Which upgrade to go for?

Xiaomi has pulled back the curtain on its latest set of phones for 2024 and here are the key bits you need to know about.

While a great deal of eyes may be attracted to the new Xiaomi Mix Flip, Xiaomi has unveiled a new set of mid-cycle phones to bolster its ongoing 14-series: the Xiaomi 14T and the Xiaomi 14T Pro.

Admittedly, at a glance, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between these phones from sight alone, but before we have concrete testing data on both phones to see exactly how they stack up against benchmarks and everyday use, here are the headline features that separate them.

Price

Rather surprisingly, there’s a minimal difference in price between the two phones as they both remain firmly in the mid-range/upper mid-range bracket.

The Xiaomi 14T has a starting price of £549 for its 256GB model, while the Xiaomi 14T Pro starts from £649 with the same amount of storage.

At a glance, they’re identical

Even though the Xiaomi 14T and the 14T Pro are different phones, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between them at a glance, particularly with near-identical camera bumps, but there is a tell.

If you look closely you’ll notice that the 14T has opted for a more boxy look sporting sharper edges, whereas on the 14T Pro, there’s a curvature on the back the blends into the rails, presumably allowing to sit a tad more comfortably in the hand.

The 14T Pro has a leg up in power

Despite their similarity in appearance, there are different chipsets under the hood of these two phones. The Xiaomi 14T is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8300-Ultra while the Xiaomi 14T Pro packs the MediaTek Dimensity 9300+.

MediaTek’s 9300 series utilises an ‘all-big-core’ design to promise impressive speeds in everyday use, and while the 8300 series chipsets are slightly lesser in their performance speeds, they do offer enough of a boost to set their phones apart from anything in the budget range.

You’ll find AI features on both

Even though they sport separate chipsets, the 14T and the 14T Pro are capable of performing certain AI functions. For instance, both phones have Google’s Circle to Search function which initially debuted on the Galaxy S24 range.

This allows users to circle any subject or object currently on their screen and then be served AI generated results pertaining to their point of interest. The phones also work with Google Gemini to provide more personalised feedback for requests or queries.

The 14T is missing a major battery feature

On paper, neither the 14T nor the 14T Pro are on the back foot where battery capacity is concerned. With both sporting a 5000mAh cell, it’s fair to assume that that should lead to some impressive longevity during everyday use.

What is surprising is that the Xiaomi 14T doesn’t have any form of wireless charging, with that feature being left for the 14T Pro only. At the very least, you do get 67W wired fast charging on the 14T (120W on the 14T Pro).

Early Verdict

While you can read our full review of the Xiaomi 14T Pro now, we won’t make any definitive arguments until both phones have been put through our testing. At this point in time however, the Xiaomi 14T and the 14T Pro appear to be so similar that the decision over whether or not to upgrade to the latter will only depend on how much you value a small handful of features.

The faster chipset and wireless charging found on the 14T Pro is definitely a plus, but whether or not it’s worth putting down an extra £100 for will depend entirely on the individual.