Just a day before Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress trade show kicked off, Xiaomi held its own event in the city to debut its latest flagship smartphone line – the Xiaomi 14 series. Despite a trio of new entries for the Chinese market, global audiences should expect a duo of devices to decide between.
The Xiaomi 14 and 14 Pro originally officially broke cover back in October 2023, serving as the first pair of phones anywhere with Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon (the same chipset that powers Samsung’ Galaxy S24 series in select markets), but the launch was exclusive to Xiaomi’s home market of China, giving other phone makers – like Samsung and OnePlus – the opportunity to be the first to bring that same cutting-edge flagship performance to the other regions. With the company’s Lens to Legend event in Barcelona, however, the playing field looks to have been levelled; with one slight alteration.
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On 22 February this year, Xiaomi bolstered the 14 Series in its home market with the introduction of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, and that same ultra-premium device has now launched alongside the standard Xiaomi 14 on the international stage, but just the Xiaomi 14, with no sign of the middle entry in the series – the Xiaomi 14 Pro.
As to why the 14 Pro’s reach isn’t expanding beyond Chinese borders, Xiaomi hasn’t officially said, but based on what each device offers and the different scope of competition international audiences have to choose between, it’s not hard to recognise that the more discernible differences between the standard Xiaomi 14 and the 14 Ultra make the overall line appear stronger and better defined. Last year’s Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro offered greater differentiation between one another compared to this year’s 14 and 14 Pro. The most prominent change between generations is that regardless of whether you opt for the Xiaomi 14 or 14 Pro, you’re getting the same impressive trio of 50MP rear cameras sensors – the Xiaomi 13 had a lesser camera setup than its Pro-branded compatriot in 2023.
The 14 Ultra has the same screen size and resolution as the Pro but boasts a fourth rear 50MP camera with greater telephoto reach and an improved dual aperture-laden main sensor that the standard 14 loses out on completely. While the same chipset and RAM offerings between the 14 and 14 Ultra suggest similar performance, the Ultra also ups the ante with a significantly larger battery and faster wireless charging to boot.
Here’s a full spec and pricing breakdown of the international variants of the Xiaomi 14 series:
More than just the 14 Series
While we didn’t see a Xiaomi 14 Lite at this year’s international launch (notable, as Xiaomi introduced the 13 Lite at the same event last year), the company did also serve up some additional wares; including the Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro 12.4, the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro and the Xiaomi Watch S3 and the Xiaomi Watch 2.
The Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro looks like a competent iPad competitor, with a 12.4-inch 144Hz 3:2 3K display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 ship and cross-device collaboration with other Xiaomi HyperOS-powered devices, like the Xiaomi 14 series. The 14 Series’ Director Mode even lets you use the Pad 6S Pro as a monitor when shooting with the cameras on the phone, wirelessly. Xiaomi is also offering up a keyboard accessory and the Xiaomi Focus Pen, for use with the tab, boasting 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity and a 240Hz sampling rate for low latency.
Other features like a 10,000mAh battery with 120W fast charging, make it a world-first, while pricing (starting at £599 / €699) means it undercuts rivals like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 and the current iPad Air (2022).
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