On the Xiaomi 14 Ultra test - a big enough improvement or a step for the competition?

I managed to test the Xiaomi 14 right before its presentation at the MWC in Barcelona, we didn't get the Pro version in Europe, but then I could only briefly handle the latest Xiaomi 14 Ultra. The design was very similar to last year's Xiaomi 13 Ultra, so I was eagerly waiting to see what they had changed and if the photography was a step up. To top it all off, I had the rare opportunity to side-by-side test the HONOR Magic6 Pro, another giant of mobile telephony. Although I will not directly compare them in the following, some results will still come from comparing how they performed in different areas.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra price in Slovenia?

Xiaomi 14 Ultra 16/512 GB: 1499 €

A special promotion is valid until April 10, with which you get an additional Redmi Pad SE tablet with your purchase.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra – identical in design to thirteen

What can I say about the form that I didn't say last year? Not much has changed. It became lighter by 8 grams, and the other dimensions are more or less the same. It's still a huge phone with slight curves, flat sides and a huge camera bezel that easily gets in the way. When you hold it in your hand, there is always at least one finger on the camera lenses, so you will also need to clean them regularly. Since my Huawei Mate 50 Pro also has a similar frame, I'm still kind of used to my finger hugging the frame, so I don't have any problems with it. I saw the opinion that the phone has a poorly balanced weight, that the top part is too heavy and easily slips from the hands. I can only say that I don't know how these users hold their phones, that shouldn't be a concern at all.

I still haven't changed my mind about the leather finish. The leather is pleasant to the touch, but again it ends just before contact with the side. When I draw the line, I can easily remember the phone by its shape, but I'm still not impressed with it. There are more beautiful phones, most recently I was most impressed by the Xiaomi Redmi 13 Pro+ in the mouse purple-blue combination, but I still can't forget the "marble" Huawei P60 Pro.

A slightly better screen, which was already excellent #141;

I like colossal phones, because I value every available inch when playing games and reading. Yes, they are much quieter in your pocket, even using them with one hand is not always the easiest. I forgive all this for larger phones, because the content on such screens is much more pleasant to enjoy.

Like last year, 6.73 inches is available. The panel is AMOLED, LTPO technology is also supported for refreshing between 1 and 120 Hz. They improved the brightness a little, from 2600 to 3000 nits, which you won't notice with the naked eye. It is important that you can easily use it in the strongest light. Other bits and pieces are also present: Dolby Vision, 1440p resolution (1440x 3200), HDR10+, solid image density (522 ppi) and the like. Instead of Corning protection, they used Xiaomi Shield Glass, which according to them offers a very similar level of protection.

I was very pleased with the display. The clarity is excellent, the responsiveness as well, I also noticed a 1-Hz refresh when the screen is always on, which contributes a little to better battery autonomy. You either love the curved screen or you don't, there is no middle ground. Personally, I like the #141;, as long as I have to replace the screen protector, and that curvature causes a lot of headaches with blisters under the screen protector.

A phone that is both PlayStation and Nintendo Switch

By the end of the year, get used to hearing the name of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip during these tests. For 1500 €, I don't expect anything. another. With the exception of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which also got a slightly twisted version of the #141 model this year, the results of the synthetic tests (English benchmark) of the classic #141 version on all phones are very similar.

This time there was nothingč other, but I noticed the phone overheating quite badly. During the tests, which are adjusted for extreme winding of the cores, the temperature was also 5⁰C higher than, for example, the Samsung and also the phone from the same ecosystem, the Xiaomi 14. Why this is so, it is difficult to say. Given that it has a larger surface area than the Xiaomi 14 and thus a greater possibility for heat dissipation, there are obviously obstacles somewhere that do not transmit heat well, or the cooling system is simply insufficient. efficient for such capacity. The phone took a few minutes to recover after such a load. During this time, I noticed quite a fair slowdown, which was even more noticeable when scrolling between menus or when you want to launch some more intensive application. Perhaps Xiaomi should consider setting a lower limit for when the cores in the chip should be overclocked. All manufacturers do this, but apparently it is now set to too high a temperature.

I must point out that most will not reach such high temperatures. These types of tests are not a true reflection of everyday use. I often play Switch games on my phone myself, where the chip needs to stretch its legs a fair bit, but even then I haven't been able to recreate the same results.

I'm still just into gaming, I've been learning the performance of phones for a while now. Apple has managed to launch the graphically demanding computer game Resident Evil, and on Androids we can play console games using emulators. I mention this only to remind users that phones are not only a device for browsing the web and taking pictures, but with our help they can do much more.

The space (512 GB) will be enough for everything. The drive is also extremely fast (UFS 4.0) and can be compared to older SSD drives. The 5000 mAh battery is the same as last year, but they got an hour or two more out of it of use, which is most likely the result of a more efficient system. It is charged via cable with 90 W, wirelessly with 80 W, and reverse charging (10 W) is also available for charging smart watches, headphones or, in an emergency, other phones.

HyperOS is installed, but similar to the Redmi 13, it does not offer anything more. like the previous MIUI. I may have noticed a better optimization of the system so that everything really works without errors, but I have not yet seen that the system was poorly optimized on MIUI, although I know that the old system had just such a reputation.

What they added is a new app store/library. It is an alternative to Google, but I don't know who it will be useful for. I don't even know where they got all these apps from. Is it an archive of third party stores (ApkPure, ApkMirror …) or have they actually made a deal with all app developers like Huawei did with their AppGallery store? The first option is more likely. During my two weeks of testing, I only used this new store once, because I was looking for some obscure, niche app that wasn't more available in the Google Store.

There is no software cover, or only the one we are used to on almost all phones (Booking, LinkedIn, TikTok, Spotify …), which is useful for some, a little less so for others.

Xiaomi promises 4 Android upgrades and 5 years of security patches, which is second only to Samsung's best available.

Photographers will pull out the biggest from cameras

I tested the cameras without the photography kit, which Xiaomi sells separately (around €200) and includes a special shutter release housing, case and camera frame. The kit is not necessary, but it will make you feel more like a real photographer.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra has as many as four 50 MP cameras, the main sensor is even 1-inch, just like last year's Ultra. With this, it secured a concrete advantage over other phones, as it can capture much more. information. And in the majority of cases, this is how it turned out in practice.

I was able to capture phenomenal photos during the day, and I'm especially impressed with the portraits, which are just to my taste. The natural bokeh effect is excellent and for me the best phone for portrait photography. I also had fun with the filters, čblack-and-white photography nicely brightened up my archive. The aperture can be adjusted between f/1.6 and f/4.0 for more control over the bokeh effect, although in most cases the camera does this well automatically.

I am a little disappointed with the HDR, which was too much at times. bold. At night, the photos were of very high quality, but I may have noticed a slightly greater drop in quality than the competition, especially the HONOR Magic6 Pro. Even with the increase, I expected more. The pictures are still good, relatively detailed, but with a more alert eye you can see that noise has crept into the picture.

I can also praise the stabilization, which did not let me down in any case, even when I deliberately caused it headaches. Shooting in motion is also at a very high level and, above all, easy. The dedicated function is activated and the shutter is released, the rest is taken care of by the camera and software.

For macro photography, I recommend using the telephoto camera instead of the dedicated macro function. Not only is it easier to take photos, but the results are noticeably better.

The video is available in 8K resolution (24 or 30 fps), and in the best light it is displayed in 4K resolution, where I can only praise the quality. They also improved the front camera, which can record in 4K resolution. Why this wasn't available on the 13 Ultra is beyond me to this day.

I am of the opinion that the cameras will be the most saved by more experienced photographers or at least those who know how to use Pro mode or the Lightroom program. Even when the image is a little worse, we can still make concrete changes from the available data, especially with the 1-inch sensor.

Xiaomi 14 Ultra easily on the list of the best phones of 2024

With such powerful phones, any shortcoming comes off as hair splitting. When you buy in the €1500 range, you can be sure that you will get an excellent phone regardless of the brand. 95 things to love about %, and you'll find a feature or two about each phone that you think could be improved.

In the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, I would improve the cooling system, brighten up the design and make the camera even more consistent in everyday photography. The camera is excellent, but as a point and shoot camera, it loses its red thread at times. However, I wouldn't argue that the phone would be a hundred bucks cheaper and thus also have a smaller advantage over Samsung and Apple in terms of price.