Truth be told, I wasn’t particularly into it because it wasn’t even the Pro or the Pro Max model, not even the ultra-thin Air. At the time, I was juggling between a couple of high-spec Android exotics, so excuse me if I wasn’t exactly thrilled to review yet another iterative base iPhone.
Little did I know that the affordable and unexciting iPhone 17 would turn out to be a hidden gem that perfects the old adage and breathes new life into the base iPhone formula.
I usually wouldn’t settle for using an Android phone with a battery that’s less than 5,000 mAh, with a telephoto that’s less than 3X in optical zooming capabilities, and lacking an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, but the iPhone 17 brought me down to the ground and recalibrated my perception of what I really needed in a phone.
Sometimes all you need is the basics covered
What could make someone who considers themselves an Android power user to find comfort in a phone with still fairly closed-down software, a dual camera, and little to no in terms of exciting and head-turning features?
Well, it’s exactly that, the simplicity of it all. The iPhone 17 is a boring phone, but it excels in the basics and lulls you into a comfortable blanket of being disinterested with what else is there, making you cherish things you’d otherwise take for a given.
The iPhone 17 gets you a battery to last you the day, a fairly humble but good enough dual camera, and finally adds ProMotion to the display, the final missing piece that finally makes the base iPhone shine brightly, just as much as the Pro models Apple also sells alongside.
In terms of battery life, there’s nothing here that can impress, as the iPhone 17 might often need a recharge by 4pm when I’m using it heavily. That is definitely a problem, but you know what, once you get used to the daily charging, it stops bothering you. The battery life isn’t a problem, because I’m almost always near an outlet or have a MagSafe powerbank when out and about just in case, but I can see how many could shrug off the iPhone 17‘s battery life.
Forget the GAS, a reliable and consistent camera can’t be beaten
Gear Acquisition Syndrome is the worst thing that could happen to anybody in a creative medium. The constant urge to switch over to another device or get that other phone with the better camera isn’t something you’d want to experience on the regular.
Having a device with a 1-inch sensor and capable of crisp zoom up to 120X is undoubtedly one way to brag to your friends, but taking a photo with the iPhone 17 certainly wouldn’t disappoint. If anything, Apple has perfected people and portrait photography, and as a father of two very young kids, that comes in clutch every day.
Phones like the Oppo Find X8 Ultra and the Vivo X200 Pro come with all the bells and whistles, but I’ve sometimes ended up with blurry or subpar photos of my children, while the iPhone doesn’t have a particularly exciting camera but almost always delivers consistent and predictable results.
A display that’s finally nice
I’ve always been apprehensive of the base iPhone due to the 60Hz screens that definitely overstayed their welcome. Most compact Android rivals have been using 120 Hz screens for so long that we no longer register that as a cool feature; it’s just something that simply is there by default, and you assume it’s there without even noticing it or caring for it.
Great audio on deck
Credit where credit is due: Apple has a knack for phone audio. Few iPhone 17 rivals sound better than it, and all of those cost way more. Once you experience the bass and the big and wide soundstage of an iPhone, you suddenly become conscious of the audio capabilities of whatever other phone you were using before.
Conclusion
Phone reviewers always jump between phones, always transferring accounts, SIM cards, and data between devices and ecosystems, so the overall experience with every device feels ephemeral and fleeting. You rarely slow down to enjoy the little things, always looking forward to the next big thing, and sometimes a basic iPhone 17 is all you need to recalibrate the role of tech in your daily life.
