While the Redmi Note series continues to be popular, Xiaomi continues to add features to bring these phones to the next level. The trends I noticed this year are durability and AI. While having more durable phones is definitely a positive, AI features on phones are a mixed bag. Does Xiaomi make good use of both of those trends while providing the Redmi Note experience we expect? Here is my Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G review.
Disclaimer: Xiaomi sent over both the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G in Midnight Black and Redmi Note 14 in Mist Purple. They arrived on December 21, 2024 and I unboxed them on December 22. I’ve been using the Note 14 Pro+ as my main Android phone for two weeks and using it on and off within two months.
Unboxing Experience
While we do get the typical unboxing experience that we expect from Xiaomi phones, this isn’t the case in every region. Some places like the UK don’t have the charger in the box. This is definitely a step in the wrong direction, especially if you’re trying to sell the phone in the used market in the future.
If this is indeed where we’re headed, I hope all phones just support USB PD already. That way, I don’t need to pull out the included charger just to get faster charging speeds.
Design and Build
On the surface, there isn’t much to say about the design of this phone especially in this black color. While I do appreciate the matte glass back with Gorilla Glass 7i protection (also applies to the Frost Blue color), there’s not much to look at besides its big camera module. I do like the fact midrange phones now have official IP ratings. The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ has an IP68 dust and water resistance rating. This means that the phone can withstand being submerged in water for a certain depth within a certain period of time. While I personally haven’t exposed this phone to the harsh elements, having that IP rating just adds peace of mind.
I honestly love the hand feel of this phone, though using it one-handed can be a struggle. The buttons are clicky enough for me. While it is nice to see dual SIM support and eSIM support on this phone, it sucks that midrange phones ditch the microSD card and 3.5mm headphone jack. (Those two features used to be differentiators in the midrange.)
All in all, I like how this phone looks and feels overall. It is a step forward compared to its predecessor.
Display and Speakers
One feature that Xiaomi doesn’t skimp on with its midrange phones is the display. The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G has a 6.67-inch CrystalRes AMOLED display with a 2712 x 1220 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It has 3000 nits peak brightness, covers the DCI-P3 color gamut with 12-bit color, and supports HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. For those concerned with their eye care, it supports 1920Hz PWM dimming and carries multiple TÜV Rheinland certifications. (TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certification (Hardware solution), TÜV Rheinland Circadian Friendly Certification, TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free Certification)
All of that means you’re getting a flagship-level display that’s great for watching Netflix and YouTube videos, and mobile gaming. One thing I can count on Xiaomi to do well is having good flagship-level displays even on their midrange phones.
The dual stereo speakers on this phone sound good when watching YouTube videos or playing mobile games. I wouldn’t say this phone has the best sounding speakers, but they get the job done.
Performance and Software
The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G is one of the first phones to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor. It comes with either 8 or 12 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256 or 512 GB of UFS 2.2 storage. The review unit I got was the 12GB RAM and 512GB of storage.
While it can run apps and do multitasking smoothly, there are times when the phone feels sluggish even when going through the home screen. Not even minor software updates helped with the overall user experience of this phone. I had a smooth experience playing games though. The usual Pokémon UNITE and Zenless Zone Zero sessions were good enough for me.
In fact, I was kind of misled by the benchmark numbers I got. I felt that the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip was held back by the software. You can check the benchmark numbers if you’re into that.
HyperOS Didn’t Make a Difference
I feel that the culprit of the sluggish user experience was Xiaomi’s HyperOS. For one thing, it came with HyperOS 1 based on Android 14 out of the box. I don’t understand why Xiaomi would use last year’s OS in their midrange Redmi lineup when the current version would be out as soon as the flagship phones were released.
Eventually, I got Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2 update in late March. Honestly speaking, I wish the Redmi Note 14 series came with this version out of the box. While I noticed an improvement in the smoothness when using the phone, there is still noticeable lag. It also doesn’t help that Xiaomi still has a lot of bloatware or pre-installed apps on even its flagship phones.
While Xiaomi has its own AI features, I pretty much would prefer using Google’s Gemini unless I need something specific.
Battery Experience
When the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G was launched in China, one standout feature was the big 6200 mAh battery with 90W HyperCharge. Unfortunately, that didn’t come to the global version of this phone. Even India was lucky to get the bigger battery! Instead, the rest of the world a 5110 mAh battery with faster charging thanks to its 120W HyperCharge support. I did get around 35 minutes when charging from 0 to 100%.
While I do see the appeal of having faster charging, I feel that it’s better to just have a bigger battery in the first place. While the battery life itself is fine with around 12 hours for the PCMark 3.0 battery test, I expected an improvement here over its predecessor. I tend to run out of battery easier when I do heavy gaming and long sessions of watching YouTube videos.
Cameras
Another aspect of the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G that’s different between the global version and the China and India version is the cameras. We basically get the same triple rear camera setup as its predecessor. There’s a 200MP main camera with an f/1.65 aperture and OIS, an 8MP ultrawide camera with f/2.2 aperture, and a 2MP macro camera with f/2.4 aperture. This phone also has a 20MP front camera. While the rear camera has 4K 30 fps video recording, the front is limited to just 1080p 60 fps.
Instead of improving on the camera hardware, Xiaomi focused on the camera software and the AI features for the global version. My main concern is if we get better photos. Here are the photos I took using the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G.
A Good 200MP Main Camera
For the most part, the 200MP main camera does a good job of producing sharp and good quality photos in various scenarios. While almost any phone can take good photos in the daylight or scenarios with a lot of natural light, the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ can take good photos in slightly more challenging scenarios.
To be honest, I could almost say the same thing about this phone’s predecessor. Beyond the generative AI features, the cameras on this phone don’t really stand out as much. I’m not saying this phone has bad cameras at all, but they could have been better.
While it’s nice to see that this phone takes good zoom photos even at 4x, its predecessor does a good job at that as well.
My thoughts on its 200MP main camera extend to its low-light capabilities. When given enough light, you can get good photos. Beyond that, it can be a struggle especially in extremely low light or when zooming in.
The 8MP ultrawide camera of the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ is good for taking photos of wide landscapes and large group gatherings in bright light. For more challenging situations, I would just use the main camera.
Front Camera
We get a slightly bigger 20MP front camera on the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G. Unlike the main camera, I was pleasantly surprised by the photo quality here. It can be weird with white balance sometimes, but I am definitely happy with the photos overall.
Should You Buy the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G?
I have to be honest: I had a struggle to finish this review for various reasons but While the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G is a good midrange phone in a vacuum, its strengths (great display, very fast charging, good front camera) don’t really overcome its flaws (same rear cameras, subpar software and battery life).
With a starting price of P22,999 (P20,999 online for the 8GB+256GB variant), I could only recommend this phone if you want the fastest charging speed in a Redmi Note phone. If you don’t mind having slower charging speeds, I would recommend saving your money and get the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G instead.
Pros
- A better and more durable design thanks to its matte back and IP68 rating
- Great 6.67-inch CrystalRes AMOLED display
- Good stereo speakers
- Raw performance from the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor is good
- 120W HyperCharge is very fast and charges to full in 30 minutes
- Good enough 200MP main camera
- Surprisingly good 20MP front camera
Cons
- Xiaomi’s HyperOS holds this phone back in performance and overall smoothness
- Subpar battery life even with its 5110 mAh battery
- Not much has changed with the quality of the three rear cameras
The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G retails at P22,999 for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage variant, P24,999 for the 12GB RAM + 512GB storage variant, and P20,999 for the online exclusive variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. There are four colors to choose from: the new Sand Gold (for Xiaomi’s 15th anniversary), Frost Blue, Midnight Black, and Lavender Purple. It is available at Xiaomi Stores and authorized retailers nationwide, as well as online via Lazada or Shopee.