Xiaomi 14 Civi review

The Xiaomi 14 Civi is part of the 14 series alongside the Xiaomi 14 and the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. It also happens to be the first Civi phone in India. Being part of the 14 series, naturally, the cameras are where Xiaomi wants you to look when it comes to this phone. But no device is a good phone by one aspect alone.

We used the Xiaomi 14 Civi and took a deeper look at all its aspect to help you find out, if this is the right phone for you. This includes some underrated aspects of the phone that Xiaomi ought to have advertised more, as well as other aspects that could have used some polish. Read on for our Xiaomi 14 Civi review.

Xiaomi 14 Civi: Design

The Xiaomi 14 Civi is one of the best-looking phones to come out this year. But that’s not all. It is also one of the best feeling phones of the year. The device is slim, has metallic sides, balanced weight, and together with the quad-curved screen (glass that curves not just on the left and right, but also the top and bottom), the device screams premium.

The phone is also among the taller ones, and feels more tall than wide, which some may like especially if they watch a lot of content in landscape. On the back, the Xiaomi 14 Civi manages to make the (now boring) circular camera island a tad more interesting with a ridged circumference that brings the classic mechanical watch look to the phone. Honestly, there’s isn’t much to complain about this phone in the design department, which is easily a highlight.

My only quarrel was that I didn’t get to try the Match Green variant of the phone. While the Cruise Blue variant you see here looks good, the Matcha Green variant comes with a more interesting colour choice and a dual-tone vegan leather finish on the back. It remains a mystery as to why Xiaomi limited that back panel to just one colour.

Xiaomi 14 Civi: Display

When we mentioned the ‘underrated aspects’, we were referring to the phone’s display. While all the attention in on the Xiaomi 14 Civi’s camera, it is easy to forget that the phone also comes with one of the best display panels in its segment. This tall-but-compact 6.55-inch panel is great at colours, contrasts and viewing angles, which you’d expect from an AMOLED display, but there’s more.

The quad-curve display here is blessing if you use a lot of gestures. With virtually no sharp edges on any side, in-swiping gestures feel so much better, whether you’re swiping in from the sides, from the bottom, or pulling down the notification tray from the top. Going back to my iPhone genuinely felt like a downgrade after getting a hang of this.

The display is also very bright and has no problems under direct sunlight. One thing that does stick out during those Netflix marathons though, is the wider pill-shaped notch which now accommodates two cameras.

Though it may not be a deal breaker for many, the pill-shaped notch is wider than the average punch-hole, and hence, is a bigger distraction right in the middle. Whether that is a problem for you, is something you must decide.

Xiaomi 14 Civi: Performance

This Xiaomi phone is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, and is unsurprisingly a great device for day-to-day performance, and even some moderate gaming. With UFS 4.0 storage, transferring larger files within the phone, or firing up apps is also much quicker and on par with high-end flagships.

You can play games on the Xiaomi 14 Civi, but if you’re someone who games a lot, you should know that the phone gets pretty warm quickly. Additionally, thanks to it being a slim and compact device, the battery doesn’t last very long.

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However, another aspect that’s key to the performance of any device, is the software, and it is here that the Xiaomi 14 Civi leaves me a little disappointed.

The phone runs Xiaomi’s new HyperOS. While the specifications are powerful enough to not be weighed down by heavy software, the phone is full of pre-installed applications. There are permissions required for customising anything with the phone, including changing your wallpaper.

I usually wouldn’t mind these antics on a cheaper Xiaomi product. But waiting for a host of pre-installed apps to update themselves during initial setup isn’t something I expected from a premium phone like this. In other words, the Xiaomi 14 Civi will remind you from time to time, that this phone has premium hardware with entry-level software.

Other elements like the under-display fingerprint sensor are good. The sensor was fast and accurate but suffers from being placed way too low. So, there is some hand gymnastics involved when you’re trying to reach it quickly. The stereo speakers on board too are great and both loud and well-balanced.

Xiaomi 14 Civi: Cameras

The Xiaomi 14 Civi’s cameras are undoubtedly the highlight of the phone, but depending on what kind of photos you take on a regular basis, your photography experience can be anywhere between above average to top-notch. Here’s what I mean.

The phone is great at taking images in daylight and other well-lit instances. However, in less-than-ideal lighting, the photos can be a hit or miss, sometimes offering great images, and other times losing details a tad too much – hopefully something an update can fix later on. The telephoto 2x camera takes some stunning portrait shots, but is again, not the best with details.

Coming to the front, the main selfie camera is pretty good, but the second wider front camera did not do very well with selfies in indoor and low lighting. Often, I found the colours to be a bit washed out. Unless you have the need to go wide when clicking a selfie, you’ll want to stick to the main camera for better photos.

This brings us to the built-in Leica filters, which I quickly grew to love. However, it must be remembered that these filters which give your photos that signature Leica vibe are good for making good pictures stand out – but will not help you take better images. For instance, if you have an over-exposed area in a picture, the filters are not going to fix that.

The phone also comes with some great cinematic video recording modes that can automatically shift focus for moving subjects, and help you take better videos, something content creators will actually find very useful.

Being a regular user of the camera on an iPhone 15 Pro Max, my bias does lie with better photographs over creative filters and colour tuning. However, I also realise that this is a very subjective area, so if a touch of creativity and flair is what you’re looking to add to your photos, the Xiaomi 14 Civi can do wonders.

Xiaomi 14 Civi: Battery

The Xiaomi 14 Civi’s compact design doesn’t allow it to have a very big battery. Unlike phones in the segment like the OnePlus 12R which come with a 5,500mAh battery, you can notice the smaller 4,700mAh battery here running out quicker.

At a time when most premium phones boast of two-day battery life, the Xiaomi 14 Civi will be requiring daily charging for most users. Thankfully, with the 67W fast charging, this doesn’t take very long.

Unboxed Take: Who should buy the Xiaomi 14 Civi?

The Xiaomi 14 Civi is a premium looking and premium-feeling phone that ticks most boxes and leaves few areas for complaints. However, the underwhelming software experience does take away from the phone’s premium feel.

If that isn’t an issue, you will enjoy the cameras and the stunning display on this phone, which costs Rs 42,999.

For these reasons, we rate the Xiaomi 14 Civi 3.5/5 stars. Stay tuned to Unboxed by Croma for more in-depth reviews.