The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has been officially announced However, like its cheaper sibling, the Xiaomi 14, it is quite likely that it will not actually be available for purchase, which is quite a shame since Xiaomi has not launched any phones in the US The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is quite impressive, especially in the camera department

In usual Xiaomi style, the description of what the 14 Ultra's camera can do is a bit technically inclined However, once you cut through the technical talk, you can see that there is some very impressive hardware on board

The fact that the phone features a quad-lens Leica camera system is only half the attraction Hidden inside the chunky camera bump is a 50MP main camera lens with what Xiaomi calls "infinitely variable aperture" Unlike the variable aperture found on phones like Samsung's Galaxy S9 and S10, this does not switch between two preset apertures

It is a motor-driven system that adjusts the aperture in 001-stop increments, allowing the photographer to control exactly how much light actually passes through the camera lens and hits the 1-inch sensor This mechanism is equipped with a carbon plate that can block 100% of the incoming light

In addition to this main lens, there is a pair of 50MP ultra-wide angle shooters (f/18) and a 50MP telephoto lens The first of the pair has a 32x optical zoom, 10cm macro shooting, and an f/1,8 aperture, while the second has a 5x magnification, 30cm macro shooting, and an f/25 aperture It also has a 30x Ultra Hybrid Zoom, AI enhanced RAW shooting, Ultra-HDR, and a 32MP front camera with f/20

Xiaomi is touting the 14 Ultra's AI and computational photography capabilities, but has yet to elaborate much on what they are We do know that videography will offer AI-based framing capabilities that will always keep the subject in the frame Nevertheless, in the demo I witnessed, some of the images appeared a bit blurry

In addition, Xiaomi will offer users a new "cinematic" shooting experience dubbed "Director Mode" This setting is essentially a video-specific version of the Pro camera mode common on flagships, allowing users to fully customize their videography with professional-like settings It also allows other Xiaomi phones and tablets to act as external monitors so they can see what is being filmed at any given time

Additionally, the 14 Ultra offers MasterCinema mode with ultra-high dynamic range for enhanced video and MasterPortrait, which seems to do something similar for still photography

We have not had a chance to try the Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera, but have used the regular Xiaomi 14 We felt that the Leica-tuned camera was comparable to the larger, more expensive flagship models As such, we have high hopes for the Ultra model

Other notable features of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra include a 678-inch display with WQHD+ (2960 x 1440) resolution, 3000 nits peak brightness, and 1-120 Hz adaptive refresh rate It also features an "All Around Liquid Display," which is a marketing term for a display with four slightly curved edges

This curve is very slight compared to most other curved displays and is best described as a rounded bezel Xiaomi claims that this gives the phone all the advantages of flat and curved displays without the drawbacks In other words, hiding the bezel keeps it looking nice, but without the durability issues that are common with curved screens

Xiaomi's new "Shield Glass" should also offer a bit more protection than something like the iPhone 15 Pro or Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra, although it is unclear how durable this screen will be The frame of the phone is also machined from a single block of aluminum In doing so, the frame has no seams, which can cause weakness in the metal This means that not one ounce of titanium is used in this phone

Xiaomi also promises that the vegan leather exterior is six times more durable than before and that the redesigned Dual-Channel IceLoop cooling system will keep heat away from both the chipset and camera Of course, as with all flagship models, it is also IP68 waterproof

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset There is also some variation between this phone and other Gen 3-based phones

There is only a 512GB storage option that uses UFS 40 storage and 16GB of RAM It will also have an upgraded modem in the form of the Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 This is a Wi-Fi 7-compatible modem that will offer speeds of up to 58 Gbps and low latency of 2 ms This is quite excellent, even if one is already familiar with the benefits of Wi-Fi 6E

The USB-C port is USB 32 gen 2 compatible, delivering speeds of up to 10 GBps and supporting DisplayPort video output at up to 4K, 60 Hz The battery is 5,000 mAh and supports up to 90W wired charging and 80W wireless charging The former can charge the battery to 100% in 33 minutes, and the latter to 50% in 18 minutes This is really great

It also offers 4 years of Android upgrades and 5 years of security updates The price is set at €1,499, which equates to roughly £1,281/$1,624/$2,476

There is no word on when or where the Xiaomi 14 Ultra will be available However, the phone has very impressive hardware specs Especially in the camera department Given how impressed we were with the Xiaomi 14, we are very excited to see how much better the 14 Ultra will be

We can only wait for Xiaomi to give us the few remaining details Since the show hasn't officially started yet, there is still time to see what else is coming out Since the show hasn't officially started yet, we still don't know what will be announced