Tough Redmi Note 14 Pro and Redmi Note 14 Pro+ debut

26 September 2024

The Redmi Note 14 series debuts with two models, a Pro and a Pro+. Both are extra tough and have high quality curved displays. The Pro+ model stands out with better camera hardware and a high-capacity silicon-carbon anode battery.

Redmi Note 14 Pro+

The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ stands out with its triple camera. The main module is based on the OmniVision Light Hunter 800, which we also saw on the Xiaomi 14 Civi. It is a 1/1.55” sensor (1.0µm pixels), which boasts 13.2EV of dynamic range and advanced dual native ISO. It sits behind a bright f/1.6 aperture lens with OIS.

There is another 50MP sensor, this one behind a 60mm lens (2.5x). This is great for portraits and the high resolution sensor also enables 5x lossless zoom. The lens on this camera has an f/2.0 aperture and can focus on close up objects, as close as 50cm.

There is also an 8MP ultra wide camera with 120° FoV (f/2.2). The main camera can record 4K video @ 30fps and 1080p at 60fps, plus a 1080p @ 120fps slow-mo mode. Finally, the selfie camera has a 20MP sensor (OV20B) with 1080p @ 60fps video recording.

A brilliant 6.67” OLED display will serve as your viewfinder. This is a 12-bit panel with 68.7 billion colors and 100% DCI-P3 coverage, plus Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support. It has a resolution of 1,220 x 2,712px (446ppi) and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The display has a peak brightness of 3,000 nits and uses 1,920Hz high frequency PWM dimming.

It is a curved display, as you may have noticed, which has a reputation of being fragile. Redmi’s “King Kong” architecture is anything but. The front is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the back by GG 7i (this is the first Redmi phone with dual Gorilla Glass). The four corners have been reinforced against impact and the internals are cushioned with a polymer, rubber and/or foam that absorbs the energy of impacts.

TÜV SÜD gave the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ a 5-star rating on the drop test, which was conducted on a marble floor from a height of 1.8m. Additionally, to get its IP68 rating, the phone was submerged under 2 meters of water for a full 24 hours – most IP68 tests usually last half an hour. The display can detect touches from wet hands, so you can just fish the phone out of the pool and keep using it.

Xiaomi also went all out with the new silicon-carbon anode battery, which has a massive 6,200mAh capacity. It has been rated for 4 years of fast charging at 90W and can even survive being charged in extreme cold conditions (-20°C).

The phone is powered by the new Snapdragon 7s Gen 3. It’s paired with 12GB of LPDDR4X RAM or 16GB LPDDR5. Storage also comes in two flavors: 256GB UFS 2.2 and 512GB UFS 3.1.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro+ launches in China today. The base 12/256GB model is CNY 1,900 (this includes a temporary 5% discount). This converts to $270/£205/€245/₹22,500. There is also a 12/512GB option for CNY 2,100 and a 16/512GB model for CNY 2,300 (note the different RAM and storage chips!).

Redmi Note 14 Pro

The Redmi Note 14 Pro also has a “King Kong” architecture with GG Victus 2 on the front, though no Gorilla Glass on the back. The internal cushioning and padding is all present, though, as is the waterproofing. So the regular Pro has undergone the same TÜV SÜD tests, surviving drops from 1.8m and spending a full day under 2m of water.

The Twilight Purple colorway has a faux leather texture on the back and an interesting dual-tone cross design. The “Phantom Blue” option also features the dual-tone cross design, but with a smooth texture. There are also Mirror Porcelain White and Midnight Black, which match the Pro+ design.

The camera department on this one has been scaled back. The main module is based on a 50MP Sony LYT-600 sensor (1/1.96”, 0.8µm pixels), which is paired with an f/1.5 lens with OIS. Video recording tops out at 4K @ 30fps, but there are 60fps and 120fps modes in 1080p.

There is no telephoto lens on the regular Pro and the ultra wide camera drops to an 8MP 120° module (f/2.2). The third camera on the back is a 2MP macro module instead. On the front, it’s the same 20MP selfie camera.

The good news is that the display is the same as on the Pro+, a 6.67” 1220p+ OLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,000 nits brightness (1,920Hz PWM dimming). It has 12-bit colors with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, plus 100% coverage of DCI-P3. Both phones use optical under display fingerprint readers, by the way.

The battery is a typical Li-Po cell (no silicon-carbon here), but the 5,500mAh capacity is still fairly large. Charge rate is halved to 45W and the battery is rated to maintain most of its capacity after 4 years of usage.

This model is powered by the Dimensity 7300-Ultra with 8/12GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128/256/512GB of UFS 2.2 storage. Unlike the Pro+, the higher capacity options don’t use newer, faster chips.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro is available in China now, starting at CNY 1,400 for a base 8/128GB model. This converts to $200/£150/€180/₹16,700. There are more options too: 8/256GB for CNY 1,500, 12/256GB for CNY 1,700 and 12/512GB for CNY 1,900.

Source 1 | Source 2 (in Chinese)