The 14 Ultra is for another article. It went global but with some exceptions
There are a lot of events happening today all at once. Well, you can probably guess why. It’s because today is Day 1 of Mobile World Congress! Honor, Xiaomi, and even realme are making quite an appearance today. However, the others are for another article. Today we discuss specifically Xiaomi’s new flagship handsets, excluding the Ultra.
The main feature of this phone is at the back. See the beveled camera hump? Yeah it extrudes. That’s because it’s carrying a lot of new camera technology in partnership with Leica. Laying flat on a table is not Xiaomi’s concern now. We’ll discuss about those cameras later.
The phone, just like the Xiaomi 13 series, features a flat 1.5K LTPO3 OLED display with 3000nits peak brightness and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. It’s also Dolby Vision certified and comes with 12-bit colour and HDR10+ enhancement. You know, typical flagship things. Although not the first globally released handset to have HyperOS, it is the first one that gets you that full experience. Inside you’ll find the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, if that wasn’t obvious. It also has a new version of Xiaomi’s liquid cooling method called IceLoop system.
The phone gets a 4610mAh battery cell (odd numbering but alright) with 90W Xiaomi Hypercharge and 50W wireless. Remember the Surge chips? Yes, they have a new purpose now. It’s to monitor your battery so it suddenly doesn’t inflate itself and keep its health in check. It’s like the battery’s personal doctor or caretaker. It has a name, called Surge G1
The phone is IP68 certified but read the fine print ALWAYS. Dunking it in water is at your own risk as the certification is meant to protect the device against accidental drops and are only lab tested. Xiaomi will not honor any type of warranty that is related to water damage.
Now, let’s discuss those cameras, the part you’re waiting for. Starting with the basics. The Xiaomi 14 is equipped with a 50MP Sony Lytia LYT-900 sensor which they call “Light Fusion 900″. Next is a 50MP ultrawide with EIS, and finally, a 32MP 75mm telephoto sensor with distance support from 10cm to infinity. All these sensors utilize Leica’s SUMMILUX technology which enhances image reproduction even further. As always, Leica Vibrant and Leica Authentic are available. These two options calibrate colour reproduction depending on the setting you choose. According to Xiaomi, the new sensor absorbs 80% more light than what the Xiaomi 13 can do, and it’s probably the same for the Xiaomi 15 and so on. It is a large sensor after all measuring 1/1.31”. This phone has a 32MP selfie camera and even a movie mode!
There is also the Xiaomi 14 Pro. It is essentially the same phone as the Xiaomi 14 aesthetically but the Pro has a higher-res curved display (3200x1440px), a larger battery, and faster charging. The Xiaomi 14 Pro has a 4880mAh battery with 120W fast charging plus 50W fast wireless. While the cameras are the same, the Xiaomi 14 Pro has the added value of variable aperture from f/1.42 to f/4.0 for its telephoto camera. This phone also uses a different surge battery chip, the Surge P2. Both phones have Dolby Atmos and stereo speakers by the way.
Xiaomi also has a fancy new patent called UltraSpace which works similarly to Virtual RAM. According to the company, this technology allows the Xiaomi 14 to have more space beyond its normal capacity so 256GB becomes 264GB while 512GB becomes 528GB. The patent allows users to have more storage without Xiaomi having to increase hardware costs. We’re still not sure how well this will be implemented.
Both phones are now available for Chinese users and some users globally, including the Philippines. While there is no pricing yet in the Philippines, there are for China, Xiaomi’s home country. The Xiaomi 14 (8/256) is priced at CNY 3,999 (~PHP 31.5K) and can be priced all the way to CNY 4,999 (~PHP 39.3K). Meanwhile the Pro starts at CNY 4,999 (~PHP 39.3K) (12/256) and can go all the way up to CNY 5,999 (16/1TB) (~PHP 47.2K). You can wait for Xiaomi Philippines announcement before deciding to rush to your nearest grey market store. If you wait, you’ll also get service support and warranty. Plus, your phone is guaranteed to work with Philippine signal bands because it is NTC approved.
Among other things announced today are the Watch S3, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Xiaomi S Pro Mini LED TV 55″, and a Mijia-branded integrated refrigerator with 512L capacity. The addition of these appliances are meant to supplement HyperOS. MIUI is forever gone.
Source: Xiaomi Newsroom, Xiaomi 14 (in Chinese), Xiaomi 14 Pro (in Chinese)
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