Xiaomi 14 Civi First Impressions

Xiaomi 14 Cinematic Vision (long before Civi) is the company’s first smartphone co-designed with a Leica tagline at a price point that was earlier hard to imagine at this price point. Gadgets 360 was the first publication to report about the Civi launch in India last month . But before we dive into the Civi 14, let’s talk about Xiaomi’s foray into the premium smartphone segment. The first attempt to crack the premium segment in India was led by the Xiaomi 12 Pro in 2022, followed by the Xiaomi 13 Pro, the first in the company’s lineup to arrive with a Leica collaboration. But both the smartphones were priced above Rs. 60,000 in India. If you look at the company’s current lineup, there’s a huge gap between the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ and Xiaomi 14. And that’s where the launch of the Xiaomi 14 Civi makes all the more sense.

Before we get into our first impressions, let’s talk about the pricing. The Xiaomi 14 Civi price in India has been set at Rs. 47,999 for the 12GB RAM + 512GB storage. The 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant is priced at Rs 42,999. The smartphone will go on sale in India from June 20, 2024 at 12:00 PM IST and will be available via Mi.com, Flipkart and select offline retailers across India.

Xiaomi 14 Civi: The Package

If you look at the specs list of Xiaomi’s 14 Civi, it seems that the company has tried its best to pack everything that a smartphone enthusiast could possibly want under this price range. Starting with the top-end chipset, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor and the Leica Vario Summilux camera setup, it features a 50-megapixel primary camera, accompanied by a 50-megapixel telephoto camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera. Of course, thanks to the co-engineering with Leica, the 14 Civi gets all the bells and whistles that you’d expect from the camera division, including two photography styles – Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant looks among others. The Xiaomi 14 Civi is also the only smartphone in the Indian market currently to offer dual selfie cameras – a dual 32-megapixel setup on the front.

Xiaomi 14 Civi features a 6.55-inch quad-curved AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate

At 7.4mm thick and weighing 177 grams, the Xiaomi 14 Civi is one of the thinnest and lightest smartphones in this price range. To give some context, the Pixel 8a is 8.9mm thick and weighs 188 grams. The iQOO 12, on the other hand, is 8.1mm thick and weighs 198.5 grams. The OnePlus 12R, priced under Rs. 50,000, is 8.8mm thick and weighs 207 grams. Coming to the display, the 14 Civi at 6.55-inches sits neatly between the Xiaomi 14’s 6.36-inch and the 14 Ultra’s 6.73-inch. It offers a 120Hz refresh rate, 3,000 nits peak brightness, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+. The 14 Civi houses a 4,700mAh battery with a 67W fast charging adapter in the box.

Xiaomi 14 Civi (left) and Xiaomi 14 (right) size comparison

Xiaomi 14 Civi: first thoughts

While the Xiaomi 14 Civi seems to tick a lot of boxes on paper, the real test is yet to come. We’ll be putting this device through its paces and bringing you a review in the coming days. Stay tuned for our verdict, which will delve deeper into performance, camera capabilities, battery life, and more.

With metal frames, the 14 Civi feels solid in the hands and its dimensions make it comfortable to use with just one hand. It comes in Cruise Blue, Matcha Green and the Classic Matte Edition, which we received for our review. It’s worth noting that Xiaomi’s attention to detail in each colourway is fantastic.

Xiaomi 14 Civi has a triple camera on the back

The curved design is perfect for one-handed use and like the 14 Ultra, the Civi features the company’s quad-curve display with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. In terms of camera housing placement, the Civi is more identical to its bigger sibling, the 14 Ultra.

Taken with Xiaomi 14 Civi main lens

Thanks to the partnership with Leica, the 14 Civi gets a bunch of camera modes, including a portrait mode with Leica’s real styles. We dive deeper into the cameras in our review.

Xiaomi 14 Civi supports 3000nits peak brightness and comes with Dolby Vision and HDR10+

It runs on HyperOS based on Android 14, which is the operating system that most new Xiaomi phones launch with. In the limited time we spent with the Xiaomi 14 Civi, it performed smoothly when it came to day-to-day tasks and multitasking. Gaming ran smoothly as we tried out a few sessions of BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile. The display is bright and good for all your multimedia needs. The cameras are the main attraction and we’ll save our verdict for the review. First impressions of the camera put it right next to its other siblings – Xiaomi 14 and 14 Ultra – in terms of overall camera quality. The dual selfie cameras on the Xiaomi 14 Civi will probably bring back the days when phones came with dual front-facing cameras. The 4,700mAh battery with 67W fast charging support seems like a nice addition. Does it offer the best battery life in this segment though? Well, that’s something we’ll have to test, so we’ll save our verdict on the battery.

Xiaomi 14 Civi has a round camera on the back, just like its bigger brother, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra

Overall, the Xiaomi 14 Civi is a solid contender in the sub-Rs. 50,000 segment. With the kind of spec sheet and features list, we think the Civi can easily outshine the competition. It’s always good to see new entrants challenging the best smartphones in the segment as we can expect fireworks that will benefit consumers as well. Now, only time will tell how popular the sub-Rs. 50,000 smartphone segment will be in the coming days. Until then, stay tuned to our Xiaomi 14 Civi review.