It took them 13 years but they finally pulled that 4K selfie off.
Yes, we’re aware that HyperOS is around but we’d like to discuss first the first phone that launches with it, the Xiaomi 14 series. Not only does it have improved Leica cameras, but also 4K selfie video?! Better late than never, we guess. Aside from that, it gets a significant design change, in particular, by its camera island hump which extrudes the phone.
So what is it about this Xiaomi 14 that everyone gets excited about? Well, first of all, due to the lightsaber effects that Samsung is putting out with their SAMOLEDs (we didn’t even know they collaborated with Lucasfilm), Xiaomi opted to source their screen from BOE instead which is what the 14 series use. The displays themselves not only outputs a similar quality as SAMOLED but they are also more inexpensive to manufacture, a win-win for Xiaomi.
XIAOMI 14
To be specific, the Xiaomi 14 uses a 6.36″ 2.5K (1200x2670px) LTPO3 OLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate. The screen peaks at 3000 nits brightness. Of course, it has your usual flagship display features like Dolby Vision, 12-bit colour, and 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut.
The phone uses the newest flagship chipset from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This is only newly released and the Xiaomi 14 series is the first phone to use it. Although, the company originally wanted to use a new N3 process (or 3nm), TSMC’s quality assurance tests show signs of failure so the company is forced to use the same 4nm process as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
There are three cameras, four if you count the 32MP selfie camera. There is a 50+32+50MP combination at the back. To broaden it, there is a 50MP Primary camera (f/1.6, 23mm, 2.4µm, “Light Hunter 900”, OIS), a 32MP “floating” telephoto sensor (f/2.0, 75mm, 50MP portrait, 6P, OIS), and a 50MP Ultrawide sensor (f/2.2, 14mm, 115°, EIS, AF). The UW sensor seems to lack macro capabilities which isn’t all too much of a sacrifice since the primary camera can do the job the same way, possibly even better.
As mentioned earlier, it runs the new Xiaomi HyperOS, built upon the old MIUI and will soon run Xiaomi phones not older than 2 years old. It seems like this one is more closed-source as bootloader unlocking will be disabled. This could pose a problem for the Custom ROM community as the company is known for being open about its OS being customizable and rootable. They did start as a Custom ROM company after all, offering its MIUI ROM for other devices to use.
As for the battery, you’re getting a 4610mAh cell inside charged using a 90W USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port (that’s more than what the iPhone 15 can give, but same as the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max) and 50W fast wireless charging.
In China, you’re getting multiple colours, like the previous generation. Here, it’s black, white, pink, and green. Very different from the “Google aesthetics” that the Xiaomi 13 gives. Although, both are made of a glass material. You can pre-order one starting at CNY 3,999 (8/256) (~PHP 31.1K), CNY 4,299 (12/256) (~PHP 33.4K), CNY 4,599 (~PHP 35.8K), and CNY 4,999 (16/1TB) (~PHP 38.9K).
XIAOMI 14 PRO
The Xiaomi 14 Pro isn’t all that different in terms of design, chipset, and display. Unlike the previous phone, the Xiaomi 14 Pro uses flat sides but still the same high-quality LTPO3 OLED panel. The back features a Parisian Hobnail Texture and this is also where the extruding camera island resides. It’s in for a bumpy ride.
The Xiaomi 14 Pro uses the same LTPO3 OLED as the Xiaomi 14 but in a much higher QHD+ (3200x1440px) resolution, a larger 6.73″ size, 2160Hz PWM dimming, and is protected by a layer of Xiaomi’s Longjing Glass. This means that Huawei’s Kunlun has some competition to see, and Corning and Asahi aren’t the only ones to provide manufacturers their tempered glass protection.
There is also a limited-edition titanium variant of the phone, the same material used for the iPhone 15 Pro series. The frame is also made of a titanium alloy. The regular phone comes in white, black, and green. The titanium variant replaces the pink colour for the Xiaomi 14.
It uses the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset as the Xiaomi 14. It also runs HyperOS if you couldn’t already tell.
The cameras here are upgraded, as it uses the “Pro” label. Like the Xiaomi 14, it uses a custom “Light Hunter 900″ sensor with a custom Leica SUMMILUX lens. This lens is even more powerful than the 13’s SUMMICRON lens. It also ditches the 1-inch sensor the previous flagship had in favour of a 1/1.31” size used here.
Aside from that, there is a variable 50MP and 40MP telephoto sensor which switches depending on distance (50MP on portrait and 40MP on regular shots). The Ultrawide is also more powerful, sporting a 50MP sensor with 5cm macro and 14mm focal length. It uses the same f/2.2 aperture however.
As for the selfie, it’s pretty much the same, a 32MP shooter with 4K video. Yes, both 30 and 60fps are supported.
There is a 4880mAh battery with 120W charging rate and 50W for wireless. It also uses the same USB-C 3.2 port as the base variant.
In China, the phone is priced initially at CNY 4,999 (12/256) (~PHP 38.9K) and then goes all the way to CNY 5,999 (16/1TB) (~PHP 46.6K). Neither phones are available for global users to purchase yet.
Source: Xiaomi China
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