Xiaomi 14 Ultra goes global to compete with Galaxy S24 Ultra

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra launched in China a couple of days ago. The phone became official on February 22. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra launch arrived to global markets thanks to a launch event that occurred in Barcelona.

Today is press day over at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, a day before the show actually starts. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is one of the biggest smartphone announcements in general at the event. The vanilla Xiaomi 14 also arrived, but we’ll talk about that in a separate article.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra goes global only a couple of days after its launch in China

This phone was not exactly a secret thanks to a China launch a couple of days ago. Let’s take it from the top, though, starting with the design. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is made out of metal and vegan leather. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra arrived in four color variants in China (and different materials), but it comes in only two globally.

The phone is available in black and white colors, both of which have vegan leather on the back. Unlike last year, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a flat display this time around, despite the fact the glass does curve on all four sides

The back side is different this time around, though the camera island looks similar

The backplate is also different this time around. It does not gradually rise in the upper portion of the phone. It’s mostly flat now, curving towards the metal on the sides. The central portion is flat, though.

Now, the camera island is large, and it does resemble the one from last year. It is round, and it does protrude on the back quite a bit. You’ll find four cameras on the inside, along with Leica’s optics. There is a display camera hole placed on the front, and it’s centered.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, while it offers 16GB of RAM. The company also packed in 1TB of UFS 4.0 flash storage inside the device. The storage is non-expandable.

There is a 6.73-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1440) OLED LTPO display included on the front. That display is flat, and its refresh rate is adaptive between 1 and 120Hz. The panel does support HDR10+ content, Dolby Vision, and it has a 1,920Hz PWM dimming too. The maximum brightness of this display is 3,000 nits, while the Xiaomi ceramic glass protection is used.

Xiaomi used a huge battery here, while the phone supports 90W wired & 80W wireless charging

A 5,000mAh battery sits inside of this phone, while the device supports 90W wired charging. 80W wireless charging is also supported, as is 10W reverse wireless charging. Do note that the device is included in the box.

There are four cameras included on the back of this phone. A 50-megapixel main camera (Sony’s LYT-900 sensor, f/1.63-f/4.0 aperture, Hyper OIS, Leica Summilux lens) is backed by a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (122-degree FoV, f/1.8 aperture, 5cm super macro, Sony’s IM858 sensor).

There are two periscope telephoto cameras used on the back

Two periscope telephoto cameras are also used. The first one is a 50-megapixel unit with 3.2x optical zoom, an f/1.8 aperture, OIS, and Sony’s IMX858 sensor. The other one is also a 50-megapixel unit with Sony’s IMX858 sensor, but it supports 5x optical zoom, OIS, and an f/2.5 aperture lens. A 32-megapixel selfie camera (OmniVision OV32B40 sensor, f/2.0 aperture) sits on the front.

There is an in-display fingerprint scanner included here, while Android 14 comes pre-installed with Xiaomi’s HyperOS skin. The phone includes two nano SIM card slots, and it is water and dust-resistant (IP68 certification).

Xiaomi included stereo speakers here with Dolby Atmos support. There is also a 4-microphone array included on the phone. Bluetooth 5.4 is supported, as is Wi-Fi 7.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra measures 161.4 x 75.3 x 9.2mm and weighs 224.4 grams. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is priced at €1,499 in Europe, and £1,299 in the UK. Those of you who get it in the UK between now and March 18 will also get a free camera grip, along with £300 to spend on Xiaomi ecosystem products of your choosing.