We’ve been waiting to get started on this Xiaomi 14 Ultra review for a while now considering the phone has been out in its home country China since February 22, 2024, but we were hoping to hear more from the MWC 2024 proceedings before we got down to it. With a global debut in mind, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra release date was announced soon after on February 25, 2024. UK customers who pre-order the device before March 31, 2024, also have the opportunity to make the most of some of the offers the company has made available right now. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera is at the center of all the attention the smartphone is receiving and the Leica collaboration appears to be paying off for the company. Let’s dive a little deeper into the Xiaomi 14 Ultra review and exactly what’s in store for you.
Image: Xiaomi 14 Ultra
Xiaomi 14 Ultra Review—A Camera-Forward Approach Paves the Way
The Xiaomi brand has been relentless in its pursuit to dominate the smartphone market and with every iteration, it appears to be getting closer to making it happen. After years of reserving the Xiaomi 14 Ultra specs for the Chinese market, the company has finally decided to take the device on a longer journey away from home, reaching the UK and European markets with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. It seems the U.S. will still be missing out on the noteworthy device, but it doesn’t hurt to take what exactly the company has accomplished with their latest launch.
What Are the Xiaomi 14 Ultra Specs?
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra display set-up features a 6.73-inch OLED screen with a 1440×3200 pixel resolution, 1-120Hz refresh rate and 3,000 nits peak brightness. The screen can support HDR10+ which can enhance the color contrast on your screen and provide a visually engaging experience while you use your phone. The screen glass panel on the device uses Xiaomi Shield Glass which promises a 10x boost in drop resistance compared to the Xiaomi 13 Ultra.
The back of the device has an interesting leathery texture which isn’t a personal favorite but it does take a different approach compared to the aluminum and glass-backed devices that most brands put out. The back panel is made of nano-tech vegan leather and has features like “stain resistance, antibacterial properties, and environmental friendliness.” It reportedly has six times the wear resistance as the Xiaomi 13 Ultra. Keeping things simple with the colors, there are only two variants of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra: Black and White.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra specs include the most well-used chipset of the year so far, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. The device will feature the Xiaomi HyperOS which is based on the Android 14 OS so you should see the company’s personal touch in the UI while also interacting with familiar elements of the Android system. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra reviews of the internal specs are largely favorable and there isn’t anything to majorly complain about.
How Many Lenses Does the Xiaomi 14 Ultra Camera Have?
One interesting aspect of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera does appear to be the number of them available on the device. The smartphone has 4 rear camera lenses that include a 50 MP main camera, a 50 MP ultra-wide lens, a 50 MP 3.2x telephoto lens, and finally a 50 MP 5x telephoto lens. It’s quite a decent offering from the company. The Google Pixel 8 Pro has a 50 MP Octa PD wide camera, a 48 MP Quad PD ultrawide camera with auto-focus, and a 48 MP Quad PD telephoto camera. The Galaxy S24 Ultra has one 200 MP lens but the others are 50 MP, 12 MP, and 10MP. There are different priorities that each brand seems to be pursuing with their cameras but the Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera does seem to be up there with its top competitors.
Is the Xiaomi 14 Ultra Camera Good?
The main 50 MP camera is a LYT-900 lens and the other three feature the Sony IMX858 camera modules. While the main camera module is the start of the show the remaining three are also pretty impressive sensors that guarantee good photos. All the cameras are surrounded by Leica lenses and the main camera features a 1-inch sensor that is bigger than what is traditionally available on smartphones. The main camera also has a variable f/1.63 to f/4.0 aperture which may not be something you look into with your day-to-day photography but for more precision on how much light is allowed into the lens, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra Camera provides you with that element of control.
As such, instead of relying solely on software and AI features to boost the capabilities of the camera, Xiaomi seems to be working to upgrade the hardware first, which is a pretty big point in our Xiaomi 14 Ultra review. This is not to say that the company is boycotting AI entirely—the boast of an AI LM computational photography platform that works at unprecedented speeds with the platform assigning complete algorithms to each photo, processing tasks in real-time to support advanced image enhancement and manipulation.
What is the Xiaomi 14 Ultra Photography Kit?
For those who want to take the Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera even further, the Xiaomi photography kit is available for purchase. It comes paired with a photography grip segment that can be attached to the smartphone through the USB-C slot and the button and scroll on the grip piece can then be used to operate the Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera. The grip has a shutter button that you can half-press to focus and full-press to take an image. The zoom lever should allow you to switch the focal length and zoom. There is also a recording button and a custom dial for you to play around with the settings and choose what is right for you.
The smartphone can be charged even with the additional piece attached, with a maximum power load of 90W allowed. Charging in this format, the smartphone will be charged first, and once full, the 1,500mAh battery on the grip will begin to charge as well. When the phone’s battery falls below 80 percent, the smartphone will be charged, extending the battery life by 23 percent. Used in the landscape mode, you should now be able to see while the Leica branding on the camera is placed as it is. The grip also comes with a 67mm adaptor ring and a decoration ring to further customize the Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera to suit your taste. The photography kit was previously available with the Xiaomi 13 Ultra as well but for the global market that is only just gaining access to the device, this might be worth a consideration.
What is the Xiaomi 14 Ultra Priced At?
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra review would be incomplete if we didn’t touch on the price of the device. With 16GB RAM and 512GB storage, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra price has been set at £1,299. Converted to dollars, this would be approximately $1,646. There doesn’t seem to be any Xiaomi 14 Ultra US release dates so the price will remain a hypothetical one, but it does seem like the company isn’t shying away from asking for what brands like Samsung and Apple are expecting for their devices.
For those interested in Xiaomi Ultra 14 photography kit, there’s an additional fee of £179 to consider as well. There is a worthwhile offer on pre-orders right now, with an additional Xiaomi Pad 6 (8GB+256GB) and Xiaomi 14 Ultra Professional Kit thrown in for free along with a few other benefits. Now seems like a good time to make the purchase.
There’s much to appreciate in our Xiaomi 14 Ultra review and so far, our favorite detail seems to be the company’s commitment to upgrading the camera and internal hardware to redefine the smartphone’s capabilities. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra specs are impressive as is and while they aren’t significantly better than the Xiaomi 13 Ultra to warrant an upgrade, if you’re going up from older models, then you should find enough of a reason to upgrade to the new device.
