Fifty per cent off: Compact Leica camera delight now at a mid-segment price

Still looks premium and delightfully compact

Almost a year and a half after its launch, the Xiaomi 14 Civi still looks very premium with its tall display, and straight sides that curve to meet a flat back with a very distinct circular camera uni, with sparkles inside it. The front is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the frame is metal and the back is glass or polycarbonate depending on the variant you choose.

It is impressively slim at just 7.5 mm, and weighs a relatively lightweight 177 grams. (Express Image)

While the green-white Matcha Green will attract the most attention, the Shadow Black is very elegant even now. It is compact by modern smartphone standards and at 157.2 mm tall, it is slightly taller than the iPhone Air.

It is impressively slim at just 7.5 mm, and weighs a relatively lightweight 177 grams. The only catch here is the absence of an official IP rating, although we have been unofficially assured that the phone can easily survive water splashes. All said and done, the Xiaomi 14 Civi has not aged at all when it comes to appearance and if anything, fits right in with the compact phone trend that is going around.

Specs that still rock, especially the cameras

The specs of the Xiaomi 14 Civi have aged well too. The display is a 6.55 inch one with a resolution of 2750 x 1236 and has a refresh rate of 120 Hz, with a peak brightness of 3000 nits. It runs on the still very powerful Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, and comes with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage in variants of 8 GB/ 256 GB and 12 GB/ 512 GB. The cameras are the stars of the spec show, with a 50-megapixel Leica Hunter 800 main sensor with OIS, another 50 megapixel Leica telephoto sensor with 2x optical zoom and a 12 megapixel Leica ultrawide sensor.

The frame is metal and the back is glass or polycarbonate depending on the variant you choose. (Express Image)

The phone is also one of the few to come with two front facing cameras, with two 32-megapixel sensors, one with autofocus and eye detection and the other an ultrawide one with face tracking. One also gets stereo speakers and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity.

The only part of the spec sheet that seems a little dated is the relatively small 4700 mAh battery and 67W charger in the box, which seem a little out of place in an era. On the software side, it has been updated to Android 15 and comes with Hyper OS 2.0, and is also set to be updated to the much talked of HyperOS 3.0 and Android 16. In the current mid-segment, this is a spec monster, thanks to the combination of display, chip and of course, the cameras.

A good performer as a budget flagship, a beast in the mid-segment!

Those very good specs ensure that the Xiaomi 14 Civi still turns in a very good performance, and comfortably beats most phones in the Rs 25,000 segment in terms of both processor and camera performance. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 can run titles like Call of Duty and Asphalt at relatively high settings, with the very good dual speaker setting making the multimedia experience very immersive. While the phone had some heating issues at launch, these have been ironed out and it keeps its cool literally and figuratively even during peak multi-tasking, which it is very capable of.

It has a 50-megapixel Leica Hunter 800 main sensor with OIS, another 50 megapixel Leica telephoto sensor with 2x optical zoom and a 12 megapixel Leica ultrawide sensor. (Express Image)

The biggest attraction of the phone are its cameras, and they remain easily the best in sub-Rs 35,000 price segment even now. While the rear cameras deliver plenty of detail and let you choose between different colour signatures, the dual front cameras make the Xiaomi 14 Civi the only phone in the market that can match the 50 megapixel selfie cameras on Vivo’s bestselling series. There are a number of Leica touches with special filters and portrait modes. This is a photography beast in the mid-segment, even delivering great low light snaps and very good 4K video

The compact and lightweight form factor makes the Xiaomi 14 Civi very easy to use and carry. However, we would advise staying relatively close to a power source as that 4700 mAh battery starts running out as the day comes to an end. The 67W charger however, can charge it fully in about 45 minutes!

There are a number of Leica touches with special filters and portrait modes. (Express Image)

It was a great proposition for Leica fans on a tight budget when it was launched in 2024, but thanks to its dramatic price cut, the Xiaomi 14 Civi is right now perhaps the best phone you can get in the mid-segment, and is streets ahead of most of the phones in that zone. It has got it all – a premium design, a brilliant display, outstanding (Leica) cameras, the works. And now is available at almost fifty per cent of its launch price. Get it before its price shoots up again is our advice. It was a good option when launched. Now it is a no-brainer!