For years, the “regular” iPhone received hand-me-downs from the Pro models. This was less so with the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, but the trickle-down philosophy was still there to a degree. For 2025 and the iPhone 17 ($799) is no longer the compromise that the base model used to be. Apple finally blessed it with a 120Hz display and this year’s most exciting camera feature, Center Stage.
While it may seem like Apple is no longer forcing iPhone users to compromise, or at least not to the degree it used to, there’s still one big thing to consider. With the introduction of the iPhone Air, the company has shaken up the screen sizes across the iPhone 17 lineup. Instead of the previous 6.1-inch iPhone and 6.7-inch Plus model, Apple is splitting the difference with the iPhone 17’s 6.3-inch screen. That also aligns it size-wise with the iPhone 17 Pro, while the Air sits in the middle of the series at 6.5 inches.
I guess I’m a big-phone guy now, because it’s been a rough week transitioning from the 16 Plus to the iPhone 17. At times I feel like my phone is a toy, and at others it’s like I stepped back in time. I don’t particularly like either sensation.
Putting my screen size preferences aside, the iPhone 17 remains the best iPhone for most people. Since Apple brought its best new features to this regular model this year, you don’t have to feel like you’re waiting for the exciting tools from the Air or Pro to make it to a more affordable iPhone model in 12 months. The upgraded display and new front camera are certainly the highlights, but the iPhone 17 remains a solidly built device with dependable all-day battery life and capable performance.
Apple/Engadget
The “regular” iPhone got a big refresh this year with the addition of a ProMotion display and Center Stage camera.
Pros
- Finally, a 120Hz display
- Center Stage front camera works great
- Dual 48MP Fusion rear cameras take sharp photos
Cons
- 6.3 inches will be too small for some
- Best camera performance is reserved for the 17 Pro
Finally, a 120Hz display
A big change on the iPhone 17 is the 6.3-inch ProMotion 120Hz display. Not only is it slightly bigger than the 6.1-inch iPhone 16, but it finally refreshes faster now. The higher refresh rate was one of the last remaining items Apple had yet to bring down from its Pro models, and this one makes a big difference to the overall experience. Swiping around iOS 26 feels a lot smoother. Apps like Instagram and Safari where I previously encountered some jitters now move effortlessly. When it’s time to venture outside, you’ll be glad that Apple boosted the peak brightness to 3,000 nits — a 1,000-nit increase from the iPhone 16. It’s a welcome upgrade for the times you need to use your phone in direct sunlight.
The company also equipped the iPhone 17 with an always-on display, which is useful for updates at a glance if you’ve missed a notification. And of course, Dynamic Island is still there, providing ongoing info for progress on things like live sports, music playback, navigation, ride sharing and more.
You won’t really notice the display upgrade until you start using the phone, so a quick glance won’t reveal any obvious hardware changes. Unless you do a side-by-side with the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, where the size variation will be apparent, you won’t detect any difference. Flip over to the back though and there’s an almost entirely new color palette. Black and white remain, but Lavender, Sage and Mist Blue have replaced last year’s Ultramarine, Teal and Pink options. I prefer this year’s hues, as they aren’t as pastel-y as the 2024 lineup, and that Sage green looks really sharp in person.
Venture back to the front and there’s another important update that isn’t visible. Apple upgraded the scratch resistance with Ceramic Shield 2, which the company says provides three times better protection than on the iPhone 16. I needed to keep my iPhone 17 pristine for photos during my review, so I haven’t put it in situations with the potential for injury just yet. My mischievous cocker spaniel did get a hold of it for a few minutes, but there are no visible teeth marks or scratches from that harrowing (for me) incident.
Camera updates take Center Stage
Billy Steele for Engadget
For many, camera performance is the most essential aspect of an iPhone, and this year’s model got a significant upgrade there. The biggest change is the new 18MP Center Stage front camera that replaces the 12MP TrueDepth camera. This new version has a square sensor that enables the iPhone 17 to automatically switch from portrait to landscape when more people enter the frame for a selfie.
After using Center Stage for about a week, it’s easily the best new camera feature Apple has released in years. I can concede that the addition of macro mode and Photographic Styles in previous iPhones were also excellent, but Center Stage feels like magic. I’m not even a big selfie taker, but when I do need to snap one on a family outing, this 41 year old no longer feels like a Boomer holding his phone sideways. The adjustments happen quickly so you’re not left waiting, and if you don’t like it, you can disable the auto rotation, auto zoom or both.
Center Stage also works with video calls to keep you in the frame. This is particularly helpful if you’re walking or otherwise moving around while trying to have a chat. It does take a second for the system to make its adjustment after you move from the center of the frame, but it’s smooth and won’t be a distraction to anyone on the call.
Another update to the front-facing camera is a new Dual Capture mode. This simultaneously records footage with the front and rear cameras for things like reaction videos. As the parent of two kids in youth sports, I can see the utility for things like championship games, or even milestone moments at school. I think a lot of people will also film themselves singing along at concerts, but I’m not one of them.
Billy Steele for Engadget
The only issue I have with Dual Capture is that it’s a challenge to keep both the action and yourself in frame. You can’t look in two places at once, so if you want to maintain a centered reaction shot or ongoing commentary, you’ll have to figure out a way to juggle the shots. I’ve yet to master it myself and you’ll likely struggle if you prefer your selfie clips shot from a downward angle.
The front-facing camera isn’t the only photography-centric upgrade on the iPhone 17. Around back, there are now two 48MP Fusion cameras. On the iPhone 16, only the main was a Fusion camera while the ultra-wide has a 12MP sensor. You’ll get the same 0.5x, 1x and 2x zoom options as before, automatic macro mode, True Tone flash and the rest of the handy features from the iPhone 16 — like Portrait Lighting. If you’re into Apple’s Photographic Styles, there’s a new one called Bright that enhances skin tones and makes the rest of the image more vibrant. My colleague Cherlynn Low compared it to the now-retired Oslo filter on Instagram, and I think that’s an apt comparison.
By default, the main camera delivers shots in 24MP resolution for a balance of detail and brightness. In general, the photos I took with the iPhone 17 appeared to be slightly sharper than those I captured with my iPhone 16 Plus, especially in details like texture (as evidenced by the photos of pumpkins and my dog Biscuit). There isn’t a huge leap in rear camera performance here, but I noticed a slight improvement.
1 / 8
iPhone 17 camera samples
Plenty of texture in the fur and woven fabric here.
In lower-light settings, like in my pictures under the awning of my local produce stand and inside a local bar, colors remained accurate and crisp. Macro images were just as sharp and detailed as before, judging from my close-up of a sunflower which you can see here. Night time pics still produce accurate colors, especially when rendering the warmth or coolness of street lights, and those elements aren’t lacking in clarity either. Swap your camera settings to 48MP and you’ll notice enhanced detail in images that contain landscapes, as one example. Just keep in mind that those max-res photos are limited to 1x zoom and any Night mode or flash shots will always be saved at 12MP.
Besides the fact that it uses the non-Pro A19 processor, the cameras are the main area the iPhone 17 lags behind the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. They have a third camera around back — a 48MP Fusion telephoto — that’s equipped with 3D sensor-shift optical image stabilization. That three-camera array also provides additional zoom options at 4x and 8x. They also unlock ProRAW for stills and both ProRes and ProRes Raw for video, and come with a four-microphone setup for “studio-quality” audio capture. If you desire the pinnacle of Apple’s photographic prowess (currently, anyway), the iPhone 17 Pro starts at $1,099 — $300 more than the iPhone 17.
Performance
Billy Steele for Engadget
While Apple equipped the iPhone 17 with its latest A19 chip, there’s still a six-core CPU and five-core GPU — same as the iPhone 16. The difference here is that the GPU now has Neural Accelerators on each core, which Apple says will boost peak computing power for AI tasks. Unless you’re coming from an older iPhone, you probably won’t notice too much of an improvement year-to-year. Apple explains that the CPU performance in the iPhone 17 is up to 50 percent faster than the iPhone 13, but that phone is from four years ago — basically an eternity. Obviously, you’d expect to see a major uptick in speed when comparing the flashy new model to such an aging device.
That said, the iPhone 17 speedily handled any task I threw at it. During my everyday use, I didn’t encounter a single time the phone stuttered or struggled to complete the job. The only time I had to wait for anything was for Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT to generate my latest prompt or make a Genmoji in Image Playground (I don’t recommend asking for “a hot dog thunderstorm,” by the way). What’s more, I never noticed the iPhone 17 getting warm when using these AI tools on their own, but it did start to heat up when I simultaneously started multitasking (playing music, etc.). The iPhone 17 never got more than noticeably warm to the touch, though.
I’m not an avid mobile gamer, but I did play some Destiny: Rising (a recommendation from the Engadget staff) on the iPhone 17 for my due diligence. The combination of the A19 chip and the 120Hz display provided silky smooth action for the first-person shooter, even in chaotic skirmishes. Plus, the iPhone 17 didn’t get hot during my gaming sessions, despite not having the vapor chamber that the Pros do. This probably led me to play a lot longer than I should at times, since the device never got warm enough to remind me of how much time had passed. The iPhone 17 Pro, Pro Max and Air all have the more powerful A19 Pro chip, but the regular iPhone this year is a capable mobile gaming device too.
The arrival of iOS 26
My colleague Mat Smith covered all the new features of iOS 26 in detail, so I’ll refer you to his guide for the nitty gritty on the update. I will offer some quick thoughts on the new software overall, starting with Liquid Glass. After a week with the latest design, I’m still not a fan. In some areas the refresh is useful: I particularly like the changes to CarPlay, the phone app and Messages. I’m also starting to get onboard with the tweaks to the Camera app. But for every one update that’s helpful, I find five more I hate. I don’t like the new menu in Apple Music that sometimes requires an extra tap to reveal the options, which is one of my biggest annoyances.
I do love the combination of the iPhone 17’s always-on display and iOS 26’s Priority Notifications. It’s immensely helpful to glance over at my phone and see if there’s anything I need to address immediately. This pairing is also handy when it shows me things when I might’ve missed a notification as it first popped up. It’s only been a week, so I’m likely to find other elements I can put to good use as I spend more time with the new OS. And since iOS 26 is a bigger visual overhaul than Apple’s typical annual refresh, the iPhone 17 feels like even more of an upgrade.
Since I’ve also been using the AirPods Pro 3 for the last several days, two features I’ve tested a lot are the earbuds’ heart-rate tracking and Live Translation. It’s nice to not have to postpone a workout if my Apple Watch is charging, since I now know the AirPods Pro 3 will track my movement and properly credit my Activity Rings. I also can’t wait to travel abroad with Live Translation, since the tests I’ve conducted at home have already produced surprisingly helpful results.
Battery life
Billy Steele for Engadget
Once again, Apple promises “all day” battery life on the iPhone 17. Of course, the company doesn’t quantify that phrase, other than a commitment to 30 hours of video playback or 27 hours of streaming time. My colleague Sam Rutherford got nearly 25 hours while streaming a video as a comparison for his review of the iPhone Air. During a day of what I’d consider “regular” use — checking email, responding to Slack messages, listening to music, calls, texting, scrolling Instagram and watching a few episodes of The Bear — I still had 16 percent battery left by bed time. That’s after a day that started at 7AM and ended at 12AM, and I had the always-on display active the entire time.
Apple slightly increased the MagSafe wireless charging wattage on the iPhone 17. It’s now up to 25W (with a 30W adapter), which matches the iPhone 16 Plus, and is a 3W increase from the iPhone 16. If you don’t mind cables, you can expect to recharge to 50 percent in 20 minutes with a 40W (or higher) adapter and to get halfway with a 30W charging accessory in half an hour. That charging-to-50-percent time on the iPhone 17 is faster than what you get on the 16 and 16 Plus by 10 and 15 minutes respectively.
The competition
If you’re looking for a non-Apple alternative, Google’s Pixel 10 is your best bet. It has improved performance compared to its predecessor along with an upgraded telephoto camera with 5x zoom. There’s support for Google’s take on MagSafe (Pixelsnap) and the Gemini-powered Magic Cue feature is surprisingly handy. Plus, the Pixel 10 starts at $799, just like the iPhone 17.
Samsung’s latest entry-level flagship, the Galaxy S25, is less of an obvious choice. Since the series has long been a rival of Apple’s iPhone, it merits inclusion here. The S25’s display and cameras haven’t been upgraded over the S24’s, but it has a powerful new processor and excellent battery life. Gemini works better on the S25 than it did in the past and there’s the solid build quality that Samsung always offers at this price range. Speaking of cost, the S25 also costs the same as the iPhone 17.
Wrap-up
With the most significant update in years, the iPhone 17 is an easy choice for an upgrade for most people. Even if you’re coming from the iPhone 16, you’ll reap the benefits of the overhauled display and improved cameras. I don’t say any of that lightly as I’m not a person who recommends getting a new phone every year. Most of the time, there simply aren’t compelling enough changes to warrant it. That’s not the case this year, and if you’re coming from an iPhone that’s a few years old, you’ll likely feel as if you’ve stepped into the future.
I went into this review expecting to be eager to return to my iPhone 16 Plus when I was through testing. And while I do prefer the larger device after using it for a year, the updates Apple has amassed on the iPhone 17 — especially the Center Stage camera — have appeased that desire… for now. I don’t have much use for the performance boosts that the iPhone 17 Pro or Pro Max provide, and I can’t justify splurging just for a bigger display. So, I can confidently say that even though there’s one less option in the regular iPhone lineup than there was a year ago, the iPhone 17 is still the best iPhone for most of us.
1 / 9
Apple iPhone 17 review
The iPhone 17 still features two rear cameras, but the ultra-wide has been upgraded.