Xiaomi 14 Civi review

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Introduction and specs

The Xiaomi 14 Civi is the latest addition to its 14 series, playing a role similar to the Galaxy FE smartphones in the Samsung lineup. That is to say it's positioned the premium midranger segment, but shares a lot of its hardware and, if we take Xiaomi's word for it, the user experience with the outright flagships. The thing is Xiaomi already had an entire line serving this purpose - the T series - leaving us wondering if the Civi will fit in the picture.

As of this writing, the Xiaomi 14 Civi is available only in India whereas Chinese users can find it under the Xiaomi Civi 4 Pro moniker. It's unclear when and which other markets will get the phone, but with the aforementioned T series launch fast approaching it may never see a particularly wide rollout.

Anyway, the 14 Civi runs on one of Qualcomm's latest chipsets, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, paired with at least 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. While the naming suggests this is merely a lower clocked version of the flagship SoC, the differences are actually more significant than that, but even so the 8s Gen 3 is no slouch.

Xiaomi 14 Civi specs at a glance:

• Body: 157.2x72.8x7.5mm, 178g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), glass back or silicone polymer back (eco leather), aluminum frame.
• Display: 6.55" AMOLED, 68B colors, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 3000 nits (peak), 1236x2750px resolution, 20.02:9 aspect ratio, 460ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8635 Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.0 GHz Cortex-X4 & 4x2.8 GHz Cortex-A720 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A520); Adreno 735.
• Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 14, HyperOS.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.6, 25mm, 1/1.55", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.0, 50mm, 0.64µm, PDAF, 2x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 15mm, 120˚, 1.12µm.
• Front camera: Wide (main): 32 MP, f/2.0, 26mm, 1/2.8", 0.8µm, AF; Ultra wide angle: 32 MP, f/2.4, 100˚, 1/2.8", 0.8µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240/960fps, 720p@1920fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps; gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4700mAh; 67W wired, PD3.0, 100% in 40 minutes (advertised).
• Connectivity: 5G; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.4; NFC; Infrared port.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

The Civi is built around a 6.55-inch OLED panel that misses on the LTPO tech, but is otherwise sounding pretty good on paper - 120 Hz, Dolby Vision and a 3,000 nit peak brightness.

The camera setup is another case of "almost like the flagship". The 14 Civi sports a 50 MP main camera with a slightly smaller sensor than the Xiaomi 14, a 50 MP telephoto unit that reaches shorter (2x vs 3.2x) and a ultrawide wide camera of lower resolution (12 MP vs 50 MP).

However at the front the pill-shaped cutout on the front houses two cameras to the Xiaomi 14's one. The Civi has a standard 32 MP with autofocus and another with an ultrawide angle lens.

Тhat's the key specs covered then, but what matters is how well each of those pieces performs in real life. Let's take the Xiaomi 14 Civi out of its box and find out!

Unboxing the Xiaomi 14 Civi

The phone comes in a standard retail box containing all the usual user manuals and the 67W charger required to maximize its charging potential. Of course, there's also the USB-A to USB-C cable used for charging and data transfer.

There's a transparent silicone case as well for a well stocked retail package.