Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G review: a smartphone with flagship ambitions

At the beginning of the New Year, Xiaomi introduced the Redmi 14 series. Today, we’re going to take a look at the leader of the new generation — the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G. Let’s take a look at the capabilities of the 200 megapixel camera, test the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor and the excellent screen.

Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G specifications

Display	6.67 inches 20:9, 2712×1220 pixels. 446 ppi, AMOLED, HDR10+, 120 Hz
Processor	Qualcomm SM7635 Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, 8-core (1x3x4)
Graphics adapter	Adreno 810, 940 MHz
Memory	8/256 GB LPDDRX4 and UFS 2.2
Main camera	Triple, 200+8+2 megapixel, ultra-wide-angle module, 4K/30 fps
Front camera	20 megapixels, 1080/30 fps
Modules and systems	4G, 5G, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.4 and NFC, aGPS, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo
OS	Android 14 / HyperOS
Protection	YES, IP68
Battery	5110 mAh, 120 W fast charging
Body	Metal, plastic
Dimensions	162.5 x 74.7 x 8.8 mm
Weight	210 grams

 

Packaging and equipment

The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G comes in a white box with a front panel featuring the phone itself and some of its features, such as a 200-megapixel camera and a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor.

Inside we see the phone, documentation, a protective case, a paper clip to open the SIM card slot, and a USB Type A to USB Type C cable. There is no power supply, so future buyers will have to buy it separately or use an old one.

Design and ergonomics

Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G has a plastic body with a metal rim on the sides. The display and back panel are rounded at the edges. The phone tries to look like the premium segment of previous years, which is not a disadvantage. Why: The design of modern phones offers flat edges, but in my opinion, this is bad for ergonomics and does not allow you to hold the phone confidently in your hand.

On the front, we see thin top and bottom bezels. The display is in the «waterfall» style, so the side bezels are not visible on either side. The front camera is also located in front.

The back panel is matte with a rather large camera module, to put it mildly. Of course, it looks too big. However, oddly enough, it’s quite comfortable to hold the phone with one hand: the index finger rests on the camera unit. There is no wireless charging.

The side panels are also glossy, which in general has a rather negative effect on their cleanliness when used without a case. On the right side are the volume and phone lock keys.

Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G supports the IP68 protection standard. According to it, the phone can withstand short-term immersion in water or sand.

The bundled matte black case will not turn yellow after a few months of use, unlike transparent versions. The case will also protect the sides of the display in case of a possible fall to the ground. When holding the phone, the grip is good, it does not slip out of your hand.

The phone is reviewed in the classic Midnight Black color. There are also Frost Blue and Lavender Purple variants. In all variants, the back of the case will be glossy and fingerprinted.

Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G display

Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G is equipped with a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2712×1220 pixels. The pixel density is 446 ppi, the aspect ratio is 20:9, and the display refresh rate is 120 Hz. The maximum brightness is 3000 nits, and there is also support for HDR10+.

The display supports Always-On Display mode, which allows you to see the date and time, notification icons in locked mode. I don’t really need this feature (I turn off almost all notifications), but I won’t speak for everyone — it’s there, and that’s good.

The waterfall screen stands out for its rich colors and high detail. The display does not fade at different angles. In the settings, you can change the color temperature, adjust the screen refresh rate for the entire system (automatic, 60 Hz, 120 Hz), or set it to 120 Hz for each individual program.

The maximum brightness of 3000 nits is impressive. This is a new standard for flagships, although the new Samsung S25 Ultra has only 2600 nits. Of course, these values are only available when playing content with HDR, or in direct sunlight and possibly when the in-screen fingerprint scanner is working (the backlight is too visible).

The smartphone has a built-in fingerprint scanner. I set it up as casually as possible to check the quality of the scanner. I registered one finger, and the phone let me in with it. It works very quickly, as for me.

I tried to simulate another layer using a regular file and there were no problems with recognition. Except once, when I tried to unlock the smartphone with a wet finger for a test. After five unsuccessful attempts, you need to enter a regular text password to unlock the phone.

When the screen is off, a small circle appears on the screen (similar to the Always-On Display mode). This is how the phone shows where the fingerprint scanner is located. It is located between the center and closer to the bottom of the display. This may not be convenient for some people. However, scanners on the back of smartphones or near the lock key are hardly ever used anymore.

Sound and vibration response

Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G supports stereo sound, which is realized using the main and earpiece speakers. The sound is loud and clear, nothing buzzes even at 100%. There were no problems with the sound during a phone call.

We didn’t notice any bass or volume, but detail and clarity are more important here, and they are at a good level. There is support for Dolby Atmos on both speakers. They didn’t do anything outstanding, but you can’t call them bad speakers either.

The vibration response performs its function properly. Yes, perhaps it is not strong enough for you to feel it in the inner pocket of a winter jacket. However, the vibration response is good for everything else.

Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G cameras

The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G phone has a triple camera module. The main sensor is up to 200 megapixels (ƒ/1.65; 1/1.4″ sensor size) with optical stabilization and autofocus. The second module is an ultra-wide-angle 8-megapixel module with a 120-degree viewing angle and ƒ/2.2 aperture. The third is a 2-megapixel macro camera (ƒ/2.4). There is no optical zoom, so only digital zoom with 200 megapixels.

Here are examples of photos of different objects on the same day. There will be photos in 0.8x, 1x, 2x, 4x, and 200 megapixel modes. The last four modes use a 200 megapixel camera. It seems to me that in recent years almost all smartphones have been taking good photos in the daytime. There are no questions about the detail of the photo. The only thing is that the colors of the bushes turned out to be somehow strange in different camera modes.

Here’s an example of photos at night and compare it with the iPhone 15 (photo without watermark) and the result, strangely enough, is not obvious. Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G with its 200 megapixel camera still catches up (and some would say overtakes) Apple. Therefore, we can confidently say that it is not necessary to overpay for a much more expensive phone to take photos.

Video recording is supported at 4K/30 fps, and to enable 60 fps, you will have to record in 1080p. You don’t have to worry about video in the daytime. But in almost complete darkness, it’s still bad. The work of the optical stabilizer is almost invisible.

There is a macro, but only 2 megapixels. This is clearly not enough for 2025. Better take pictures with the main camera.

The 20-megapixel front-facing camera «won’t capture stars from the sky», but it will be enough for calls.

Productivity, software and games

The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G is powered by a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 — 8-core processor, which consists of 1 Prime (up to 2.5 GHz), 3 Performance (up to 2.4 GHz) and 4 Efficiency (up to 1.8 GHz) cores. The graphics chip is Adreno 810. It is available with 8 or 12 GB of LPDDR4X RAM. It is possible to increase the RAM by 4 virtual GB at the expense of internal storage. The permanent memory can be 256 or 512 GB and is in the UFS 2.2 format (which is quite surprising). Among the modules are 5G and eSIM support, Wi-Fi 6E, NFC, Bluetooth 5.4 and various satellite options (aGPS, GPS module, GLONASS, Galileo). There is also a slot for two nanoSim cards, without the possibility of memory expansion.

The phone is far from flagship hardware, which may disappoint fans of high scores in synthetic tests. However, it hardly lags: -11% in the CPU test, and less than two percent in 3DMark. Therefore, there should be no problems with 120 Hz for the system to work. And what about games? This is more interesting.

I’ll start with the good news: if you play Call of Duty: Mobile, then you won’t have any problems. Everything is consistently good there. No improvements are definitely needed. I didn’t even have to measure anything – you can see your stable 60 fps.

But with Call of Duty: Warzone, there are already problems even on the minimum settings. Yes, you can play at those 40-50 fps, but you can feel some «drowsiness» movement. Or rather, it’s not even like that – although I’m told these fps values, I simply don’t believe them. By eye, there is about 30 fps maximum. And with such graphics at «minimums» the game looks strange, to put it mildly.

Things are even more interesting with Genshin Impact. You can safely play almost on the maximum graphics settings. Just turn off AA, Motion Blur. And since it’s not a shooter, those 40-60 fps won’t bother you when farming mobs or bosses. You may even get used to it quickly, because the fps drops during combat and in cities. Still, you need to lower the settings, but definitely not the default ones (extremely terrible graphics).

Another interesting thing is the video recording of the videos. Here’s an example of the video above. I checked the performance drop in 3DMark. Without recording the video, I got a score of 4000 points, and with recording, I got 3528-3337 points. Therefore, if you plan to record your origins in games — lower the game settings.

One of the interesting things is the Game Boost program. It’s supposed to boost performance in games, and that’s exactly what it does. However, physics is hard to override, so even if everything is fine in the first minute, then there will be trotting and a decrease in basic performance.

Android 14 operating system with HyperOS shell. This is a regular system with many settings and the ability to customize it for yourself. However, the ads are not very attractive, which I will discuss in more detail in the section on user experience.

Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G battery life

Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G is equipped with a 5110 mAh battery. This should be enough for 1-1.5 days of use. However, the power supply is not included. That’s why I’ve given two examples of how to charge the phone in the table. It’s good that buyers don’t have to buy a more powerful power supply.

Power supply	Charging time (5% – 100%)
5 W	4 h 20 min
20 W	1 hour (50% – 30 minutes)

In the PCMark test, the battery life of the device was 16 hours and 13 minutes at 60 Hz. For 120 Hz (I set it forcibly for PCMark) – 13 hours and 35 minutes. This is clearly a good result. According to personal feelings, the phone holds the battery for a long time.

User experience

Switching from iOS to HyperOS. Since I’ve been using Apple phones for many years (about 10 years), I was curious about what’s on the other side of the river». What can I briefly say about Xiaomi HyperOS? Everything is the same, just a different angle. For example, HyperOS’s app manager has many small windows, whereas iOS has one big window, and you have to swipe to get to the previous one. There are examples where there are no changes. This is a swipe to the left of the camera, which opens notifications, and to the right — the control panel. It’s the same in iOS. It will take some time to get used to, but not a month or two. The user experience will be good in both cases. And both OSes have bugs.

HyperOS (Android as a whole) will have more functionality, and no one will argue with this. And the general convenience is also better. Transfer any files to or from a computer? No problem. You don’t have to download iTunes, then search for the program you need, and then transfer it. And synchronization with Google services in HyperOS/Android will be better for obvious reasons.

One of the coolest features that Apple doesn’t have for their phones, I found in HyperOS is splitting the screen into two programs. Many people will say that they don’t need it. But they simply don’t know how to use it. Here’s an example: let’s say you’re reading a book in a foreign language and don’t know how to translate a sentence. You take a copy of the text and immediately paste it into the translator. This way, you don’t waste time searching for a translator every time and see the entire text (translated or not) at once.

Another example of using split-screen is farming all sorts of items in games and watching videos/music on Youtube in parallel. Yes, it’s a bit inconvenient, but you save yourself money on subscriptions.

Now let’s talk about advertising in HyperOS. I’ve heard a lot of comments about in-app advertising. Of course, I had to check this point to disprove this myth. And my answer: Yes, there is advertising.

After updating my phone to the current version of the OS, the first ad I saw was on… the lock screen. To be more precise, it was not an ad, but a news story with an image and a headline. My reaction was mixed, so I immediately turned it off in Settings – Lock screen – Wallpaper Carousel. Most likely, this is the Carousel people first see when they first hold the phone in showrooms. But I got curious and started looking further.

Of course, I found built-in ads in other built-in programs: MI Video, MI Music, Game Center, Get App, etc. About 20 apps in total. Of course, you can continue to use these programs. Or even uninstall some of them. Or try to find the item responsible for issuing recommendations in the settings of each. The good thing is that it’s not a problem to find a replacement. For example, VLC Media Player (instead of Mi Video) or Poweramp (Music).

Price and competitors

The price of Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G starts at unofficial sellers with the global version of the phone starting at 14300 UAH. The official price from Allo is 17999 UAH. The 12/512 version is sold for 20999 UAH.

Perhaps the main competitor is the Poco X7 Pro (unofficially from 14999 hryvnias; Hello 16999 UAH) — more powerful processor, larger battery, but inferior main camera.

If you are a gamer, you need an even more powerful processor, but with a weaker camera and a smaller battery. And this is Poco F6 with Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 (from 14665 UAH or for UAH 18499).

You can also consider the Nothing Phone 2a Plus (from 15903 UAH), who recently visited the us on the review. The processor is a little more powerful, and the camera is also quite good.

Дякуємо мережі магазинів «Алло» за наданий на огляд смартфон Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G.