In-Depth Review: Xiaomi 14 pro

This model comes with 12 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and boasts a 6.73-inch AMOLED display with a 20:9 aspect ratio, offering a resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels at 521 PPI. The display is a capacitive touchscreen, glossy, supports HDR, and has a refresh rate of 120 Hz.

For storage, the Xiaomi 14 Pro is equipped with 256 GB of UFS 4.0 flash storage, with 236 GB of free space available out of the box.

Weighing in at 223 grams (7.87 oz / 0.49 pounds), the device is complemented by a power supply that weighs 152 grams (5.36 oz / 0.34 pounds). The price of the Xiaomi 14 Pro is set at 790 Euros.

Please note that the manufacturer may incorporate components from various suppliers, such as display panels, drives, or memory modules, as long as they meet similar specifications.

Design and Build Quality of the Xiaomi 14 Pro

The Xiaomi 14 Pro has dimensions of 161.4 x 75.3 x 8.5 mm and a weight of 223 g. Similar to its predecessor, it features sleek, clean lines. The flat sides are crafted from metal, contributing to the smartphone’s overall premium feel. Additionally, it boasts an IP68 certification, further enhancing its high-quality impression.

Surprisingly, despite the bulky triple camera module, the smartphone remains well-balanced, which is particularly evident when typing. The slim bezels surrounding the 6.73-inch display, which is flat without any curved edges, are a standout feature. The haptic feedback from the keys, all of which are positioned on the right-hand side, is excellent, as is the overall build quality of the Xiaomi 14 Pro.

Software of the Xiaomi 14 Pro

The Xiaomi 14 and 14 Pro are the inaugural smartphones featuring the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC and are also the first to operate on HyperOS, the successor to MIUI. However, our review unit came with a beta version of HyperOS, which is based on Android 14 and had its most recent security update on November 1, 2024.

Of the 512 GB of available storage, 8.82 GB is used by the system, with an additional 5.99 GB allocated to system files and 3.85 GB for applications. Including 6.11 MB of image files, this sums up to roughly 18.7 GB of total storage utilized.

We will explore the differences between MIUI and HyperOS in a separate article. However, initially, the distinctions appear minimal, with very few noticeable changes, if any.

The amount of pre-installed bloatware is minimal, likely due to TradingShenzhen's influence. They have included the Google Play Store and removed Chinese apps as a standard practice. It is somewhat surprising that TikTok is not among the pre-installed apps. I have already added the Chrome browser, as shown in the screenshot.

There is no significant bloatware present. System applications can be removed without any problems. We will have to wait and see how the global versions of Xiaomi smartphones will fare when they are released.

Xiaomi offers the Xiaomi 14 Pro owners up to four years of operating system updates and five years of security updates. To address a common query: a flashable EU-ROM with German or French language options is not yet available. Typically, such ROMs become accessible when the global versions of Xiaomi models are released.

Performance - Xiaomi Smartphone with Snapdragon Processor 

The Xiaomi 14 Pro features the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the latest high-end SoC from the American manufacturer for 2024. In our benchmarks, the Xiaomi smartphone, equipped with 12 GB of DDR5x RAM and fast 256 GB UFS 4.0 storage, demonstrates exceptionally high performance. The Qualcomm chipset shows notable improvement in multi-core tests on Geekbench compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Apple A17 Pro.

However, the single-core CPU performance is lower than that of the iPhone 15 Pro, which is expected given the Apple A17 P core's higher clock speed (3.8 GHz). The Prime core (Cortex X4, 3.3 GHz) in the Xiaomi 14 Pro shows only a modest enhancement over its predecessor. While the 14 Pro performs well in system benchmarks (PCMark, CrossMark), it still falls behind the Sony Xperia 5 V, which features the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Single-Core Performance

Multi-Core

The Xiaomi 14 Pro boasts a 4,880-mAh battery that supports charging speeds of up to 120 watts. With wireless charging, it can achieve a maximum of 50 watts, while reverse wireless charging reaches up to 10 watts. In our testing, the high-end smartphone requires only around 20 minutes to fully charge from a complete discharge. Thankfully, a fast charger is included in the box.

The 14 Pro’s power consumption during idle use is impressively low at about 1 watt, especially given the high-resolution display. In the Burnout benchmark, it also shows minimal power draw under load. Compared to other devices, such as the Mix Fold 3, which can have power consumption nearly double in similar conditions, the 14 Pro performs exceptionally well.

Cameras - Xiaomi Smartphone Equipped with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)

While the 32-MP selfie camera resolution remains the same as its predecessor, the new high-end smartphone now supports 4K video recording at 60 fps. Picture quality has visibly improved, although the 14 Pro still isn't considered a selfie specialist.

Compared to the Xiaomi 13 Pro, the new Leica Summilux lens in the 14 Pro features a 50-megapixel resolution with a 23 mm focal length and a 1/1.31-inch sensor. This setup boasts improved light sensitivity with an aperture of f/1.42, compared to the f/1.9 aperture of the previous model, allowing for brighter and less noisy images in low-light conditions. However, the sensor size is notably smaller. Additionally, the new lens includes a variable aperture control, adjustable from f/1.42 to f/4.0 in four steps.