Xiaomi 14 Preview: Initial impressions, key features, camera setup and more

Last week, Xiaomi unveiled its flagship 14 series of smartphones in India. While the Xiaomi 14 was expected to feature prominently, there was a surprise showstopper in the 14 Ultra. While the Ultra will reach the Indian shores only in April 2024, the Xiaomi 14 is now available for purchase online as well as offline. We got to spend some time with the device and here are our initial impressions.

Xiaomi 14 - Design
The design is quite pleasing to the eye, but even more so, is its compact build. Compact Android flagship phones have become incredibly rare, and it is great to see Xiaomi bring one to India. The company has managed to keep the weight well under 200 grams, despite its aluminium frame and glass back. An IP68 rating protects the device from dust and water ingress. The design has shades of Apple iPhone Pro models, especially the frame and the squarish camera island at the back.

In spite of the design inspiration, the phone looks good and more importantly, it feels great in hand - just the right size, 8.2 mm thickness, good grip and even weight distribution. Single-handed operation is largely possible here due to the relatively smaller screen size with truly narrow bezels. The button placement along the edges is spot on and the volume rocker as well as the power button are easily accessible without straining your thumb.

Xiaomi 14 - Display
The Xiaomi 14 sports a 6.36-inch LTPO AMOLED display with a variable refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and a resolution of 2670 x 1200 pixels. You get a 12-bit display here with support for up to 68 billion colour shades and a peak brightness of 3000 nits. The Pro HDR screen is HDR10+ and Dolby Vision compliant and is protected against scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. Text and images looked sharp on this display and colours popped nicely. We will talk about the colour accuracy and contrast once we put it through our test process.

Xiaomi 14 - Processing hardware
Given that this is a flagship series from the brand, Xiaomi has fitted the 14 with the latest and the most powerful Qualcomm SoC around, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. You get just one variant of this phone in India with 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 4.0 internal storage. Needless to say, the hardware here is as powerful as you get at the moment and should be able to face other current flagship phones in this country head-on.

Xiaomi 14 - Cameras
This is the key area that will make or break the Xiaomi 14 series as these are meant to be camera-centric phones co-engineered with popular German camera manufacturer Leica. Since we have yet to do the camera testing, we will refrain from commenting on the output quality. But the partnership with Leica here seems to run a lot deeper than that between Hasselblad and OnePlus, with Xiaomi tapping into the veteran’s hardware and software expertise.

As for cameras, you get three 50MP modules at the back starting with the primary with Light Fusion 900 image sensor, Leica Summilux optics and optical image stabilisation (OIS). Next up is a fixed focus ultra-wide camera with 115-degree FOV. I was a little concerned about the lack of autofocus on this camera as that would mean no macro photography, but Xiaomi has assigned that duty to the third camera - a 75 mm floating telephoto module with OIS.

While it can capture macros from a distance of 10 cm, there is a lot more to it than just that. Given that it’s a telephoto camera, it provides you with up to 3.2X optical zoom and is also meant to be proficient at portrait photography. All the rear cameras collectively provide you with four different focal lengths (35 mm, 50 mm, 75 mm and 90 mm) for different portrait tricks. In addition, you get a bagful of settings and features to play around with that the camera pros will appreciate more than the point-and-shoot types.

You get a 32MP front camera for selfies and video calls. Using the rear cameras, the Xiaomi 14 can record videos in up to 8K resolution at 24 fps and also 4K HDR videos with HDR10+ or Dolby Vision at 30 or 60 fps. The photography department does look promising on paper and we are quite excited to put it through the grind soon. We will tell you everything you need to know about the camera performance in the final review of this phone. Stay tuned.

Xiaomi 14 - Battery and charging
Despite the compact size, the Xiaomi 14’s battery capacity is quite respectable at 4610 mAh. It should comfortably last you for over a day of moderate usage. The company bundles a 90W fast charger that promises to juice it up fully in a little over half an hour. The phone also supports 50W fast wireless charging which is expected to take 15 extra minutes to charge the battery fully.

Xiaomi 14 - Price and initial impressions
The Xiaomi 14 is priced in India at Rs 69,999 for the 12GB RAM/ 512GB internal storage variant. Well, that’s the only variant of the phone that will be sold here. You get a one-year warranty on the phone. There are a few attractive launch offers like Rs 5,000 instant discount on HDFC and ICICI Credit cards and credit and debit card EMI. You can also get a Rs 5,000 exchange bonus on certain phones. So with the right phone and card, you can get the Xiaomi 14 for as low as Rs 59,999.

Bonus content: What’s different in the Xiaomi 14 Ultra?
If my memory serves me right, this is the first time Xiaomi is launching its Ultra model in India. While there are a couple of similarities between that and the Xiaomi 14 like the processing hardware and HyperOS software based on Android 14, the former is a very different beast. The design is completely different with a circular camera module and vegan leather back, and the phone is significantly larger too. You get a bigger and higher resolution (QHD+) 6.73-inch LTPO AMOLED screen that retains all the goodness of the Xiaomi 14 display.

The rear camera system is also different, and I am not just talking about the fourth 50MP camera module available here. The sensors used are different too with Xiaomi opting for an all-Sony setup on the 14 Ultra. The main camera flaunts a Sony LYT-900 sensor, while the other three have Sony IMX898 sensors. The Leica collaboration is strong on this phone too.

You get a combination of a 50MP primary camera with larger pixel size and OIS, a 50MP floating telephoto camera with OIS that can give you 3.2X optical zoom, a 50MP periscope telephoto camera with 5X optical zoom and lastly a 50MP ultra-wide camera with broader 122-degrees FOV and auto-focus that also lets you click macro shots from a 5 cm distance. We will discuss more about the Xiaomi 14 Ultra closer to its release date of April 12. It will be priced at Rs 99,999 and one can expect some launch offers too.