The best Xiaomi phones - our top 10 list

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is the latest model from the Chinese company, and this time around, it's available globally! There's a lot to like about this ultra-premium flagship, and for a deep dive you should check out our full review. But long story short, if you want a Galaxy S24 Ultra alternative, and you're not afraid to pay a little extra, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is a great choice.

Now onto some specifics! First, the camera system on this phone is exquisite. It features the new 1-inch Sony LYT-900 sensor, and furthermore, it sits under a Leica lens with a variable aperture, which can go from f/1.63 to f/4.0 in seamless steps of 0.01. To further stress on the "camera" side of this phone, Xiaomi offers a Photography Grip accessory, with a grip that doubles as a 1,500 external battery, and also has a shutter button and a jog dial, transforming the Xiaomi 14 Ultra into a point-and-shoot camera.

The phone is not just a camera, it comes with the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, plenty of storage options (including 16GB/1TB), a fancy leathery back, and a titanium option as well. The bad news is that all this doesn't come cheap. The phone starts at 1,499 euros and you need to put some effort in to get one to the US. Nevertheless, it's the best Xiaomi phone at the moment!

Flagship phones are pretty expensive nowadays, pushing that $1,000 mark easily, but there are models that shine like rare diamonds hidden from plain view. Xiaomi's T-series lineup consists mainly of those kinds of devices, and the new Xiaomi 13T is no exception.

The price of this phone is around 649 euros, about twice as cheap as some other modern flagships, and it comes with very few compromises. First, it sports a very good OLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate and a very respectable peak brightness of 2,600 nits. You can also get up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage for the Pro model, in terms of memory configuration.

The Xiaomi 13T supports 67W fast charging, while the Pro version boasts rapid 120W charging, allowing the Pro's battery to go from 0 to 100% in just 19 minutes. Both the 13T and the Pro models feature big 5,000mAh batteries.

The Xiaomi 12S Ultra was a great phone when it launched... in China. Everyone wanted to get their hands on the device, and even we had trouble securing a unit (hence the preview state of our encounter with the 12S Ultra). Xiaomi listened and officially announced that the next Ultra, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, will be launching globally... at some point.

The 13 Ultra has it all, the fastest Snapdragon on the market, an amazing display, great design, and four, we repeat, four 50MP cameras on the back, one of which sits atop Sony's 1-inch IMX989 sensor. We're testing the phone as we type this, so stay tuned for the full review, but one thing is clear. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is the best Xiaomi phone at the moment.

When Xiaomi launched the 12S Ultra, everyone lost their minds over the 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor, made specifically for smartphones. And while the phone was clearly much more conservative with the post-processing algorithms (check out our camera comparison), the potential was there.

Now that the Xiaomi 13 series is officially out there and coming to global markets (the 12S Ultra was China-only, sadly), we have another camera phone to drool over. The Xiaomi 13 Pro features the same huge 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor, and judging by the sample shots, it clearly helps with details and low-light shots.

Now, this model is no slouch in the hardware department either, with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor—the best Qualcomm has to offer at the moment. This phone is a great alternative to your regular iPhones and Galaxies, and can even rival the Sony Xperia Pro-I for the camera crown.

You want a huge AMOLED display with a high refresh rate, you want fast charging, and you want a great looking device with enough power to slice through every task? Look no further - meet the Xiaomi 13 Lite - one of the best budget proposals of 2023!

For around $499 you'll get all of the above and then some. This phone comes with a case and a charger in the retail box, runs on Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 which is a great upper-midrange chipset, and also supports 67W fast charging (with the said charger).

The phone features flat edges and matte finish on the back (it's frosted glass), and looks stunning considering the asking price. The main camera is a 50-megapixel one, a Sony IMX 766 sensor with an aperture of f/1.8. The other cameras are an 8MP ultra-wide and a 2MP macro.

There's nothing lacking in this device, and sure - it might not challenge your regular iPhone 13 or Galaxy S22 but then again, it's a fraction of the price of these phones. It's one of the best budget smartphones of 2023!