Key Specs
| CPU | Mediatek Dimensity 9300+ (4 nm) |
| Memory | 12GB LPDDR5X RAM 256GB, 512GB, 1TB UFS 4.0 storage |
| Display | 6.67’’ 144Hz LTPO AMOLED |
| Camera | 50 MP, f/1.6 23mm (wide), PDAF, OIS 50 MP, f/2.0, 60mm (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 2.6x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 15mm, 122˚ (ultrawide) 32 MP, f/2.0 25mm (selfie) |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.4, USB Type-C 2.0, Up to WiFi 7 |
| OS | Android 14, HyperOS |
| Battery | 5000 mAh, 120W Fast Charging 50W wireless charging |
| Available Colors | Titan Blue, Titan Black, Titan Gray |
| Retail Price | 12GB+256GB – RM 2599 12GB+512GB – RM 2999 12GB+1TB – RM 3499 |
Xiaomi 14T Pro Camera Review
I really felt that the Xiaomi 14 series this year tackled almost every aspect of mobile photography for all kinds of users. The Xiaomi 14 wanted to take Auto Mode seriously, being a phone with bright sensors, fire-and-forget filters at a smaller form factor and price, while Xiaomi 14 Ultra delivered a top-notch manual mode experience, thanks to stepless aperture accompanied by a set of useful, competent lenses.
We knew that’s not how Xiaomi ends the year, and rightly so. Out comes the Xiaomi 14T Pro for Q4 2024, a value-centric smartphone with a killer chip, strong sensor line-up and an ultra-competitive price that aims to bring a balance to both auto and manual worlds. You want to to fire-and-forget? yes you can. You want to slowly learn about taking full control of every single shot? Yes you can, and on a simple-to-understand system too!
Filters and System
The Xiaomi 14T Pro has the same approach to color science and filters as the Xiaomi 13 and 14, which comes in a pair, namely Leica Vibrant and Authentic. They both have their strong points and personality which gives the user a choice between taking images with a vivid and wide color space, followed by a flat and natural one, covered with the slightest of vignetting.
In short, punchy and vibrant, versus accurate and natural
Leica Vibrant vs Leica Authentic
This mode produces punchier and brighter colors, but it’s not over-processed. The Leica Authentic mode targets more accurate colors and uses darker exposure.
Leica Vibrant
Vibrant simply adds a good helping of vibrancy to your shots, offering boosted colors, high contrast (made some shadows darker) and minimal level of processing. You won’t even see a lick of oversharpening here, so it’s almost unlike any smartphone camera we’ve ever used. It really is just is a slightly boosed color mode that aims to be as close to a Leica production as possible and delivers lively photos. A lot of people would love this, especially for food shots.
Leica Authentic
This is the more color-accurate of the duo, retaining plenty of detail and even less processing. Shots here are very natural, with a beautiful level of depth and colors. Again, trying to shoot like a Leica, but this time, adding a subtle vignetting effect to give it some darkness. This mode thrives in low-exposure shots, but it doesn’t overdo it and instead compensates well by upping the dynamic range.
Main Sensor
Sensor Name: 50MP LightFusion 900
Sensor Size : (1/1.3″, 23mm)
Aperture : f/1.6
Focus : multi-directional PDAF,OIS
Being the main sensor, the Xiaomi 14T Pro uses an Omnivision manufactured Lightfusion 900 sensor. It has a very bright f/1.6 aperture which is very suited for low-light photography, since the sensor is able to let in more light.
The 14T Pro’s main camera excels in daylight, capturing images with accurate colors and a wide dynamic range. While the white balance is more reliable outdoors, the overall results are still pleasing. Images exhibit impressive sharpness and detail, although some textures might appear slightly overprocessed.
The lens and sensor combination creates a shallow depth of field, which can be advantageous for isolating subjects but may pose challenges when capturing subjects with varying depths. This means that while backgrounds can be beautifully blurred, it might be difficult to keep everything in focus, especially with close-up shots.
This main sensor will definitely be your most used camera, and even though auto mode by default does a decent job, nothing really beats Pro Mode (going manual), being able to choose and manage your exposure, blur level and focus with full flexibility.
Telephoto 2.6x
Sensor Name: 50MP Samsung JN1
Zoom Level : 2.6x optical zoom
Sensor Size : (1/2.51″, 60mm)
Aperture : f/2.0
Focus : PDAF, OIS
The 14T Pro boasts a telephoto camera with a 60mm focal length, providing a 2.6x zoom compared to the main camera. This lens excels in outdoor environments, capturing sharp, detailed images free from noise. Even in low-light indoor settings, noise is effectively managed. The dynamic range is impressive, although the resulting images can be slightly more contrasty than preferred. Color reproduction is also excellent.
This telephoto lens proves to be a valuable asset for portrait photography, both in standard Photo mode and dedicated Portrait mode.
Portrait Mode
The 60mm focal length offers a comfortable shooting distance and produces flattering perspectives. While the camera offers a further 75mm zoom option, it’s not particularly beneficial due to the minimal difference in perspective and a noticeable decrease in image quality.
Ultrawide
Sensor Name: 13MP OmniVision OV13B
Wideness Level : 15mm
Sensor Size : 1/3″
Aperture : f/2.2
Focus : Fixed Focus
The ultrawide camera on this phone, while not boasting exceptional specifications, delivers commendable results in daylight conditions. Images possess adequate sharpness, a broad dynamic range, and pleasing colors, especially in outdoor settings. However, the absence of autofocus limits its ability to capture sharp images of close-up subjects.
Conclusion
The Xiaomi 14T Pro can appeal to both newbie and professional photographers, but I’d say that it has more liberties towards newbies/simpler users as it does most of the work for you in post. I would expect the staple variant that most people would go for in terms of the 14T Pro series would be the 512GB, and that essentially gives you access to a Leica library of filters, a strong trio of sensors with bright apertures and a reliable camera app.
Can I Trust Auto Mode?
Well, it IS called Auto Mode, which simply just tells you to Point n’ Shoot away. To be frank, the above photo samples you see above are about 70% on Auto, so you can make your judgement on whether those are the types and moments you wanna shoot.
If you ask me, the 14T Pro is able to let you explore at your pace, while letting you explore Pro Mode any time, because Auto Mode has been developed to such an extent that it does a spectacular job, giving you more time to capture and angle more creatively. Remember, the phone is only as good as the photographer, so be sure to keep that in mind when you pick up the Xiaomi 14T Pro!
