Xiaomi 14 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: The waiting game

 
Table of Contents:

• Design and Size
• Display Differences
• Performance
• Camera
• Battery and Charging
• Specs
• Summary

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Design and Size

Similar yet different

The exact dimensions, weight, and design of the Galaxy S24 Ultra are still a mystery, and we have a couple of leaks and renders, but you need to take this with a healthy grain of salt. That being said, the way things are looking, the Xiaomi 14 Pro and the Galaxy S24 Ultra are very similar when it comes to physical dimensions and weight.

Design-wise, there are some differences. Even though the concept is still glass-metal sandwich bar phones, both companies are doing it slightly differently. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is expected to retain the familiar design from its predecessor, with a separate camera aisle for each snapper, a gently curved screen on the sides, and a hole-punch for the selfie camera.

The Xiaomi 14 Pro, on the other hand, just like most Chinese flagship phones these days, features a quad-curved display with a punch-hole camera. The back is also curved, with a rectangular camera bump on the left side. The other big difference is the titanium option, which is still missing from the Galaxy S24 Ultra's spec sheet, but it's still early days, so we'll have to wait and see.

The color options for the Xiaomi 14 Pro are already known, while there are speculations about the Galaxy S24 Ultra hues. Check them all out below.

Xiaomi 14 Pro available colors:

• Black
• Silver
• Titanium
• Green

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra expected colors:

• Black
• Gray
• Violet
• Yellow

Display Differences

Blinding lights

When it comes to displays, both the Xiaomi 14 Pro and the upcoming Galaxy S24 Ultra are equipped with the best panels you can get. The Galaxy has a slightly bigger 6.8-inch Super AMOLED panel with a 1-120Hz variable refresh rate and an expected resolution of 3088 x 1440 pixels, or 501 PPI, while the Xiaomi sports a 6.7-inch OLED panel with a 1-120Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 3200 x 1440 pixels, or 521 PPI.

As you can see, these two are quite close, and the real differences will pop up when we're done with our display tests. While we wait, there's a 3000nits peak brightness claim on the Xiaomi's spec sheet, and we expect around 2,600nits from the Galaxy, according to the latest leaks. So, interesting times.

As far as biometrics go, both phones rely on under-display fingerprint scanners, and we have to test them to see how good they actually are.

Performance and Software

Hardware Parity

No surprises in the hardware department; both phones are expected to have the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor onboard. Furthermore, there are some leaked Geekbench scores showing very promising results from what appears to be a Xiaomi 14 test device.

The storage and RAM situation is nearly identical; both phones have 1TB options and start at 256GB, with an ample amount of RAM to go with that. The Xiaomi 14 Pro has a 16GB RAM option, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at 12/256GB and goes up to 12/1TB, but nowadays RAM is absolutely not an issue in smartphones, so you don't need to read too much into this. We expect both phones to perform smoothly and without any hiccups, just like true flagships.

The software situation is rather uncertain at the moment; we don't know whether Xiaomi will opt to extend the support cycle and try to match Apple, Google, and Samsung. The way we see it, you get at least two years of major OS updates on the Xiaomi and four years on the Galaxy.

Camera

The real battle

This area is the most speculative at the moment. Even though we have the specs of the newly announced Xiaomi 14 Pro, the device is launching in China, and we don't have a firm global release date yet. So, we have to rely on specs. Which is 100% more than what we have about the Galaxy S24 Ultra, as it's still tucked away in some secret lab.

Nevertheless, we can do some dry comparisons first while we wait for some samples. The Xiaomi comes with three cameras on its back, all of them using 50MP sensors. The big news is that the main camera now has variable aperture from f/1.42 to f/4.0, something we've seen before on the Huawei Mate 50 Pro and P60 Pro.

We don't know much about the camera system on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, some say that it's the end of the super-zoom era, others say that we're going to get the same camera system as the one used in the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but we'll have to wait until January 2024 to know for sure. What's certain is that the Xiaomi 14 Pro is a real contender with its Leica-infused camera system.
 

Battery Life and Charging

Fast vs faster

Chinese smartphones often offer ridiculously fast charging power and speeds, and the Xiaomi 14 Pro is no exception. The phone comes with 120W wired fast charging support, claiming 0–100% charge in just 18 minutes. What's more, the wireless charging is 50W, again able to fully charge the 4880mAh battery in 40 minutes.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra, on the other hand, is still a mystery in that regard. Samsung might choose to retain the 45W wired fast charging from the S23 Ultra or be brave and amp it up a notch. Both phones feature reverse wireless charging, so you can charge other small QI-compatible devices.

Specs Comparison

Check out the quick specs comparison table bellow

 

Summary

It's still early days and we can't say much about the Xiaomi 14 Pro and the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Both of these are legitimate flagships and even though we still don't know much about the latter, it's plain to see that this will be a tough battle.

Looking at the spec sheet, the Xiaomi might have a small advantage when it comes to the versatility of its camera system, the charging speeds, and, of course, the titanium option. But before we have these two in our hands, it's too early to say who's the winner.