Introduction
Well , it looks like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has some on-key competition in the flagship Android smartphone space . Enter the Xiaomi 14 Ultra .
TheXiaomi 13 Ultrawas a keen earpiece , however the limited liberation made it a sturdy earpiece to recommend for those who did n’t fancy importing it . That ’s all changed with its follow - up , the Xiaomi 14 Ultra .
Launched alongside theXiaomi 14atMWC 2024 , the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is the stigma ’s no - sacrifice smartphone that load down in just about every lineament anyone could want .
In the UK , the Xiaomi 14 Ultra will retail for £ 1299 , invest it right up against theSamsung Galaxy S24 Ultra . There ’s no US handout confirmed .
I got to drop a short time with the phone in Barcelona and I think there ’s every chance we could be expect at thebest phoneof 2024 . Here ’s why .
Camera
The camera is the star of the show on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra , and there ’s every luck this could terminate up being thebest tv camera phoneon the marketplace this year .
Packed inside the huge rear lodging is a total of four 50MP sensing element covering 12 mm , 23 , 75 mm and 120 mm focal lengths .
The independent camera has a stepless variable star aperture that can move between f/1.6 and f/4.0 , giving the user an experience far closer to a traditional photographic camera than a smartphone . This principal camera also pack a 1 - inch sensing element and the photos it can grow wait genuinely marvellous .
Elsewhere , there are two zoom television camera . The 75 mm is ideal for portrait , while the periscope 120 mm lens lets you get far near to a subject . This tv camera also corroborate sharp macro shots for when you need to bewitch specific detail , and with the supporter of AI it can hit 240 mm .
Xiaomi has once again teamed up with Leica , with the German camera brand helping tune the colors and give that traditional , unfeigned - to - life-time Leica look .
It ’s not just photography though , as Xiaomi is also focus on the video acquisition here . Footage can be dart in 8 K at 30fps across all four disjoined lenses and there ’s a new MasterCinema shooting mode that ’s designed to give a more professional movie feeling .
The icing on the cake is an optional two - piece television camera grip accessory that includes a two - point shutter button , a rapid climb lever tumbler , a video transcription clit and an extra dial that can be customised .
The grip also functions as an external electric battery money box thanks to its 1500mAh cell . With this travelling bag attach , the Xiaomi 14 feels even more like a proper tv camera and I am sure anyone concerned in this phone will probably require this accessory too . Pricing is still to be confirm , though it will launch at the same prison term as the phone .
Specs and Features
It ’s really unmanageable to find a feature or high - end spec the Xiaomi 14 Ultra does n’t own . power the phone is theSnapdragon 8 Gen 3chipset and that ’s paired with a very healthy 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of quick UFS 4.0 memory .
I was n’t able-bodied to tend any of our common benchmarking apps or play any intensive biz during the session , but we ’ve reviewed several phones powered by Qualcomm ’s latest chip and each has impressed – so all mansion luff to this being very capable too . There ’s alsoWi - Fi 7and Bluetooth 5.4 onboard .
Inside there ’s a 5000mAh battery which confirm 90w wired charging and 80w wireless charging ( when couple with a able stand ) . There is a stopper and cable television in the box .
There ’s one area where I am less positive about the Xiaomi 14 Ultra , and that ’s the software . While Xiaomi ’s Android pelt has a new name – HyperOS – it depend very much the same , and it has many of the same issues . This visual sense of Android is nothing like Google ’s , or else it feels a circumstances more like iOS . The quick preferences that are accessed with a swipe down on the homescreen mimic Apple ’s Control Center and the app icons are squared .
There was also a load of preinstalled apps on my demo social unit – this could switch in the retail translation , though judging by the Xiaomi 14 I would n’t require a huge reducing – and Xiaomi has n’t quite ace the conception of its aboriginal service .
Xiaomi does say that HyperOS has a focus on performance , with improved file and memory direction systems . I did n’t apply the phone long enough to judge whether this made any conflict , but we will test it for the full review .
Design and Screen
Even though this phone is the pricier sibling of the Xiaomi 14 , the two have unlike excogitation mentality – and it ’s the Ultra that has the more optic - trip up overall look .
The standout invention chemical element is the mammoth camera housing on the back , which takes up most of the top portion of the phone . I do n’t remember this look will invoke to everyone , but it does toy into the Xiaomi 14 Ultra being just as much a camera as a telephone .
Xiaomi has tweaked the design from the Xiaomi 13 Ultra , removing the huge divot that antecedently sat underneath the camera blow and make everything a peck more flat . It ’s a small alteration that makes a huge difference to usableness .
I still find that due to the sheer size of the television camera , it can be tricky to find a comfy position in which to contain the Xiaomi 14 Ultra . My fingers naturally trench on the sensor as there was n’t enough space anywhere else and it ’s hard to recover a place where they could seat . This also made the outer photographic camera glass get very smudged , very quickly .
Surrounding the television camera is a fake leather finish , in either white or bootleg , that add together a overnice second of grain and furthers that summary camera look . I ’m a vast fan of these finishes as they ’re more durable than glass and do n’t pick up any fingermark .
Another notable change over the 13 Ultra I reviewed last year is that the screen is now mostly matt , without any heavy curve on the edges . There ’s still a slight side on both the cover and back , but it ’s far nigher to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra than theOnePlus 12 . I ’m a fan of this variety , as it reduces glare on the edges of the exhibit and generally get to it promiscuous to use .
The screen door itself is marvelous . It ’s an OLED panel , with a 1440p resoluteness , LTPO tech for a refresh rate that can move between 1 and 120Hz and all the HDR formats anyone could need : HDR10 + , HLG and Dolby Vision . I was using the phone in a bright environs with spotlights everywhere and the panel did an admirable job of up the brightness level to battle the glare .
