Xiaomi 14 Ultra : Xiaomi Not that budget brand anymore! With the announcement of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, it also ventures further upmarket than ever before, right into the face of both Apple’s and Samsung’s top-end flagships.
It’s no longer just about performance or design — this phone hopes to be known as the ultimate camera in a smartphone. But does the thing deliver all the potential it promises, or is it just another over-ambitious (and expensive) tech showpiece?
Let’s dig into what makes the Xiaomi 14 a veritable beast on paper — and how it actually fares when you use it in the real world.
Design and Construct: Strong, Premium, and Unique
With the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, you get a device that looks and feels like it’s a luxury product. Backed by ceramic or vegan leather, and bracketed by a decorative titanium alloy frame that screams luxury.
On the back, the large circular camera module can’t be ignored — nor, if we’re being honest, does it look like any other phone.
It’s still manageable in hand despite that high-end hardware, and those curves help with that, especially when a weighted distribution in the hand. The device has an IP68 rating, which means it’s protected against dust and water, and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for increased durability.
There’s a chic, warehouse-district look to it, in the same way a little twine makes a Nicorette patch cool; and the whole thing is built (oh, it’s built) to impress, or at least to endure.
The Screen: Nothing Short of Spectacular
Visuals on the 6.73-inch LTPO AMOLED panel are delightful. It also offers a resolution of 3200 x 1440, but with a 120Hz refresh rate, can hit peak brightness of 3000 nits, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support.
Whatever you are watching, reading, or playing, every type of content looks fantastic: smooth, beautiful, and stunningly sharp.
The sunlight legibility is great, and with the adaptive refresh rate, everything feels buttery smooth, without sacrificing too much battery. That Xiaomi has focused on display quality with this model puts it squarely in the neighborhood of Samsung’s best.
Performance: As Good As It Gets
Under the hood, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is rockin’ the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.
That combination can only mean one thing: blazing-fast performance.
It doesn’t matter if you’re multitasking, editing videos or playing some of the most intensive games, this phone doesn’t stutter. MIUI 15 — built on Android 14 — has been fine-tuned to offer snappy response times and fluid animations. The thermals is well-taken care of too, with an enhanced vapor cooling system.
Cameras: Reinventing the Way Photography Redefined in flagship
And here’s where the Xiaomi 14 Ultra shines. It comes with a quad-camera setup, which has been co-engineered with Leica:
50MP (1-inch) primary sensor (Sony LYT-900)
50MP ultra-wide sensor
50MP telephoto with 3.2x zoom
50MP periscope telephoto, 5x optical zoom
Both lenses feature a variable aperture design, giving the phone the ability to naturally increase and decrease level of light based on the environment.
The primary sensor provides DSLR-levels of depth and clarity, and performs very well with dynamic range and low-light shooting.
Zooming technology is excellent. Details are surprisingly decent even at 10x digital zoom. And there is that soft Leica look in portrait shots and 8K movie recording with cinematic stabilization.
The front 32MP selfie cam also impresses in terms of sharpness and colour reproduction.
Battery Life and Charging: Made for the Power User
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is backed by a 5000mAh battery with 90W wired charging and 80W wireless charging.
The fast charge over wire is a full top-up in just over 30 minutes – and that is very impressive! A moderate day of heavy camera and screen use and the phone still has enough juice to make it through the day.
There is also reverse wireless charging for ease of use.
Pros:
Display of an excellent quality, very bright and clear
Great construction Boating an IP68 rating and premium Hi-Res material Choice of colours including Clear and Pink provides great customisation Sound-qulity is as expected.
State of the art camera hardware and image rendition technology from Leica
Superfast with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Super-fast wired and wireless charging
One of a kind design Cool design that makes a great gift
Cons:
Chunky camera bump won’t be to everyone’s liking
MIUI comes with little excess baggage and few random advertisements
Its predecessors were more affordable
May be too heavy for some users
Xiaomi 14 Ultra Ultimate Conclusion: It’s Not Just a Flagship — It’s a Statement
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra doesn’t even pretend to fit in. It’s meant to be seen, used and enjoyed by techies and photographers alike. It’s not one-size-fits-all because of the price tag and the size, but this is easily Xiaomi’s most polished smartphone yet.
If you need DSLR photography levels but pocket-friendly, support with high end hardware and fastest performance, that’s one of the strongest contender in 2025.