It seems strange no one is giving any credit to 17, when it is one of the best value iPhone Apple has to offer for quite some time.

It is either equal to or better than iPhone 16 Pro. A year ago iPhone 16 Pro 256Gb would be $1099, iPhone 17 256GB today is $799, with a better SoC, better WiFi, same display and ProMotion, better screen protective layer. The only thing worst is the lack of Telephoto camera.