The focus on today’s phones is imaging. I cannot imagine what phone makers would be bragging about other than cameras. Calls? LoL. That would be hilarious, right? Talking about call features? On a smartphone? Unheard of. But the call feature is exactly the other thing Xiaomi has to brag about the new Xiaomi 14 Ultra [CH]. Well, that and the requisite Leica camera system.
Xiaomi’s latest flagship device has caught up with Apple and Huawei by offering two-way satellite communication that would allow users to make and receive satellite calls, and send and receive satellite text messages. The build has also gotten a boost through a new architecture which literally translates to Xiaomi Dragon Armor.
This architecture features a high-strength aluminum frame and CNC-integrated molding that yields the next level of reliability and solidity. Moreover, there’s Xiaomi in-house developed glass, called Xiaomi Longjing which dragon crystal debuted in the 14 series last October.
As a flagship, it is, of course, powered by the newest Qualcomm chip, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and benefits from the fastest memories there are today: LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0 + FBO.
And then there is the star of the show: the Leica camera system featuring Leica Optics Summilux lenses, large aperture at all focal lengths, one-inch stepless variable aperture (main camera; 50 MP Sony LYT-900 sensor), flagship dual telephoto, native low distortion ultra wide angle, and full Leica creative experience. Here are the full camera details:
- One-inch variable aperture main camera: 50 MP｜Sony’s LYT-900 image sensor｜Extra large sensor｜ f/1.63 – f/4.0 infinitely variable aperture｜equivalent to 23 mm focal length｜supports four-in-one 3.2μm large pixel output｜HyperOIS super optical image stabilization｜Octa-PD phase focusing｜8P coating
- Leica floating telephoto: 50 MP｜Sony’s IMX858｜f/1.8 aperture｜equivalent to 75 mm focal length｜supports OIS optical image stabilization｜10 cm macro
- Leica close-up telephoto: 50 MP｜Sony’s IMX858｜f/2.5 aperture｜120 mm equivalent focal length｜Supports OIS optical image stabilization｜Supports Zoom EIS anti-shake｜30 cm telephoto macro
- Leica ultra-low distortion wide angle: 50 MP｜Sony’s IMX858｜f/1.8 aperture｜12 mm equivalent focal length｜122° ultra-wide viewing angle｜AF autofocus｜5 cm super macro
Over at the front, on the adaptive 120 Hz 6.73” 2K AMOLED display, is a hole punch camera with a 32 MP sensor. Keeping the device juiced is a Xiaomi “jinshajiang” (literally golden sand river) battery that packs 5,300 mAh, and supports 90 W Hyper wired charging and 80 W Hyper wireless charging. The battery is governed by Xiaomi’s Hyper battery management chip.
Other notables include Wi-Fi 7, support wireless through to 802.11a/b/g, dual-band Wi-Fi (duh!), Bluetooth 5.4, dual Bluetooth, USB 3.2 Gen2 (USB C interface), NFC, positioning (Beidou: B1I + B1C+ B2a｜GPS: L1 + L5｜Galileo: E1 + E5a
GLONASS: G1｜QZSS: L1 + L5｜NavIC: L5), dual Nano SIM, and the Xiaomi flagship’s device usual suspect of sensors, including an IR remote control, laser focus sensor, barometer, and more.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra comes in a choice of three colors (white, black, and dragon crystal blue), and in 3 configurations: 12+256, 16+512, and 16+1 TB. It is available to order now in China starting at 6,499 yuan [CH] (which works out to be around US$903 based on the current going rate).
Images: Xiaomi [CH].