Leica love goes the distance: Xiaomi 14 CIVI review

Somewhat greater than 100 years in the past, Leica Camera, a German model, tried its first 35 mm movie prototype. Fast ahead to now, and you’ll have the iconic pictures model’s lenses and visible aesthetic in your smartphone, particularly for those who’re contemplating the Xiaomi 14 CIVI.

Design

Visually, there isn’t a lot distinction between the Xiaomi 14 and the Xiaomi 14 CIVI. The digital camera island is round in comparison with the rounded rectangle in the Xiaomi 14. It’s additionally marginally lighter ( 10 grams), taller, and slimmer than the Xiaomi 14. You get three color choices and finishes: Cruise Blue, Matcha Green, and Shadow Black. I’ve received the black variant for review, and it appears pretty minimal, with a clean matte end on the again.

There’s a 6.55-inch AMOLED show protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. I’m not going into nice element about the show and multimedia expertise because it’s not vastly completely different from the Xiaomi 14 expertise.

Camera

The predominant starrer of the Xiaomi 14 CIVI is the pictures expertise enabled by the unique Leica Summilux lens. The major digital camera setup features a 50 MP Light Hunter 800 major sensor with OIS. It’s supported by a reasonably competent 12 MP ultra-wide digital camera which gives a 120-degree subject of view and a 50 MP 2x telephoto digital camera.

One of the extra dramatic pictures a colleague captured on the Xiaomi 14 CIVI was an ultrawide shot of a depressing, overcast night with the publicity turned down only a notch. In daylight, too, the digital camera delivers some sharp, vivid outcomes. The digital camera app has the possibility of toggling by the Leica Vibrant and Leica Authentic kinds . Leica Authentic stays true to the unique color tones of the topic captures, at occasions imparting only a bit of heat so as to add some character to the photographs. In sure conditions, the Leica Vibrant mode makes the body look washed out when it comes to vibrancy and particulars. For instance, a photograph taken in an adjunct retailer with vibrant objects on the cabinets and many indoor lighting overhead made the body look somewhat washed out on this mode however not in the Authentic mode.

In daylight and non-crowded frames, each ship barely completely different however largely pleasing snaps.

The portraits I took have been fairly beautiful, too. It won’t seize pores and skin texture as precisely as the Google Pixel 8a, however the barely glossed-over consequence (even with the filters off) additionally appears aesthetically pleasing. The bokeh impact in portraits might be adjusted post-capture as properly.

The entrance digital camera is a rare-to-find “twin selfie” 32MP ultra-wide and wide-angle digital camera. It’s been designed to facilitate higher group selfies and is supplied with a particular AI Group Selfie Mode. Both the entrance and rear cameras are very correct with pores and skin tones, with ample filters and results to mess around with. There’s the amusing and efficient Pocket Mirror function, too, for those who want a fast make-up examine on the go.

Tech Specs

The smartphone runs on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, which powers the likes of Motorola Edge 50 Ultra and Nothing Phone (3). The review unit I used has 12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage.

Multitasking was clean for the most half throughout informal gaming, checking emails, listening to Spotify, and taking photographs and movies.

There’s the hyped-up new HyperOS, primarily based on Android 14, which gives some actually fascinating options. I cherished the again faucet gestures, which let me toggle by silent mode with a two-tap on the rear panel and launch Google Assistant once I faucet thrice. You can customise it to different preset capabilities for those who’d like. There’s a useful sidebar function for those who swap apps quite a bit, along with floating home windows with suitable apps, which might be moved round and resized or hidden. A bit beneath ‘Settings’ that encourages new customers to take a look at the particular options could be an incredible addition to an OS with extra to supply than meets the eye at first.

Battery

The Xiaomi 14 CIVI is powered by a 4,700mAh battery, which saved me firm by a working day with out about 20-30 p.c nonetheless left at the finish of the day. My utilization was reasonable, as described earlier. With the 67W turbocharger, the smartphone takes a lower than an hour to totally cost.

Verdict

For these not keen to pay exorbitant quantities of cash for flagship digital camera chops, the Xiaomi 14 CIVI is an efficient possibility. The LEICA lens and filters actually do make the pictures and movies stand out, creating a novel aesthetic

Price – ₹42,999

Pros – Really good digital camera, distinctive LEICA-tuned pictures aesthetics, first rate battery life

Cons – Bloatware, incessant notifications at occasions