When I needed to take photos of a car for a series of stories this month, only one phone came to mind, and it wasn’t one of the top devices made by Google, Samsung, or Apple. It’s the fantastic Xiaomi 14 Ultra, and over the course of a few days, it cemented its place as my favorite camera phone of 2024. Here’s why.
Why is it the best?
I already held the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera in high regard after having reviewed the phone and tested it out against other cameras. I especially loved the versatility of the brilliant Photography Kit accessory. But most of this happened earlier on in the year before other brands had the chance to release serious competitors. I knew I had to give it another try, just to be sure of my feelings.
I had a series of articles planned around the Cupra Born VZ electric car, and photography was key to all of them. My DLSR and its prime lens that I normally use for work wasn’t entirely suitable, so I decided to use a phone, but it needed to take the best photos possible. Although the Google Pixel 9 Pro and the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max shouted, “Pick me,” I automatically reached for the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, encased in its Photography Kit housing and equipped with a polarizing filter.
Over several days, I took photos of the car with the phone, and you can see them in my review and follow-up piece on living with an electric car. I also edited them on the phone using Xiaomi’s software, and I am really pleased with how they all came out.
The weather wasn’t really on my side, but the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera wasn’t fazed by the tricky lighting. And no matter which zoom level I used — 1x, 3.2x optical, or 5x optical — each image was sharp and detailed. I know I couldn’t have taken the same photos with my DSLR, and I don’t think other phones would have returned such emotive images either.
Leica and filters
One of the top reasons I chose the Xiaomi 14 Ultra to take photos of a car is the Photography Kit accessory, which allows the fitment of a 67mm filter over the cameras. A polarizer is a must-have when shooting cars as it helps minimize the reflections off the surface, bringing out the car’s shape and lines. No other phone makes using a filter like this as easy, and it shows how seriously Xiaomi has taken photography with the 14 Ultra.
Another crucial part of the camera’s brilliance is Leica’s involvement. The famous camera brand showed how it understands smartphone photography, and how seriously it takes improving it when it partnered with Huawei. Now, it’s continuing the good work with Xiaomi, and its wonderful tuning gives photos a look all of their own. Not only that, but there are two special Leica filters to try — Authentic and Vibrant — and they never look artificial or overly processed when you use them. Most of the photos I took of the car used the Vibrant style.
Leica’s involvement goes far beyond just a logo and a few filters, and the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera is all the better for it. Xiaomi’s own camera’s software, editing, and other features aren’t unique in the industry, but it all seems to come together perfectly, creating a camera system that fills me with confidence and inspires my creativity.
How about other photos?
While taking photos of the Cupra Born VZ reminded me why I love the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera, its brilliance shines through when taking photos of other subjects, too. The photos scattered throughout this section illustrate what I like about it even more. The photo of the leaf was taken at 5x zoom and had the Leica black-and-white filter placed on it. It was also slightly tweaked in the editing suite. I love the depth of field and sharpness of the image.
The photo of the yellow Porsche Cayman was an accident, as the camera was in Portrait mode when I took it, even though I didn’t intend it to be. However, the car pops so much, and the depth of field is so natural, that it looks fantastic. Again, I’ve edited it in the phone’s Gallery app and removed a few things with the AI removal tool. Sadly, it can’t compete with Google’s Magic Eraser tool, though, and is slow and less able to replicate even the simplest of backgrounds. But when accidental photos look better to my eyes than some photos I intentionally take with other phones, it says a lot about the phone’s ability.
I intended to use Portrait mode for the photo of the cat’s face, and it was taken at the focal length equivalent of 75mm, with the app also providing 23mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 120mm focal lengths in Portrait mode. Cats rarely pose, so you often have only one chance to capture an image, and while the focal point is not quite perfect (or should that be purrfect?), it shows off the level of detail that the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera can capture. This one needed only minimal edits, too.
The year’s best camera on a phone
When looking through the Gallery app on my Xiaomi 14 Ultra, I didn’t find many photos I didn’t like, but more than that, I could see where I’d experimented with the camera, with multiple photos taken at slightly different angles and edited in slightly different ways as I fine-tuned each photo to my liking. While I do this on many phones I review, I remembered I’d specifically gone to different locations to take photos with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and then edited the photos for myself. I haven’t done this with any other phone.
We’ve been spoiled with mobile cameras this year, and I’ve enjoyed so many of them, from the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. There have been some special new features, too, including the iPhone 16’s Camera Control and the steady increase in interesting AI photo enhancements. Each has driven me creatively, but the Xiaomi 14 Ultra does one thing that others don’t or can’t: It feels like I’m using a camera camera, not a phone camera, from top-to-bottom, through the software and hardware. I’m no pro photographer, but it manages to make me feel a bit like one — and I absolutely love it.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra doesn’t always take the best possible photo, it doesn’t always have the best editing tools, and it definitely falls behind some of the competition when it comes to the wide-angle camera. It’s not perfect, but every time I’ve used it since its release, it has consistently impressed me and taken photos I don’t think could be replicated by another phone. When you add in the Photography Kit, it manages to feel and operate like a camera, not a phone. As a package, it’s superb and unmatched for me in 2024.
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