Though it is quite close to its Pro cousin, the Xiaomi 14T is unquestionably a mid-range phone. With the 14T, Xiaomi provides a fantastic display, high-end design, and dependable performance, making the phone ideal for gaming. Despite being billed as a camera phone, the photographic experience is a mixed bag due to trade-offs in the durability and camera categories.
Design
The Xiaomi 14T is made of a blocky aluminum alloy and features square edges that gently curve into the back panel. The 14T’s rounded corners and matte rear panel make it comfortable to handle in either landscape or portrait orientation for prolonged use. It’s lightweight and has just enough weight to dispel any sense of cheapness.
The material used is referred to by Xiaomi as a “metallic aluminum alloy,” and it is available in three different colors: Titan Gray, Titan Black, and Titan Blue. A Lemon Green version of the 14T is also available from Xiaomi; according to the firm, it is constructed entirely of recycled PET and features vegan leather composed of 50% bio-based components, such as lemon fiber.
This phone is still unquestionably big, with the same 6.67-inch display and 20:9 aspect ratio as the 13T and 13T Pro from the previous year. In overall, the Xiaomi 14T feels fantastic to use, although I can see reachability being a problem for people with tiny hands. One-handed mode may be accessed with a little awkward gesture.
The phone’s right side features a textured power button and volume rocker, while the bottom has a dual-SIM tray and a USB-C connector. The stereo pair for audio is made up of a speaker on the bottom border and an earphone cutout along the top bezel of the screen. It works well for videos but is a little thin for music.
The Xiaomi 14T has the same big camera bulge as its predecessor. The 14T’s camera housing appears to be composed of the same aluminum alloy as the rest of the phone, which gives it a refreshingly industrial look in contrast to the futuristic black camera module of the 13T.
Three cameras and a flash with its own lens-like ringed frame are housed in the camera bump. At first, this seemed like an attempt to make the device appear more expensive than it actually is, but as time has gone on, I’ve come to value the visual harmony this decision offers.
Display
The Xiaomi 14T’s finest feature and main selling point is its 6.67-inch display. As we discovered in our review of the Xiaomi 13T Pro, this is a stunning AMOLED panel that is dependably bright, sharp, and contrasty in a variety of settings. It appears to be the same display as the Xiaomi 13T Pro, but that isn’t a problem for a phone this affordable. Anything you can put on this screen, including games, movies, and pictures, looks amazing. The punch-hole selfie camera is thoughtfully designed to sit just on the edge of 16:9 video content thanks to its 20:9 aspect ratio.
The 14T’s display is smooth and detailed, with a resolution of 2712 x 1220 and an adjustable refresh rate of up to 144 Hz. You won’t have any problems using the display outside thanks to its maximum brightness of 4,000 nits, which is arguably excessively bright.
The Xiaomi 14T’s display is excellent for gaming because to its tall aspect ratio and high quality; the additional space on each side allows your thumbs to rest without blocking much of the screen’s center. With many color profiles and comprehensive display settings that let users customize the appearance of the 14T’s display to their preference, web browsing, social networking, and other daily tasks go smoothly.
Biometric security is provided by an under-display fingerprint scanner, which can be used to generate passkeys and unlock phones.
Sadly, durability is one area where the display seems to falter. After using it regularly for about a week, I noticed a few clusters of scratches on the front panel. Although these aren’t obvious in most circumstances, they do make me question how long the 14T will last.
Software
With its own HyperOS user interface, the Xiaomi 14T comes pre-installed with Android 14. It’s a simple, responsive Android implementation with a ton of amazing customization possibilities.
A sleek Android shell, HyperOS limits the number of extras to a manageable quantity. Although some of the built-in apps work with Xiaomi’s account system, they are by no means necessary. On the home page, Google Play Store and Chrome are accompanied by Xiaomi’s App Mall and Mi Browser, and the majority of users will probably go directly to Google’s platforms. Google Gemini is also pre-installed on the Xiaomi 14T and can be accessed with a half-second press of the power button, but in my testing, I didn’t find these AI functions to be that helpful.
The 14T loses some of its premium shine due to certain pre-installed bloatware, although these can usually be quickly removed or relegated to the app drawer. HyperOS is a seamless and feature-rich Android 14 deployment, plus Xiaomi’s own dynamic backgrounds and general design choices give the 14T a unique flair and excitement.
Cameras
I thought the cameras were a mixed bag, even though Xiaomi has made photography the main focus of their marketing campaign for the 14T and 14T Pro. The primary camera captures excellent images, which are pleasingly colorful and somewhat detailed, with particularly good results in bright lighting. However, using the telephoto camera to zoom in or the ultra-wide lens to zoom out yields images of different quality.
Similar to the model from the previous year, Xiaomi and Leica collaborated to create the camera module for the 14T. Even in cloudy settings, the primary 50MP wide camera captures sharp, contrasty images, although it has trouble with finer details. An easy-to-use scroll wheel controls the 14T’s 20x digital and 4x optical zooms, which are provided by the telephoto camera. Contrast and color feel consistent throughout the primary and telephoto cameras.
Higher zoom levels, however, appear to set off a harsh post-processing process that produces an unduly brightened and smoothed image. There don’t appear to be any settings in the camera app to stop this processing, so long-range shots show less quality than photos taken at lower zoom levels and then cropped in. Also mediocre is the ultra-wide camera, which provides a helpful 0.6x magnification but yields a considerably warmer and less detailed image.
You have a great deal of control over the final image thanks to the camera app’s abundance of settings and choices. Two interchangeable “styles” that Leica calls its own, Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant, both produce a more colorful or grounded image; I liked Leica Vibrant’s contrast and saturation better. Additionally, there is a Pro mode with numerous options, a variety of elegant filters, and an HDR option (which is on Auto by default). Photos taken in an amazing night mode are visible and realistic.
Regarding video, the 14T can capture 4K at 30 frames per second or 1080p at 60 frames per second. Videos seem a bit too crisp, even though they capture a lot of detail. There is a Director mode with an interface akin to a camera, and a Movie mode that gives people in the picture a depth-of-field effect, much like Apple’s Cinematic Mode. When I used the camera for a long time, I observed that the 14T got a little warm, but not uncomfortable.
Higher-resolution sensors and more dependable image processing pipelines are available even within this price range, which helps to explain some of the 14T’s photographic limitations. Nevertheless, the 14T can still take excellent pictures, and the control the software provides allows for some true artistic expression.
Performance
When used normally, the Xiaomi 14T is quick and responsive, easily managing social media, system programs, and web browsing. With its octa-core CPU and dual-core GPU, the MediaTek Dimensity 8300-Ultra chipset powers the 14T, allowing it to effortlessly run demanding games like PUBG and Call of Duty Mobile.
Actually, given how well the 14T is suited for gaming, it’s a little strange that Xiaomi has marketed it as a camera phone. Together with the device’s outstanding display and comparatively modest weight, its consistently good performance provides a portable, potent mobile gaming platform. This seems to be the 14T’s hidden strength, and I’m perplexed as to why the business hasn’t said much about it, preferring to concentrate nearly entirely on photography.
Long gaming sessions can cause the phone to grow a little warm, but not uncomfortable, and running several demanding apps depletes the battery. Additionally, I occasionally stumbled when navigating between apps. Nevertheless, given its price range, the 14T’s overall performance is still remarkable.
Battery
The 14T may readily last a day on a single charge, as appears to be the case with Xiaomi phones. It is fitted with a 5,000mAh lithium-polymer battery, which is incredibly large. In fact, it took me a long day to completely empty the battery, and the standby hours are very outstanding.
Although the Xiaomi 14T’s 67W wired charging capability is undoubtedly quick, it is by no means comparable to the 14 Pro’s 120W capabilities. Unfortunately, the base 14T does not enable wireless charging at all and does not benefit from the 50W wireless charging boost offered by the 14T Pro. It’s a touch disappointing, but not a big deal considering the quick connected charging speeds and consistently lengthy battery life.
The phone comes with a USB-A to USB-C connection but no wall plug. I tested the charging speed of the 14T using a Huawei 40W power adapter and found that it charged rather quickly. I’ll update this review once I can test the maximum charging speed.