The tech world holds its breath every time a new flagship chipset arrives, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 has been one of the most anticipated in years. As the proud first bearer of this new silicon, the Xiaomi 17 series carries a heavy burden of expectation. Early reviews and hands-on impressions praise its design and camera, but a deeper look at the raw performance numbers reveals a puzzling narrative: the Xiaomi 17 series might not be the performance champion it was expected to be.
While definitively faster than its predecessor, new benchmark results from multiple sources suggest that Xiaomi’s implementation of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is surprisingly conservative, potentially leaving significant performance on the table.
The AnTuTu Story: A Slim Lead and a Puzzling Hierarchy
The first red flag appears on the official AnTuTu Benchmark performance charts. The platform, a standard for gauging overall smartphone performance, lists the standard Xiaomi 17 with a CPU score of 981,459. At first glance, that's a mighty number. However, context is key.
That score is only about 3% higher than the Vivo X200 Ultra, a device powered by last year's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 4, which manages a score of 959,329. For a new-generation chipset built on a more advanced architecture, such a marginal lead is underwhelming.
Even more confusing is the performance hierarchy within the 17 series itself. Typically, the 'Pro' and 'Pro Max' models feature better cooling or more aggressive tuning. Not so here. The benchmarking data shows that both the Xiaomi 17 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max score lower than the vanilla model, a clear indication of software or thermal management constraints holding back the more expensive variants.
You can see the current global performance ranking for yourself on the official AnTuTu page here: AnTuTu Performance Ranking.
Geekbench Deep Dive: The Promise vs. The Reality
The narrative continues with Geekbench, which focuses purely on CPU performance. Before the launch, leaked listings of the Xiaomi 17 series showed spectacular results, breaking 3,700 in single-core and 11,000 in multi-core tests. These are the numbers that set forums alight.
However, real-world testing by trusted reviewers tells a different, more grounded story.
- Ben's Gadget Reviews, in his hands-on video, recorded scores of 3,376 (single-core) and 10,120 (multi-core). You can watch his full testing process here: Ben's Gadget Reviews - Xiaomi 17 Hands-On.
- Sahil Karoul on Twitter posted his results, which came in at 3,328 and 10,210. His findings align closely with others, pointing to a consistent pattern. See his tweet here: Sahil Karoul's Benchmark Tweet.
- Even Mrwhosetheboss, in his initial impressions, landed on 3,407 and 10,416. His video further cements the consensus: Mrwhosetheboss - Xiaomi 17 First Look.
So, how do these numbers stack up? They are solid, yes, and a clear step up from last year's Android flagships. For instance, they handily beat the Oppo Find X8 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 4) which scored around 3,145 and 9,722 in our tests. But the real story is the gap to Qualcomm's own Reference Design (QRD) device, which serves as the "ideal" performance target. The QRD posted towering scores of 3,832 and 12,459, highlighting a significant performance delta that Xiaomi isn't currently tapping into.
The Bigger Picture: A Xiaomi Tuning Trend?
This phenomenon isn't entirely new for Xiaomi. Historically, brands like Xiaomi and Samsung often employ more conservative performance tuning out of the box. The reasons are typically twofold: to prioritize battery life and to manage thermals for sustained performance, avoiding dramatic throttling during long gaming sessions or video recording.
While this leads to a more consistent user experience, it comes at the cost of peak benchmark performance. This creates an opportunity for other manufacturers. Brands like Honor and Oppo often push the chipset harder, while gaming phones like the RedMagic series are almost guaranteed to offer an unlocked, no-holds-barred mode that will likely showcase the true peak potential of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Conclusion: A Great Phone, But Not a Performance King
The Xiaomi 17 series is, by all accounts, a fantastic lineup of smartphones with compelling cameras, stunning displays, and blistering-fast charging. However, for the performance purist who looks to benchmarks as the ultimate metric of a chipset's capability, these early results are a letdown.
The data strongly indicates that what we're seeing is an underwhelming implementation of the chipset, not a failure of the chipset itself. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 clearly has immense power, as shown by the QRD scores, but Xiaomi's current software profile seems to be holding it back. For now, if you're looking for the absolute maximum performance the new silicon can offer, it might be wise to wait and see what Honor, Oppo, and RedMagic bring to the table in the coming weeks.
The Xiaomi 17 series is available for pre-order now. Check availability and the latest prices on Amazon here: Xiaomi 17 Pro on Amazon.
Post a Comment