Smartphones & Tablets | February 19, 2024
On February 25th, during the MWC in Barcelona, Xiaomi will unveil its two new flagship phones; one of them was highly anticipated, while the other will be a surprise. On one hand, the basic Xiaomi 14 will finally arrive, after several months available first in China; but the global presentation of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is also expected, a model that had not been discussed by the company until now.
Xiaomi’s strategy for 2024 is driven by the future launch of the Xiaomi 15, which is expected to be brought forward to directly compete against Apple’s next iPhone. As a result, the Xiaomi 14 Pro is not expected, and the company will focus on a basic model and a flagship model; the latter will be the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which will follow in the footsteps of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra as one of the most comprehensive ‘camera phones’ on the market.
Now, official images of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra have been leaked, confirming many things. For example, the overall design remains the same, with a gigantic camera array in a round shape on the back, showing that this phone will continue to focus on photography to stand out from other high-end models. This camera array will bear the Leica brand, which will continue to collaborate to improve the photos taken and possibly with the lenses of some of the sensors.
Speaking of sensors, the images show four, consisting of a main one with 50 Mpx variable aperture, a 50 Mpx wide-angle lens, a 3.2x 50 Mpx telephoto lens, and a 5x 50 Mpx second telephoto lens. It’s a camera array that seems even larger than that of the 13 Ultra, and in the images, it appears more raised compared to the rest of the device, with a golden circle that gives it a more ‘premium’ touch.
The images also reveal a leather finish, at least in the black version of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra; there is also a white version that appears to have a different texture but also somewhat rough, so it is possible that it is also leather but with a different treatment or from another variety. According to the leak, the power button will also have a textured finish to improve grip and easy recognition by touch. Otherwise, it’s a phone similar to the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, and most of the changes will be found on the inside, with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor with 16 GB of RAM and up to 1 TB of storage.
