A while back, we saw a report from DigiTimes which claimed that at least three Chinese smartphone companies decided to drop their thin and light smartphone projects following the iPhone Air’s poor sales. One of the brands mentioned in the report was Xiaomi, and we now have a look at a prototype Xiaomi 17 Air, which was supposed to go head-to-head with the iPhone Air.
Tipster Bald Panda shared a video that showcases the chassis of the rumored Xiaomi 17 Air, featuring a prominent visor on its back housing two camera modules. The back of the device features matte glass, while the camera island gets a shiny metallic finish.
Xiaomi 17 Air prototype
According to the tipster, Xiaomi’s 17 Air would feature a 6.59-inch screen and only measure 5.5mm, which would make it 0.1mm thinner than the iPhone Air. Digital Chat Station also chimed in, suggesting the Xiaomi 17 Air would have featured the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a sub-6,000mAh battery and a 200MP main cam.
Xiaomi 17 Air prototype
Either way, it seems like the Xiaomi 17 Air will sadly not get to see the light of day and will remain nothing more than a prototype.
Source 1 • Source 2 (both in Chinese)
