Redmi 17C official: the first budget phone of the generation, with a big “BUT”

Xiaomi’s offshoot will follow the main line, making a generational leap: after the Redmi 15 family and Redmi Note 15, it will move directly to the 17 series. The clue was in a certification, but now it becomes official with the debut in China of Redmi 17C.

The Lei Jun’s company has chosen to inaugurate the new series with a budget phone, but there’s a catch. Despite the air of renewal, we’re dealing with an “almost” rebrand.

Redmi 17C: everything there is to know about specifications, price and release

The budget phone is born as the first device with the 17 designation, but it definitely looks to the past. The design echoes that of the previous Redmi 14C, with specifications in common with Redmi 15C. Some details change, such as the 13 MP camera instead of 50 MP and the addition of the red color variant with an eco-leather cover, but the bulk remains the same.

The “new” Redmi 17C debuts with a wide display of 6.88″ featuring a refresh rate of 120 Hz and touch sampling at 240 Hz; the other side of the coin is the presence of a teardrop notch, an element now considered anachronistic. The chipset is a MediaTek Helio G81 Ultra solution, all powered by a 5,160 mAh battery with support for 18W charging.

On the software side we have the latest version of the Xiaomi interface (HyperOS 3, with support for the HyperIsland feature) while along the top edge there is room for a 3.5 mm headphone jack. Security is entrusted to a side-mounted fingerprint reader.

The phone launched in China in configurations 4/64 GB and 4/128 GB, respectively at around €103 and €116 at current exchange rates. So far, budget C-series models have arrived in Italy, so it is very likely that this last one will also make an appearance at our latitudes (but details are still missing).

Redmi 17C – Technical specifications

• Dimensions and weight: 171.88 x 77.8 x 8.22 mm, 206 grams
• Colors: Black, White, Red
• Certification: /
• Display: Flat IPS LCD 6.88″ HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels) with 120 Hz refresh rate, 600 nits brightness, touch sampling at 240 Hz, 8-bit color
• Security: side fingerprint reader + 2D Face Unlock
• Passive cooling
• SoC: MediaTek Helio G81 Ultra, 12 nm TSMC
• CPU: octa-core
  • 2 x 2.0 GHz – Cortex-A75
  • 6 x 1.7 GHz – Cortex-A55
• GPU: Mali-G52 MC2
• RAM: 4 GB LPDDR4X
• Storage: 128/256 GB eMMC 5.1 expandable up to 1 TB (micro SD)
• Battery: 6,000 mAh
• Charging: 18W
• Camera: 13 MP
• Selfie camera: 5 MP
• Connectivity and more: Dual SIM 4G, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS, USB-C, 3.5 mm headphone jack
• Operating system: Android 16 with HyperOS 3