Xiaomi 14 Review: Compact Smartphone With High-End Performance

Compact phones aren't dead just yet. Apple experimented with the compact phone — but while that experiment apparently failed, there are plenty of other options out there. The Xiaomi 14 is one of the latest of these devices, and it's built to not only a compact build, but also flagship-tier specs and a high-end camera.

It's not the highest-end device in the Xiaomi 14 line — that title goes to the Xiaomi 14, which we're also checking out. But it still makes a compelling case for itself and represents a solid improvement over the Xiaomi 13.

The Xiaomi 14 may be billed as a compact device, but in reality, it's sized similarly to the likes of the iPhone 15. Of course, these days, that is more compact — but it's not truly small.

It is still well-designed, though. The device has a sleek and stylish build that fits in 2024. It's got a flat-edged glossy frame (not matte, as is the trend for this particular cycle) and a matte glass back, which looks and feels great.

As you would expect from a modern Xiaomi phone, the camera module is Leica-branded, and it's big and square. It doesn't look bad, by any means, but it's certainly larger than some might want.

Everything else about the design of the phone is as expected. The device has a volume rocker and power button on the right edge and a USB-C port on the bottom. It also has an IP68 rating for water resistance, and there's a flat display on the front, which is nice.

Generally, the Xiaomi 14 is a well-built, solidly-designed phone. It's not all that surprising of a phone, but it still looks good.

On the front of the Xiaomi 14, you'll find a 6.36-inch LTPO OLED display, and it looks great. The phone has a 1200 x 2670 resolution, and I found it to be crisp and detailed, even when reading smaller text. And, it can range in refresh rate from 1 to 120Hz, allowing it to offer a smooth-feeling screen while preserving battery when it can.

The display gets bright, too. It has a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, and it supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+. I found that it easily got bright enough for use even in direct sunlight.

Really, there's not much more you could hope for from a smartphone display in 2024.

Under the hood, the Xiaomi 14 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, coupled with between 8GB and 16GB of RAM. Our review model has 16GB. Storage-wise, you'll be able to choose between 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.

With a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and a good amount of RAM, the phone is one of the best-performing options on the market right now. It'll easily load games and handle heavy multitasking, and it should remain a solid-performing phone for at least a few years.

Here are the benchmark results we achieved with the Xiaomi 14.

• GeekBench 6: 2194 single-core, 6806 multi-core
• 3DMark Wild Life Extreme: 5,037mAh

These are great results that put the phone on the same level as other top-performing devices, like the Galaxy S24. The phone doesn't quite reach the performance of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but still, don't expect an underperforming device in the Xiaomi 14.

Under the hood, the Xiaomi 14 has a 4,610mAh battery, and it's excellent. I found that the device easily got me through a full day of use and well into the second day — and many users will be able to get two days of light use out of the phone.

The phone charges quickly, too. It supports wired charging at up to 90W, though, of course, you'll need the right proprietary charger to reach those speeds. It also supports 50W wireless charging, again, with Xiaomi's wireless charger. You can use a Qi charger, but you'll be limited to 7.5W.

On the back of the phone, you'll find a triple camera array. It's made up of a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 50-megapixel telephoto camera with 3.2x optical zoom.

It's a great selection of cameras overall, and images captured with the phone look great. I found that the camera was generally able to capture bright, vibrant images in well-lit environments, and the relatively large sensor meant that low-light images looked pretty good, too.

I found the overall camera experience to be pretty consistent, too. Images captured on the different cameras looked like they belonged to the same device. Zoomed images offered good detail as well. Of course, at up to 3.2x, you'll get optically zoomed images. Even up to 10x or so, photos generally still looked natural.

On the front, there's a 32-megapixel camera, which also produces high-end images. Portrait mode images looked fairly natural, which is always nice to see.

The software experience on the Xiaomi 14 isn't bad, but those who prefer a stripped-back, minimalistic Android experience won't love it. The phone comes with Android 14, with MIUI over the top, and it's worth experimenting with the different settings and features to achieve the overall look you want.

MIUI comes with some features that you don't typically find on Android devices, like an iOS-style control center, which I actually quite like. Long-time Android users won't necessarily love the iOS-ification of the operating system, but again, spend a little time to set it up and you'll find a look that you can live with.

The Xiaomi 14 is a worthy upgrade over the Xiaomi 13. The device offers fast performance, a great camera, and a stunning screen. It isn't a cheap phone, but it has no real downsides apart from software, which is pretty subjective anyway.

The competition for this phone really depends on where you live. If you live in a market where devices like the Pixel 8 Pro and OnePlus 12 are available, it might be worth going for one of those phones. But you won't be disappointed with the Xiaomi 14 if that's the phone you end up choosing.

Yes, if you don't mind Xiaomi's software approach.