Xiaomi’s 15 flagship vary received’t arrive in a lot of the world till early 2025. Within the meantime, we get a midyear replace to the 14 vary within the form of the 14T and 14T Professional, although neither bears a lot relation to the Xiaomi 14 or 14 Extremely. The Chinese language producer overtook Apple in August to change into the world’s second-biggest smartphone model by gross sales, and its expansive (if barely complicated) vary is little question a part of the rationale.
The T vary packs some high-end options from Xiaomi’s flagships, however there are normally a number of omissions to deliver the value down. You could battle to identify the distinction between the 14T and 14T Professional as a result of these telephones are virtually twins, however there are some refined refinements to justify the 14T Professional’s greater worth. Each include Google providers and can be found within the UK and throughout Europe, however is not going to formally go on sale within the US.
Good however Boring
At first look, you’ll battle to inform the 14T and 14T Professional aside. These are ultrasize telephones with 6.67-inch screens. They’ve comparatively thick, flat frames, textured energy buttons beneath the amount rocker, and quad digital camera lenses (one is definitely the flash) in stepped, sq. modules on the again. Decide them up, and also you instantly really feel the burden of the heavier, extra metallic Professional, with its subtly curved again (the 14T is flat on the again).
The one different design distinction that jumps out is the colours. Each are available blue, black, or grey, however solely the 14T is available in Lemon Inexperienced. Why are enjoyable colours all the time reserved for cheaper telephones? The 14T Professional feels nicer and jogs my memory of an previous HTC telephone (in a great way), however there isn’t a lot to separate them.
{Photograph}: Simon Hill
The 6.67-inch show is the spotlight of the 14T and 14T Professional and is similar in each. It’s sharp at 2,712 x 1,220 pixels, will get vibrant sufficient to see outside and to show HDR particulars at as much as 4,000 nits, and helps a variable refresh fee of as much as 144 Hz for clean motion. It additionally hosts a responsive fingerprint sensor on the backside.
Stereo audio system that get lots loud spherical out the design, and each telephones rating an IP68 ranking, which means they will survive a dunk. I choose the texture of the 14T Professional, however these are massive, chunky telephones, so they may not go well with everybody. Whereas they appear elegant, the designs are a bit boring.
Elegant Digicam
{Photograph}: Simon Hill
One of many major causes to go for a Xiaomi telephone is the digital camera {hardware}, and that is additionally the place the 14T Professional reveals its superiority. The Professional has a 50-MP major digital camera with the identical 1-inch picture sensor as the superb 14 Extremely and a big aperture (f/1.6). It’s paired with a 50-MP telephoto shooter, providing as much as 5x optical zoom. There’s additionally a good 12-MP ultrawide digital camera.
