Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G Review: Affordable All-Rounder

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Xiaomi’s Redmi sub-brand has carved a niche for itself over the years as a provider of excellent-value smartphones. Its Redmi Note 13 Pro received a glowing 4.5-star review from us last year, while we’ve also been impressed by its recent forays into budget tablets.

This year, it aims to maintain this performance with the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G, another Android device that offers largely premium features for a largely affordable price.

As with previous generations, the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G makes its appearance alongside subtly different models, including the Note 14 Pro+ 5G and the more standard Redmi Note 14. These all come at different price points and with different processors, camera lenses, and batteries.

In this review, we consider whether the £299 Note 14 Pro 5G does enough to stand out from its stablemates, as well as from the growing ranks of appealingly affordable Androids. We look at its performance, cameras, display, battery, and software, and we answer the question of whether it’s worth choosing over its many rivals.

Design & Build

• Sleek, curved body with opalescent colors
• Pin-hole selfie camera
• IP68 rating

The Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G offers a clear departure from the more angular build of the 13 Pro, with its body sporting a more tapered, curved design.

So whereas the 13 Pro basically aped the flatter outlines of recent iPhone models, the 14 Pro goes for softer corners and edges. We also see something similar with the rear camera module, which is now housed in a squircle bump, as opposed to something closer to a classic square.

It’s also located more in the middle of the phone’s rear, which maybe looks more symmetrical, but can make taking photos a little less easy.

Simon Chandler/Foundry

While the range of colors available for the phone is quite limited, we really liked the Coral Green of our review sample. It has a subtly opalescent shimmer that changes shade depending on the light, while the color itself is vibrant yet tastefully understated.

It complements the thin bezels of the 6.67-inch display and the phone’s overall minimalism, enabling you to make a statement without saying too much.

Not only does the phone look pretty sharp, but it’s also compact and light. It weighs in at 190g (6.70 oz), and while it has a fairly large display, its thin bezel means that it doesn’t feel oversized or unwieldy.

Another bonus is that it’s highly durable for a mid-range device, with an IP68 rating and a display made out of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. I was also pleased to find that it comes with a black silicon case in its box, while there’s a screen protector already fitted on its display.

Screen & Speakers

• 6.67in CrystalRes AMOLED display
• Dolby Atmos dual speakers
• 120Hz refresh rate

As with so many budget and mid-range phones these days, the Redmi Note 14 Pro’s screen is arguably its best feature.

It comprises a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel that supports a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, while it’s also capable of a brightness peak of 3000 nits. This allows for some very smooth and sharp viewing, something which is also supported by its (1.5K) resolution of 2712 x 1220 pixels.

While I don’t normally watch TV or films on smartphones, the phone did a great job of rendering content on Netflix, YouTube, and Prime Video. Its 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio is another ingredient which enables highly detailed and rich images, and if you’re traveling you probably won’t miss your home TV that much.

Simon Chandler / Foundry

More generally, the phone’s 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling with the phone more responsive and rewarding. Text and images pop in a nice way, while there’s an option to select which apps do and do not use the max rate. This can help you to conserve battery while still making the most of smooth browsing.

The quality of its screen is also matched by its Dolby Atmos-supporting stereo speakers, which deliver great sound for both music listeners and TV fans.

I found that even with fairly complex music, different layers were easily and clearly audible, with the stereo speakers providing a sense of depth and three dimensions. Yes, they don’t really manage higher volumes and they aren’t quite premium level, but they will keep most people very happy.

Specs & Performance

• Mediatek Dimensity 7300 Ultra
• 8GB RAM and 256GB storage
• No micro-SD card slot

With 8GB of RAM as standard and a 4nm Mediatek Dimensity 7300 Ultra chip on board, the Redmi Note 14 Pro is a capable device for a budget phone.

For the vast majority of tasks it performed perfectly well, opening apps and pages without any noticeable delays. I also found it more than adequate as a gaming device, with casual titles such as Subway Surfers and Fortnite all running smoothly.

However, I did find that it can struggle a little if you ask more of it. A couple of the more graphically advanced Android games, including Asphalt 9 and Shadowgun Legends, weren’t completely lag-free when I played them. They were still enjoyable, but anyone wanting the best possible Android gaming experience will probably have to opt for a more premium phone.

Simon Chandler / Foundry

While the Note 14 Pro’s performance is generally good, one slightly disappointing feature is that it doesn’t come with a microSD slot.

It’s not common these days but could be a problem given that the phone comes only as a model with 256GB of internal storage, so users who tend to fill up their devices with photos, music, and other files may have to exercise a degree of restraint.

Cameras

• 200Mp main rear camera
• 8Mp ultrawide and 2Mp macro lenses
• 20Mp selfie camera

The Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G stands out from the pack of mid-range phones by virtue of its 200Mp main wide camera lens.

Featuring optical image stabilization (OIS) and end-to-end AI Remosaic technology (which allows for parallel rather than sequential processing of images), Xiaomi claims it can capture a wide range of scenes with a minimum of effort. It’s complemented by an 8Mp ultrawide lens for more panoramic shots, as well as a 2Mp macro camera for extreme closeups.

On the whole, I had fun with the Note 14 Pro’s main camera. Good shots were easy to take in the vast majority of conditions, with the lens offering a naturalistic balance of colors. While I found that some landscaped photos came out a little undersaturated, it could easily be argued that this comes as a welcome antidote to the oversaturated photos certain other phones have a tendency to take.

Either way, the level of clarity was usually high, with the 200Mp mode enabling an often stunning level of detail.