Xiaomi 14 Review: The Best Compact Flagship Of 2024?

The Xiaomi 14 is available in a single variant with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage for Rs.69,999.

The phone is available in Black, Jade Green and White colours. It can be purchased via Flipkart and Xiaomi India’s website.

The Xiaomi 14 packs the following items inside the box:

• Phone
• Case
• Manual
• SIM Ejector
• 120W Charger

Before we talk in detail about the device, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.36-inch 1.5K AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate and LTPO support
• Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
• RAM & ROM: 16GB 512GB
• Software: HyperOS based on Android 14
• Rear camera: 50MP+50MP+50MP
• Selfie camera: 32MP
• Battery: 4,610mAh
• Weight: 193 grams
• Dimensions: 152.8 x 71.5 x 8.2 mm or 8.3 mm

The Xiaomi 14 remains one of the few compact flagships available in the market, along with the Google Pixel 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S24. The black variant that I have has a minimalistic look that can easily blend with any outfit. Furthermore, the phone is also available in Jade Green and White if you want to grab the attention of others.

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The phone is tiny and lightweight enough to slip into most pockets, weighing just 193 grams. Furthermore, the black variant has a rubberised texture grip, which I really liked. It inspired enough confidence that I could use it without a case. You can opt for the green or black variant if you want a premium glass finish instead of a silicone polymer back.

Talking about the case, Xiaomi bundles a premium black case in the box that matches the black variant and provides a good grip. Although the phone is easily prone to scratches and smudges, I recommend using the case. The phone is also pretty slim and can be easily held in one hand.

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The design of the Xiaomi 14 remains similar to that of its predecessor, the Xiaomi 13, which has a large square camera module on the back. It has flat edges and a curved back that blends in with the aluminium frame.

Coming to ports and placements, you get the volume rockers and power button on the right.

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In addition, the left side of the phone remains clean.

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Similarly, the top of the phone has nothing except the secondary microphone.

At the bottom, you get the speaker grille, USB-C port, and SIM tray. The camera module has an IR blaster, and the phone has an IP68 rating, so you don’t have to worry about dust and water resistance.

The Xiaomi 14’s main highlight remains its cameras, which is where it primarily shines. You get a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-900 for the primary, a 50-megapixel Samsung JN1 for the telephoto, a 50-megapixel Samsung JN1 for the ultrawide, and a 32-megapixel OmniVision OV32B for selfies.

The phone takes stunning photos in the daytime with accurate colours and plenty of detail. You get two colour settings: Leica Vibrant and Leica Authentic. I preferred the former due to its punchy and poppy colours, which resulted in social media-ready photos.

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The LYT-900 sensor is Sony’s newest flagship sensor, and it delivers excellent dynamic range with accurate detail. Furthermore, various presets and filters, including black-and-white ones, allow you to tweak the output according to your liking.

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Another thing I noticed is that the colour science consistency remains the same across all three sensors. This means that no matter which lens you use: primary, telephoto, or ultrawide—you will get the same colours across all of them, which is great.

The 50-megapixel telephoto lens offers up to 3.2x optical zoom with excellent details and accurate colours. You can also take 5x shots with hybrid zoom and up to 60x with digital zoom, although the output becomes fuzzy at 60x. Furthermore, the telephoto lens can double up as a macro sensor, capturing photos just 10cm away from the subjects with excellent results.

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The photos taken from the phone have a distinct identity, and they lure you into capturing pictures more often than an average smartphone. It is one of those few phones that can even turn an average Joe into a professional photographer. Even if you don’t tinker around with the plethora of settings on offer, you will get great results by simply pointing and taking a picture.

In low-light scenarios, the phone takes exceptional photos even in challenging conditions with almost no light. Even if you don’t use the dedicated night mode, the output remains impressive with proper handling of multiple light sources and shadows.

The 32-megapixel selfie camera also takes great photos with accurate skin tones and details. The primary camera supports up to 8K at 24FPS and 4K at 60FPS for video recording.

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There is also a SteadyVideo Pro mode that allows you to shoot 1080p at 30FPS videos with enhanced stabilization. Overall, the Xiaomi 14 offers one of the most versatile camera experiences available on compact smartphones right now.

The Xiaomi 14 packs a 4,610mAh battery with support for 90W charging. While it might not sound as impressive as other flagships touting 5,000mAh batteries, the phone can easily last 5 to 6 hours on a single charge.

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During my usage, which included browsing social media apps, watching videos on YouTube, taking several photos, and listening to music, I could easily reach the end of the day. Thanks to great optimization on HyperOS, the LTPO panel, and the 4nm chipset, you won’t face any battery anxiety while using the phone.

Xiaomi also bundles a 120W charger in the box, but the phone only supports 90W charging. It took around 45 minutes to charge the phone fully, which is a bit on the higher side since you can get phones with 125W and 100W charging in this segment.

Xiaomi is one of the remaining ‘smol’ phones available today. It has a relatively tiny 6.36-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a razor-sharp 1.5K display, resulting in a pixel density of 460ppi. Although the compact form made it easier for one-handed usage, you might find the phone a bit too small if you have large hands like me.

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Interestingly, Xiaomi has opted for a flat-panel display unlike other phones in this segment. I personally prefer it due to the easier availability of tempered glass and the fewer accidental touches on a flat screen.

This small display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, although I would have preferred it if the company had opted for Victus 2 as it offers better protection. Furthermore, you also get LTPO support, which can dynamically adjust the refresh rate based on the content.

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Thanks to the 3000 nits of peak brightness, I had no issues viewing the phone in bright sunlight. Moreover, the 120Hz refresh rate ensures that navigating the user interface remains smooth and fluid. The display settings have three modes: 60Hz, 120Hz, and Default, which automatically adjusts the refresh rate using LTPO.

Thanks to its bright and punchy colours, watching content on the small display is a treat. I enjoyed binging Season 1 of Fallout on Amazon Prime Video as you get HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support.

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For audio, Xiaomi has managed to pack stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, which sound loud and clear. It has a hybrid setup with the primary speaker at the bottom and the earpiece doubling as the secondary. Furthermore, you also get an in-display fingerprint sensor for security, which remains fast and accurate.

The Xiaomi 14 is powered by the latest flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. Given these high-end specs, it’s no surprise the phone performs well in day-to-day tasks.

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Whether opening multiple apps or navigating through the user interface, the phone remains blazing fast thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 on board. Furthermore, the UFS 4.0 storage results in instant app opening and loading speeds, while the 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM ensures the app remains open in the background.

In addition, you also get virtual RAM support for up to 12GB, which is good but not very useful as the 16GB RAM can easily keep most apps in memory. The company deserves appreciation for offering the phone in a single variant with 512GB storage and 16GB RAM.

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When it comes to intensive tasks like gaming, you can easily play games like BGMI and CODM at the highest settings. However, despite supporting Extreme+ Graphics in BGMI, the game is only limited to 60FPS. On the other hand, CODM ran smoothly at 120FPS at the highest possible settings.

Furthermore, I also tried demanding games like Wreckfest, Hitman Blood Money Reprisal, Warzone Mobile, Genshin Impact and Diablo Immortal. Out of the several phones I have tested so far, the Xiaomi 14 remains the only smartphone to run Warzone Mobile at 120 FPS at the highest settings.

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Unfortunately, the Xiaomi 14, despite using the most powerful chipset currently available, suffers from severe heating issues. After playing Warzone Mobile for around one hour, the phone reached dangerously close to 50 degrees Celsius—almost 48.9 degrees Celsius!

This was in a room with an ambient temperature of 30 degrees, so I can only imagine how the phone would perform in peak summers. Furthermore, the CPU throttled itself, resulting in the gameplay experience.

Regarding benchmarks, the Xiaomi 14 scores remarkably, with a Geekbench score of 2091 in single-core and a multi-core score of 6484. Furthermore, the phone has a stability score of 77.2 per cent in the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test and 86 per cent in the 15-minute CPU Throttling Test.

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In the AnTuTu V10 benchmark, the phone managed to be pretty close to 2 million with a score of 1966227. Moreover, the storage speed test of 202099 showed blazing fast read/write speeds. Overall, the Xiaomi 14, despite being a powerful phone, suffers from serious heating issues due to its compact form factor, making it hard to recommend for gamers.

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The Xiaomi 14 runs on Android 14 based on the new HyperOS out of the box. Furthermore, the company promises four years of OS updates and five years of security patches, which is great. This means you can expect the phone to get updates until Android 18, although Xiaomi isn’t exactly known for offering timely updates.

HyperOS brings many changes, including improved animations, faster app opening and loading times, less storage space occupied by system apps, and more. You also get lock screen customization and a redesigned quick settings panel that looks similar to iOS.

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Moreover, there are plenty of options, such as Always On Display, Live Wallpapers, and more, so you can tweak the phone to your liking.

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Unfortunately, despite being a flagship phone, many pre-installed apps like PhonePe, Opera Browser, Spotify, Netflix, and Snapchat exist. Thankfully, you can easily uninstall them from Settings. There are also apps like Mi Share, Xiaomi Themes, and Mi Cloud that you might find helpful.

The Xiaomi 14’s animations remain smooth and fluid, easily rivalling any other flagship phone in fluidity. With four years of OS update support, you won’t have to worry about your phone becoming outdated anytime soon.