In keeping with my end-of-year tablet update, I dovetailed my recent embrace of theXiaomi Redmi Pad Pro with the chance to get hold of the Xiaomi 14T Pro. Having been using the same smartphone for 5-years, I started to question at what point it would make sense to upgrade for sheer speed, functionality – and of course camera quality – and general robustness.
ThisTitan Black, 12 GB + 256 Gigabyte device comes in at £649.00 on the UK market at the time of writing.
Having gotten used to no wireless charging with my Xiaomi device (and the fact that the Xiaomi 14T Pro supports 50W wireless charging), I started to regret all the press conventions I’d been on where I was handed fancy wireless charging docks and simply gave them back.
No matter, it’s good to step back into the 21st Century I guess.
This device actually ships in a range of “Titan” colours across black, blue and grey. Personally I thought the blue was the most attractive.
The processor is a MediaTek Dimensity 9300+4nm power-efficient manufacturing process CPU:1 and there’s a MediaTek NPU 790 on board too (which is where the device draws its generative AI power from) – and in terms of storage & RAM you’re looking at 12GB, 256GB + 8GB Ultra Space.
Nobody really needs to know how thick or heavy any given device is these days (it’s 8.39mm thick and weighs in at 209g) because that’s pretty much what any smartphone would circulate around. What does matter of course is the display which in this case is6.67-inchwith a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. Put it this way, you can game on this device if you’re into pretty high-resolution RPG-type genres, but I would always still defer to my Xbox personally. It’s probably my age, but wearing Poundland “cheater” reading glasses while crushing zombies is never a good look.
What’s different about getting hold of a new smartphone in this era of device manufacture are things like touchscreen responsiveness (it’s due to improved “touch sampling rates”, apparently)… but it does make you wonder how you put up with stabbing your index finger into an older device and never worrying about it.
Cameras: there’s a lot to Leica
To borrow an old headline from one of the first smartphone reviews I saw that featured a Leica professional optical lens, there’s a lot to like-a about the Leica Vario-Summilux main camera with its telephoto camera power of 50MPƒ/2.060mm. The front camera (you could call it the selfie camera if you wish) is obviously lesser powered, but still offers 32 Megapixels and it has a selfie timer and screen flashlight as well.
There’s also an in-screen fingerprint sensor and AI face unlock here, along with dual SIM and I even plugged in some use of eSIM while away from the UK this month with no comparability issues. The stereo speakers are good, but probably more important are the fact that the Xiaomi 14T Pro supports video formats spanning MP4, MKV and with the HDR display.
An IP68 rating means this device has been tested and certified to be resistant to splash, water and dust in the presence of specific laboratory conditions, so still be careful when you take it to the beach, basically.
Sensor selection
Personally I’m always fascinated by the number of on-board sensors in modern smartphones, it’s something that most people seem to take for granted. Inside this unit, we have a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope and electronic compass, an IR blaster (I still need to look up what that actually is), a flicker sensor and an X-axis linear vibration motor, because where would you be without one right?
The Operating System is the Xiaomi HyperOS and of course there’s no headphone jack, even if some of us would still quite like one despite the ubiquity of Bluetooth earbuds.
Review thoughts
So that’s all the necessary specs and basics covered off. What we can also say here is that this is a mid-range (in terms of budget) phone with some solid AI functionality. No, it’s not an iPhone, but the slightly more pronounced camera bump on the back and the more sleek aluminium than older models certainly emulates a bit of the Apple feel… and let’s say without the fanatical lock-in that most Apple smartphone users (or indeed Google Pixel converts) seem to exhibit. Android is just fine thank you.
Talking of Android, Xiaomi has included features including circle-to-search and Google Gemini. The Xiaomi 14T Pro isn’t available in the USA, so expect some strange “huh” noises from our New World cousins if you take one of these devices over to Disneyland next season.
Use outside is as expected i.e. 14T Pro has an automatic brightness corrector that most users will be happy with, but still need to override now and again on ultra-sunny days, not that we have too many of those in the UK to worry about.
Installation experience
Switching to the 14T Pro from my old Xiaomi unit was completely intuitive and highly automated, the “copy apps and settings” experience took less than 10 minutes and gave me a working phone with all my log-ins preserved. Yes, obviously, Xiaomi pre-loads a whole bunch of stuff you may not want (heaven knows it took me an hour to clean up the Samsung mini-tablet I bought a couple of years ago) and users will be variously bombarded with options to install a whole load more Mi Store apps that they probably don’t want. It doesn’t bother me that manufacturers do this – and let’s face it, Microsoft runs updates that ask you whether you want Office 365 and the Edge browser around every six weeks right?
Like many users, I spend a LOT of time taking photographs with my smartphone and I’m well used to the interface on Xiaomi devices. While the blurred “bokeh” effect is possible using the Xiaomi camera Portrait mode, it’s often still easier to use the main standard camera setting for wide angle shots and more control and then look to apply effects afterwards.
All that said, the 14T Pro performs way better in low or subdued light conditions than its predecessors, so the best advice here is to play with it and get creative. Once again one of the most pleasing updates with this device is the 120W wired charging and 50W wireless charging on a phone – and of course the 5,000mAh battery inside.
If I could pronounce Xiaomi properly in Chinese I’d probably win more people over, but I’ll make no apologies as I’ve found a brand I get on with that has simplicity and comparability at its core. That simplicity does mean that the Xiaomi Hyper OS operating system has abstracted some of the deeper (and arguably more powerful) functions of Android to a lower level, but hey – yes we mean you Microsoft Windows – that’s always the trade-off isn’t it?
There’s a lot here for the money and it’s a smart smartphone.
Vibrant colours.
Panoramic view.
Vibrant colour
Bokeh soft-focus.
Low light conditions.
Bokeh soft-focus effect.
Superb light trails effects.