Give in to some Leica lure!
The flagship smartphone has a lot of allure, but what holds it back?
Asilver Leica logo is starting back at me, as I unpack the latest Xiaomi flagship. I would have mentioned the design or other features first, but the Leica partnership is undoubtedly one of the most alluring aspects. I’ve been taking the Xiaomi 14 along on my weekly adventures over the last couple of weeks and it has slowly but surely made its way into my heart.
DESIGN & DISPLAY
I’ve got the allblack colour variant, although I think the Jade Green finish looks the most appealing. A square camera island with rounded corners draws the eye to the top left. The soft matte texture finish on the rear panel is smooth to the touch and offers a firm grip. And, surprisingly keeps smudging away for the most part.
There’s a 6.36inch AMOLED display, perfect for those who prefer compact Android smartphones. It’s a little smaller than what I’m used to. However, the screen offers a high resolution of 2,670 x 1,200 pixels resolution. It has a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz for smooth animations and scrolling. There’s a fingerprint sensor under the screen, which works snappily enough, and also doubles up as a heart rate monitor.
CAMERA
The camera setup is one of the USPs of the Xiaomi 14. The primary setup consists of a 50 MP camera with a 1/1.31inch sensor, a 50 MP ultrawide camera with a 115degree field of view, and a 50 MP telephoto lens with autofocus and optical image stabilisation. The collaboration with Leica brings in two modesLeica Authentic Look and Leica Vibrant Look, which I can toggle through from the top right of the viewfinder.
The difference between the two thankfully isn’t too dramatic. The Leica Vibrant mode amps up colour saturation just a tad bit,w without distorting it to unrealistic levels. The photos taken in ample daylight were sharp and vivid. The lowlight pictures I took on the Xiaomi 14 didn’t disappoint either. The noise was minimal, with the accuracy of the colour tones not being compromised. AI watermark, Supermoon, Panorama, Documents, Long exposure and Pro mode are some of the preset imaging modes
Warm tones captured well around twilight
backed into the camera app.
For videos, there’s a special Movie Mode that automatically focuses on the main subject, switches focus and provides a decent bokeh effect to make it look more cinematic. The results were mixed on this one with there being some stut
No flares around light sources ters while manually shifting focus.
The 32 MP selfie camera made me look great in my online gym sessions as well as work meetings. And, in the selfies too. I used the PalmTimer to test out some frontcamera snaps. Even with minimal smoothening, the selfies were bright and prime to share on social media. There’s a host of lovely filters I could use as well.
TECH SPECS
The Xiaomi 14 is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile platform and runs Xiaomi HyperOS, which the