xiaomi 17 Max: Where to buy the Xiaomi 17T alternative at affordable prices
The Xiaomi 17T and 17T Pro are on the cusp of their global launch. However, before purchasing an international unit, you may also want to consider the 6.9-inch Xiaomi 17 Max. Unveiled in China on May 21, the larger variant of the Xiaomi 17 certainly offers several advantages in areas such as its camera system, chipset, and battery. As a China-only model, the Xiaomi 17 Max is also more affordable than the Xiaomi 17T Pro, which is likely to officially cost more than €1,000 ($1,165).
In China, the Xiaomi 17 Max is already available at a starting price of roughly €600 ($700) after currency conversion. Naturally, you should expect to pay more when importing a unit from China, not least because of customs taxes and duties. Interestingly, the Xiaomi 17’s larger sibling still isn’t widely available at our usual go-to import retailers, such as our partner Tradingshenzhen. Nonetheless, we looked around and found a few alternative stores.
Specifically, we spotted the Xiaomi 17 Max at Wondamobile and Giztop. While the latter offers the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered flagship with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage for as low as €744 / $849, Wondamobile charges at least €780 / $903 for the same configuration. However, the 12/512 GB model is slightly cheaper at Wondamobile at €861 / $997, compared with €875 / $999 at Giztop. The top-tier 16/512 GB variant will set you back €963 / $1,099 at Giztop and €915 / $1,059 at Wondamobile.
What to keep in mind when buying an import unit
In terms of network compatibility, the Xiaomi 17 Max sold in China shouldn’t pose any issues in many parts of the world, as it supports at least LTE band 20 and most 5G bands. Its lack of support for eSIMs, Wear OS and Android Auto is perhaps more problematic. The HyperOS version for the Chinese market also typically offers only English and Chinese language options. So unlike with Vivo and Oppo devices, you’ll have to get used to an English user interface. The lower prices also come at the cost of having only a one-year warranty and generally less generous return and warranty terms.
Notably, Wondamobile doesn’t explicitly mention whether taxes and customs duties are included in the listed prices. We prefer how Tradingshenzhen and AverageDad are more upfront about this. According to the official website, Giztop handles taxes and duties differently based on the customer’s region. Whether the Xiaomi 17 Max is a better phone than the global Xiaomi 17T Pro ultimately comes down to personal preference. Besides featuring the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and a huge 8,000 mAh battery, the Max also offers a Leica-branded main camera with a 200 MP sensor. That said, its periscope telephoto lens provides only 3x zoom rather than the 5x magnification on the Xiaomi 17T Pro.
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