Xiaomi 14T review

Competition

As is usually the case, this year's Xiaomi T series is quite competitive in many regards. The 14T, in particular, competes in the €600-700 range, having quite a few renowned models.

The Honor 200 Pro is one of the first to come to mind because it's an excellent all-rounder for just under €600. Just like the 14T, the 200 Pro offers excellent camera quality all around. One can even make a case for Honor edging out its competitor by having a nicer selfie camera. Additionally, Honor's offering supports fast wireless charging and has a faster chipset. Still, the choice won't be easy and the brand or UI preferences might play a key role.

Honor 200 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S24 • Realme GT 6

The Samsung Galaxy S24 is another viable option, although it's considerably smaller. But despite being a flagship phone, the 14T has an arguably nicer feature set. Except for the S24's ultrawide camera, the 14T generally takes better photos. It also charges faster and has more storage. On the other hand, the Galaxy S24 feels like a flagship with a superior build, support for wireless charging and a faster chipset. Samsung promises longer software support too.

Oppo Reno12 Pro • Xiaomi 14T Pro • Xiaomi Poco X6 Pro

Another direct competitor is the Realme GT 6. Even though it doesn't have the same camera prowess as the 14T, it has far superior battery life, fast charging and a snappier chipset. Nevertheless, the 14T feels like a more complete package for the price.

Oppo's Reno12 Pro gets pretty close to the 14T's camera capabilities and even topples it with a nice 50MP selfie camera with AF. Battery life is also great, but the 14T's display is more reliable, has a better ultrawide camera and a more potent chipset.

And for those of you wondering whether the 14T Pro is worth the extra few bucks, it depends on how high up the list of priorities fast charging, SoC, and premium build are. It all boils down to these features, really.

Alternatively, you can go to the other end of the price spectrum and get the Poco X6 Pro. It's a surprisingly similar device for less than half the price, but it's rocking a comparable display (just not as bright), the same chipset, the same storage, and a similar build. They also share the same fast charging protocol and roughly the same battery life.

The 14T's biggest advantage is its cameras. The camera experience is much better than on the X6 Pro, and you get some premium-like features with the 14T, like eSIM support, IP68 ingress protection, Wi-Fi 6E, LHDC Bluetooth and a hardware proximity sensor.

Verdict

Despite facing heavy competition, the Xiaomi 14T is an easy recommendation in our books. The handset covers all bases with a good display, adequate chipset, fast enough charging and nice-sounding speakers. What we would like to see improved is battery life. Also, excluding the charger from the box doesn't sit well with us, given the fact that the phone supports proprietary fast charging.

Despite its lackluster selfie camera, the Xiaomi 14T stands out from the crowd with excellent camera performance - day and night, stills and videos. We are even surprised by how good the 4x zoom mode is.

When you factor in 4 years of major OS updates, the Xiaomi 14T becomes an excellent all-rounder and a great recommendation from launch. As the price settles with time, the handset will become even more lucrative.

Pros

• Nice design, IP68 certification.
• Very good OLED, 12-bit color depth, 144Hz, Dolby Vision.
• Excellent camera performance, stills and videos, dedicted zoom camera.
• Competitive fast charging.
• Very good chipset performance, UFS 4.0 storage.
• Feature-rich HyperOS with 4 years of support.

Cons

• No OIS on the zoom camera.
• Selfie camera is unimpressive.
• Battery life could be better.
• No charger in the box.
• The panel doesn't reach 144Hz in most apps and system menus.