End of iPhone dominance? Xiaomi 17 Pro Max runs faster, cooler, and saves energy

The battle of today’s most powerful phones brings a surprising winner. While the iPhone 17 Pro Max with its A19 Pro processor traditionally dominates synthetic benchmarks, in real-world gaming tests, it is unexpectedly surpassed by the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. And this applies not only to performance but also to efficiency and temperatures.

Snapdragon wins on all fronts

The first test took place in the demanding game Wuthering Waves. The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max maintained an average of 59.1 FPS, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max achieved 57.8 FPS. This alone wouldn’t be so surprising, but Xiaomi achieved this result with a power consumption of just 4.83 W, whereas the iPhone consumed 5.89 W. Moreover, the Chinese phone ran at a higher resolution than its Californian counterpart.

The second test in the game Honkai Impact 3rd yielded similar results. At identical resolution, Xiaomi maintained an average of 59.6 FPS compared to 58.8 FPS for the iPhone. The energy balance again favored Snapdragon – 5.30 W versus 5.52 W. The differences are not dramatic, but they consistently point in the same direction.

Cooler operation as the icing on the cake

In addition to higher performance and better efficiency, the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max also runs significantly cooler. In the first test, the maximum temperature reached 39.0 °C, while the iPhone heated up to 43.3 °C – a difference of 4.3 degrees is noticeable during prolonged gaming. In the second test, the difference was smaller but still in favor of Xiaomi: 40.5 °C versus 42.7 °C.

Lower temperatures have a practical impact – the phone maintains maximum performance longer without thermal throttling, is more comfortable to hold, and theoretically, battery life should also be longer. For avid mobile gamers, this is a significant advantage.

Qualcomm finally caught up with Apple

The results suggest that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 represents a significant milestone. For the first time in history, Qualcomm has not only caught up with but in some aspects even surpassed Apple. The transition to custom Oryon cores (instead of licensed ARM designs) has paid off – the chip offers an excellent performance-to-power ratio.

It should be added that Apple still leads in single-core tests and some specific tasks. Also, game optimization for iOS is generally better. However, when a manufacturer like Xiaomi can properly tune and cool the hardware, the results speak for themselves.

What does this mean for the average user?

For most people, these differences are practically imperceptible. We are talking about a difference of 1-2 FPS in games that already run smoothly. More interesting is the trend – Android phones with the latest Qualcomm chips finally offer a comparable, if not better, gaming experience than iPhones.

More important than the performance itself is the fact that Xiaomi achieves this result more efficiently. Lower power consumption means longer battery life during gaming and less heat to dissipate. For demanding users who play games on their phone for hours a day, the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max might be a more interesting choice than the iPhone.

What do you think about the performance of the new Xiaomi 17 Pro (Max)?

Source: notebookcheck