Xiaomi 14 Review: A Pro Flagship in Everything but Name!

The Xiaomi 14 was unveiled in India earlier this month alongside the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. While the 'Ultra' variant aimed to tackle the best Apple, Samsung, and Google had on offer, the vanilla Xiaomi 14 was designed for the more budget conscious flagship smartphone enthusiast.

The Xiaomi 14 is positioned to compete against more compact flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S24, iPhone 15, and Google Pixel 8 with the aim to disrupt their dominance by winning the hardware battle. The main question here is, "does the Xiaomi 14 have what it takes to emerge as India's best default flagship yet? Let's find out:

Design and Build

Hearing that the Xiaomi 14 Pro wouldn't be arriving to India was certainly a disappointment. However, that didn't last long since Xiaomi decided to release its 'Ultra' smartphone in India this time out. That being said, the Xiaomi 14 is nothing short of impressive. Starting with the fun size, which is not too small that you are left with a small screen and nowhere near the large, bulky form factors we are used to seeing on most flagships.

The Xiaomi 14 also feels extremely comfortable for one handed use thanks to the form factor, flat screen, rounded edges, slim body, and relatively light build. Yes, for a phone with a metal chassis and glass protection on both sides, the Xiaomi 14 comes in under 200 grams and measures just 8.2mm thick, making it slimmer than the iPhone 15 Pro.

In India, the Xiaomi 14 will be unveiled in White, Jade Green, and Black color options. Unfortunately, our green model's glossy finish was resistant to fingerprints and smudges, although it does look elegant. The case in the box does take care of the fingerprints but it does take away from the phone's iconic design.

The Xiaomi 14 also features an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. The Xiaomi 14 also boasts the standard button placement, with the volume and power buttons on the right and a USB Type-C port, SIM tray, and speaker grille on the bottom. The Xiaomi 14 also comes with an accurate and responsive in-display fingerprint reader. The Xiaomi 14 features a near-perfect design and build, with the glossy finish on the green model being its only downside.

Display

For the display, Xiaomi has opted for a custom 6.36-inch 1.5K (1200 x 2670 pixels) LTPO C8 OLED display with a 20:9 aspect ratio. The panel boasts an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate (1Hz - 120Hz). The panel also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+ formats. The screen on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra feels top notch and is visible under all lighting thanks to its peak brightness of 3,00 nits.

The display also features TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light and TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free certifications. The panel also comes with Widevine L1 support for high-quality video streaming on OTT platforms like Netflix. We had no issues using the display outdoors, under direct sunlight as it got plenty bright. The OLED panel also reproduced vibrant colors with deep blacks.

Xiaomi gives you granular controls over picture quality, allowing you to adjust the screen's color temperature automatically or manually. Moreover, the handset can be set to 60Hz or 120Hz manually or the default setting, which intelligently adapts refresh rate based on the app or task at hand.

Performance

The phone is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC paired with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. It also boasts an innovative cooling system that provides 3 times the thermal efficiency compared to traditional VC cooling solutions. In experience with the handset, it worked smoothly for daily usage and didn't have any hiccups running demanding mobile games.

We also tested a few benchmarks on the Xiaomi 14. Geekbench 6 saw the phone managed an impressive single-core score of 2045 points and a multi-core score of 6692 points. The Xiaomi 14's overall AnTuTu score also surpassed two million points, which is in line with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 smartphones we've tested so far.

Some of the titles we tested on the phone were Call of Duty: Mobile, Asphalt 9: Legends, and Genshin Impact. Both Call of Duty and Asphalt ran without a hitch, on maximum graphics with the frame rates set to the max. Genshin Impact also ran on the recommended settings without any lag, instead, frame rates stabilized at around 50 to 60fps.

Cameras

For optics, the Xiaomi 14 is equipped with a triple-rear camera setup on the back co-developed with Leica. The setup includes a 50 MP Hunter Light Fusion 900 image sensor with an f/1.62 aperture and OIS support. The 23mm main camera features Leica's Summilux lens.

The Xiaomi 14 also features a 50 MP Lecia 75mm Floating telephoto lens with an f/2.0 aperture, OIS, and 3.2x optical zoom. Lastly, there's a third 50 MP ultrawide shooter with an f/2.2 aperture and a 115-degree FOV. Here's a look at some samples taken on the Xiaomi 14.

In daylight, photos on the main camera are as close to flawless as possible. The 50 MP primary sensor captures detailed shots with wide dynamic range, accurate color reproduction, and no over sharpness or oversaturation. The one thing the Xiaomi 14's primary camera does well is provide consistent results both indoors and outdoors.

The ultrawide camera on the Xiaomi 14 matches the main shooter both in terms of detail and color consistency. However, shots taken on the ultrawide are visibly softer with limited dynamic range. The last lens here is a 3.2x telephoto unit, which is primarily designed for portrait photos rather than those lavish zoom shots.

The 50 MP telephoto lens did yield good results, matching colors with the main camera and retaining a ton of detail, while keeping noise to a bare minimum. Xiaomi allows you to choose from various portrait modes, including standard, documentary (35mm), swirly bokeh (50mm), portrait (90mm), and soft focus (90mm).

You can also choose from different filters co-developed with Leica. We're not going to lie; the various filters and different focal lengths are the most fun aspect of the phone's portrait mode. However, quality of the shots themselves are a mixed bag with some shots appeared softer than usual. Still, the portrait mode is a lot of fun and is more than what most of the competition offers.

In low light, night mode kicks in to deliver clean images with a ton of detail and perfectly exposed highlights. Light flare can be an issue, but night mode often takes care of it on second or third attempt. Both the ultrawide and telephoto lenses perform well-above the average using the night mode, particularly the former, which yielded some surprisingly good results.

The 32 MP selfie camera took natural-looking shots with good dynamic range, but there is a major drop off here when compared to the rear cameras. I prefer selfie shots taken on the Pixel 8 (Review) and Vivo X100 Pro (Review), both in terms of colors and skin tones.

All three rear cameras on the Xiaomi 14 can record 4K video at 24fps, 30fps, and 60fps. However, video recording on the main camera maxes out at 8K at 24fps. The rear cameras also support HDR and Dolby Vision video recording. Up front, there's a 32 MP OmniVision OV32B40 selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture that can record 4K video at up to 60fps.

We recorded a few videos using the phone's rear cameras, which accurately reproduced colors, while maintaining consistency across all three lenses. There was no noise while recording videos outdoors and dynamic range was excellent. The main camera also captured surprisingly good videos at night, properly exposing darker objects in the scene. Overall, the cameras on the Xiaomi 14 are at the level of a 'Pro-grade' flagship, even if the phone lacks the moniker.

Battery

The Xiaomi 14 also packs a 4,610 mAh battery, which is quite large for a phone this size. It can deliver all-day battery life under moderate-to-heavy usage. We ran Call of Duty for an entire hour on the Xiaomi 14 and saw the phone's battery drain by little under 15%. Additionally, running a video on YouTube for an hour, also saw the phone' battery drain by around 5 percent.

Xiaomi also includes a 90W adapter in the box that can deliver a full charge in 31 minutes. The Xiaomi 14 also supports 50W wireless charging, which is faster than the wired charging on most premium smartphones. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4, 5G, dual-SIM support, and more.

Software

The Xiaomi 14 runs Android 14-based HyperOS out of the box. Xiaomi has committed to four years of Android OS updates and five years of regular security updates with the handset. The introduction of HyperOS serves to aid Xiaomi in creating a more connected ecosystem between its various products. But it is not too dissimilar from MIUI.

The Control Center on HyperOS is here to stay, while Xiaomi has removed texts from icons, although the drop-down labels will appear if you decide to edit or rearrange their order. HyperOS is highly customizable like MIUI. There are a few new additions like more personalized lockscreens and an updated multi-window interface with more intuitive features.

The Xiaomi 14's in-display fingerprint reader also has an integrated heart rate monitor. HyperOS retains the same functionality and customizations as MIUI, while cutting some of the bloat and introducing new features and an interface. However, the one thing lacking here is the incorporation of AI features.

Verdict

So what is a default flagship? In our view, it is one that offers a safe path to the premium experience without making any compromises. We believe the Xiaomi 14 fits this criterion and here's why! First off, the Xiaomi 14's Lecia camera system offers the perfect blend of versatility and quality, delivering excellent results across different lighting conditions.

Then there's battery life, which easily passes the all-day test, despite the Xiaomi 14's size. However, what's even more impressive is the wired and wireless charging support. You also get a bright and vibrant display and quality stereo speakers. Even the software appears more streamlined and proficient than ever before.

Then there's the premium look and feel of the phone, which is second to none in the segment. That being said, the Xiaomi 14 isn't without its caveats. The green variant is a smudge magnet, while the phone itself was quite slippery. The software is not entirely bloat-free and the front camera leaves a lot to be desired.

However, a lot of these hiccups are overlookable and don't take away from what's on offer here, which is one hell of a smartphone. And while the Xiaomi 14 costs (Rs 69,999) the equivalent of an iPhone 15 or a Samsung Galaxy S24, it does offer a better overall package. The Xiaomi 14 is one of the most versatile 'non-Pro' flagship smartphones we've used to date, earning it an easy recommendation in our books.