Xiaomi 14T and 14T Pro phones pack a punch, but aren’t for the US
Xiaomi’s 14 Ultra seriously impressed us with its photography prowess, particularly when it came to snapping Taylor Swift . While the company’s new 14T and 14T Pro don’t have the same high-performance camera setup, they still have a lot to offer as all-round Android flagships. Xiaomi doesn’t sell its phones in the US, but the 14T, 14T Pro, and Xiaomi’s new wearables and earbuds should be on shelves in the UK and wider Europe in the coming weeks.
Xiaomi declined to confirm pricing ahead of the launch, but the base Xiaomi 14 currently retails for £849 (around $1,130), while the previous 13T Pro retailed for around £700 in the UK. I’d expect the 14T Pro to be closer to the 14’s price, possibly around £850, with the base 14T costing at least a few hundred less. I’ll update this article once more pricing information becomes available.
The 14T Pro is best thought of as Xiaomi’s answer to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus. While it doesn’t have the same standout camera as the Ultra, the 14T Pro is aimed at those of you who want a more general high-performance phone with enough power to handle everyday tasks as well as gaming, video streaming, and photo editing.
The cameras are the main area where the 14T Pro differs from the 14 Ultra. While the Ultra maintains its position as Xiaomi’s ultimate photography-focused phone, the 14T Pro has a more typical camera setup aimed at more casual photographers.
This photo was taken with the main camera and is bright and vibrant, with beautiful autumnal tones.
This image of a flower stall is packed with color and detail.
The ultra-wide camera captured a beautiful photo here.
Thanks to the 5x optical zoom, the 14T Pro was able to get a nice view of this distant building.
The main camera’s 50-megapixel resolution is on par with most Android flagships, and its 1/1.31-inch image sensor is roughly the same as the one found in the Galaxy S24 Ultra. It’s a step down from the 1-inch sensor in the 14 Ultra, but it’s still capable of taking great photos so far.
It also lacks the variable aperture of the 14 Ultra, but its fixed f/1.6 aperture is wide enough to let in plenty of light for bright, clear night shots. Like the 14 Ultra, it’s a co-branded camera with Leica, and you’ll find several Leica color presets designed to emulate filmmaking styles.
The 14T Pro is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9300 Plus chip, paired with 12GB of RAM. It’s a powerful piece of silicon, which results in great performance in benchmark tests, offering a smooth and speedy experience when navigating through the Android interface or playing games.
The 14T Pro’s screen is bright and sharp.
It runs Android 14, but I expect an update to Android 15 will be coming later this year. Xiaomi’s interface is simple enough, but I don’t like that the phone comes pre-installed with a bunch of nonsense including AliExpress, Amazon, Opera, TikTok, WPS Office, and a variety of Xiaomi apps and services. It makes the phone look cluttered right away, so much so that I had to uninstall the phone entirely on day one to get it to look the way I wanted.
The phone is powered by a large 5,000mAh battery, which should comfortably last you a full day. Don’t worry about draining the battery though, as the 120W fast charger can fully charge the phone in around 19 minutes. You will need to purchase your own 120W charger, however, as one isn’t included in the box.
The Buds 5, Watch 2 and Smart Band 9
Xiaomi 14T, Watch 2, Smartband 9, Buds 5
In addition to the 14T Pro, there’s the base Xiaomi 14T. This one makes some compromises compared to the Pro model, in order to presumably get a lower price tag.
Charging maxes out at 67W, it uses a slower Dimensity 8300-Ultra processor, and the main camera sensor is a slightly smaller, cheaper model. That said, it still uses Leica optics and I expect it to still offer solid all-round image quality for casual snappers.
Xiaomi has also taken the wraps off several wearables, including the Smart Band 9, which offers health, sleep, and workout tracking and can be inserted into various wristbands or worn as a pendant (shirking heart rate tracking). The Watch 2, meanwhile, runs Google’s WearOS for deeper integration with your phone, is powered by a Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1 chip, and offers the usual array of health and sleep tracking features.
The Buds 5 are Xiaomi’s answer to the Airpods. They have an open-ear design, support for high-resolution audio, noise cancellation and a total battery life of up to 39 hours when using the charging case.
