A fully differential X‐band image rejection down‐converter is fabricated using Hartley architecture with a total chip area of 2.6 × 1.1 mm2 in InGaP/GaAs HBT monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology.This down‐converter consists of two single‐balanced mixers, a differential intermediate frequency (IF) amplifier, a local oscillator quadrature generator, a three‐stage polyphase filter, and a differential voltage‐controlled oscillator. This down‐converter yields an image rejection ratio of over 30 dB, a conversion gain of over 30 dB, a noise figure of less than 3.5 dB, and an output‐referred 1 dB compression power (P1dB,OUT) of 2.5 dBm in the IF range 0.9‐2 GHz. The broadband image rejection characteristics over a frequency range of 1.1 GHz with a current consumption of 35 mA are achieved. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 53:789–793, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.25852