Looking for a high-end compact phone? Look no further than the Xiaomi 14 and Samsung’s Galaxy S24. This is perhaps one of the biggest dilemmas an Android user could have in 2024, in case you haven’t moved up from the smaller form factor.
We don’t want to spoil the ending, but it’s not an easy choice. On the one hand, the Xiaomi 14 makes a compelling case with a better specs sheet overall, but on the other, it’s the more expensive choice too.
There’s much to unpack here, so let’s start.
For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor’s assessment in the text further down below.
Table of Contents:
Size comparison
Expectedly, both handsets are just about the same size, with the Xiaomi 14 standing slightly taller. After all, it has a 6.36-inch display as opposed to the Galaxy S24’s 6.2-inch screen.
However, the Galaxy S24 is 20+ grams lighter, which you can feel, but doesn’t feel all that smaller than the Xiaomi 14. We suspect it’s because of the Galaxy S24’s completely flat edges and back. The Xiaomi 14’s curved back is a sound design choice as it makes the grip a tad more comfortable.
At the end of the day, both devices are easy to handle, but the Galaxy S24 makes a better case for itself in terms of overall build due to its Gorilla Glass Victus 2 front and back panels and the extra tough side aluminum frame, which Samsung calls Aluminum Armor 2. Xiaomi, on the other hand, discloses only a first-generation Gorilla Glass Victus on the front.
Display comparison
We can say outright that both phones have excellent displays that would suit pretty much everyone. They have all the bells and whistles, and the only deciding factor for most people would probably be the size. Get the Xiaomi 14 if you want the larger display, or get the Galaxy S24 if you want a more compact handset.
Those of you looking for a bit more detail, however, would want to consider the subtle differences between the two devices. The Xiaomi 14 has a higher resolution screen and supports Dolby Vision, whereas the Galaxy S24 has a slightly higher maximum brightness in bright light (1,400 nits vs. 1,200 nits, according to our tests).
Battery life
Both handsets offer dependable battery life despite their smaller-than-average batteries. In fact, it’s interesting to see the Galaxy S24 keeping up with the Xiaomi 14 with its smaller 4,000 mAh battery – that’s 610 mAh less than the Xiaomi 14.
Still, there’s only one winner when you crunch in thenumbers, and it’s the Xiaomi 14. While video playback and gaming runtimes are almost identical between the two devices, Xiaomi’s mini flagship edges out with a superior web browsing score and longer call times.
Charging speed
Samsung’s flagships have never been fast to charge, and the Galaxy S24 is no different. The Xiaomi 14 blows the S24 out of the water when it comes to charging speed. It’s about twice as fast at every checkpoint and can fully charge from 0% to 100% in about 35 minutes. That’s a huge lead over the Galaxy S24’s 75-minute charging cycle.
It’s perhaps expected given the huge difference in wattage – the Galaxy S24 supports up to 25W charging over the more widely adopted Power Delivery charging standard, while the Xiaomi 14 relies on a proprietary 90-watt fast charging standard.
It’s important to note, however, that the Xiaomi 14 plays well with Power Delivery-compliant chargers, too, and it also supports fast 50W wireless charging. The Galaxy S24 caps at 15W.
Even the reverse wireless charging is faster on the Xiaomi 14.
Speaker test
The Xiaomi 14 and the Galaxy S24 are equally loud, earning a “Very Good” score. But there’s a huge difference in tuning and perhaps overall quality as well.
The Xiaomi 14 may be the better choice if you listen to music or watch movies on loudspeakers. While both sound clean and have well-pronounced vocals, the Xiaomi 14’s sound is fuller and warmer thanks to its deeper bass.
Performance
In a head-to-head battle, the Xiaomi 14 wins with more raw power. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 outperforms the Exynos 2400-powered Galaxy S24 in Geekbench 6’s multi-core scenario, while matching the Exynos in the single-core test.
But in the combined AnTuTu 10 test that includes the GPU, the SD8 Gen 3 takes a comfortable lead.
Additionally, the Xiaomi 14’s base model offers twice the memory – 256GB vs. 128GB, and it’s UFS 4.0. The S24 128GB variant settles for UFS 3.1 storage, while the rest of the configurations (256GB and up) are UFS 4.0.
As far as sustained performance is concerned, there’s no clear winner, as the Galaxy S24 throttles quite a bit but maintains stable clock speeds, while the Xiaomi 14 doesn’t throttle as much but struggles to maintain stable clock speeds. It’s an inherent drawback of compact flagship phones, unfortunately.
It’s important to note that the Galaxy S24 comes with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in some markets, so there won’t be any significant difference between the two phones there.
Camera comparison
Even by comparing the specs sheet of both camera systems, it’s probably safe to assume that the Xiaomi 14 has the more capable camera setup. And the camera samples are here to prove it.
While both phones have very similar renditions with their main cameras during the day, the Xiaomi 14 edges out with slightly more detail and sharper output. The exact opposite is true for the ultrawide camera, as the Galaxy S24 produces better-looking daylight samples.
When it comes to telephoto cameras, the Xiaomi 14 is the better choice. Not only is it more versatile (it captures excellent closeups), but it shows better performance in various scenarios. Images are cleaner, sharper and more detailed.
Samsung Galaxy S24 daylight samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x
Xiaomi 14 daylight samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3.2x
In low-light scenarios, the Xiaomi 14 truly shines. Xiaomi’s phone takes better stills at night with all of its cameras. Compared to the Galaxy S24, the Xiaomi 14’s samples are cleaner, sharper, more detailed and without noise. The Xiaomi 14’s superiority in this regard is quite obvious.
Samsung Galaxy S24 low-light samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x
Xiaomi 14 low-light samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3.2x
Fan of selfies? The Galaxy S24 is probably the better choice here. The tuning on the Xiaomi 14 produces less contrasty shots with paler colors and brighter skin tones, which may have its fans, but it’s not us.
Video recording quality
If you often shoot videos, the Xiaomi 14 remains the better choice again. The footage from the main camera comes out sharper, more detailed and with a wider dynamic range. The gap between the two phones closes when it comes to the auxiliary cameras. In some aspects, the ultrawide and telephoto videos from the S24 are better, while in others, the Xiaomi 14’s clips look nicer.
Galaxy S24 video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3x
Xiaomi 14 video samples: 0.6x • 1x • 3.2x
Verdict
The numbers speak for themselves. While in some cases there’s little to no difference between the Xiaomi 14 and the Galaxy S24, the former is perhaps the better all-rounder. It has a better camera experience overall, longer battery life, faster wired and wireless charging, Dolby Vision-enabled display, and arguably has the better stereo speaker setup.
When you match the 256GB storage, the Xiaomi 14 launches for about €100 more than the current price of the Galaxy S24. The 128GB Galaxy S24 sells for further €100 less, which may be the deciding factor for many, in addition to software and design preferences. Some may find the Galaxy S24 nicer to hold and One UI 6.1 better to use. And objectively speaking, the One UI 6.1 is the smarter OS, with Samsung’s latest AI implementations.
However, we suspect the Xiaomi 14’s price will be quick to go down to the S24 level, especially if you are considering the 256GB version of either phone. Once that happens, we’d say the Xiaomi 14 is objectively the better compact premium phone to get.
- The slightly brighter display outdoors.
- The higher-grade build materials.
- The 20g+ lighter weight.
- The nicer selfies.
- The One UI 6.1 smarts and longer support.
- The lower retail price.
Get the Samsung Galaxy S24 for:
- The larger Dolby Vision-enabled display.
- The better overall camera quality.
- The faster chipset (compared to Exynos).
- The longer battery life.
- The faster wired and wireless charging.
- The bundled charger.
- The better-sounding speakers.
- The Infrared blaster.
Get the Xiaomi 14 for:
