Apple iPhone 17 Review

For years, Apple's standard iPhone quietly went without features reserved for the Pro models. With the iPhone 17, that gap all but closes. Priced from £799, it finally brings the long-awaited ProMotion high-refresh display to the base model, alongside a bigger screen, upgraded cameras and Apple's latest A19 processor. Independent laboratory testing rates it a standout in its class — the kind of phone you can buy with confidence rather than compromise.

Physically, the iPhone 17 carries over almost exactly the look of the iPhone 16, which is no bad thing: the finish is as classy as ever, with flat, bevelled aluminium sides that sit comfortably in the hand over long sessions, and slimmer, more even bezels around the front. The screen has grown from 6.1 to 6.3 inches while the phone stays compact and light at 177g and 8mm thick. It keeps the modern iPhone furniture — the customisable Action button, the camera control button — and adds proper durability: an IP68 rating against dust and water, a tougher Ceramic Shield 2 front, tinted glass back and aluminium frame.

The 6.3-inch OLED display is where the iPhone 17 pulls ahead of its rivals. The test measured an outdoor peak brightness of over 3,030 cd/m² — an excellent figure that few phones its lab has tested exceed, and enough to beat even the Google Pixel 10. HDR peak brightness (around 1,611 cd/m²) trails a couple of rivals, but the real story is colour: the test praised the calibration as exceptional and versatile, recording a near-perfect sRGB colour accuracy (a Delta E of just 0.68) that puts the competition to shame, plus excellent P3 accuracy for video. Add exemplary automatic brightness and you have, in the test's words, one of the best screens on the market and comfortably the best in its price class.

The A19 silicon delivers the fast, fluid performance you expect from an iPhone, now paired with the smoothness of that 120Hz ProMotion panel. It ships with iOS 26 and Apple's new "Liquid Glass" design language, which turns much of the interface translucent. The test found it undeniably striking, if not yet fully polished — the reduced contrast can make some elements harder to read. iOS 26 does add genuinely useful features, though, chief among them native blocking of unwanted calls, plus a camera-button AI visual search. The test did note a number of bugs in this first release, including occasional freezes, which Apple will presumably iron out.

Apple has meaningfully upgraded the base model's cameras. There are now two 48-megapixel rear sensors — a main wide and an ultra-wide — plus a new 18-megapixel front camera with Center Stage framing. The test found the main camera produces natural, pleasing shots with good sharpness and restrained, slightly warm colours, and it holds up well at night, pulling usable detail out of very dark scenes. The obvious omission the test flagged is a dedicated telephoto lens — hard to explain at this price — so zoomed portraits fall to a 2x crop of the main sensor rather than a true optical zoom.

Two niggles keep the score honest. Beyond the missing telephoto, the test judged the dedicated camera button largely pointless in everyday use, its advanced functions buried and disabled by default. And the early iOS 26 software still has bugs to shake out. None of these undermine what is otherwise a hugely accomplished phone.

The iPhone 17 is a top pick in our best flagship phones guide. It sits above the cheaper iPhone 17e, adding the bigger ProMotion screen and better cameras. Against Android, the Google Pixel 10 Pro counters with a telephoto lens and cleverer photo processing, while the Samsung Galaxy S26 offers its own take on a compact flagship. Keen photographers should also read our best camera phones guide. Check the price on Amazon

The iPhone 17 is the most complete standard iPhone in years. By finally handing the base model a 120Hz ProMotion display, a bigger, superbly calibrated screen, stronger cameras and Apple's latest silicon, Apple has removed most of the reasons to trade up to a Pro. The lack of a telephoto lens and some early iOS 26 rough edges are the only real blots. For most people, it is the iPhone to buy — and, as the test put it, one you can choose with your eyes closed.

This review is based on independent laboratory testing rather than our own hands-on trial.