We put the Xiaomi 14T through our rigorous SBMARK camera test suite to measure its performance in terms of photo, video and zoom quality from an end-user perspective. This article analyzes the behavior of the device in a series of tests and several common use cases and aims to highlight the most important results of our tests with an excerpt of the acquired data.

Overview

Key Camera Specifications:

  • Primary: 50 MP sensor, 1/1.56″, 4-in-1 Super Pixel, 2.0 µm, f/1.7 aperture, OIS, 23 mm equivalent
  • Ultra-wide: 12MP, f/2.2 aperture, 15mm equivalent, 120° field of view
  • Tele 1: 50 MP, f/1.9 aperture, 50 mm equivalent

Pro

  • Natural colors and skin tones in bright light
  • Fairly wide depth of field
  • Nice white balance for photos and videos in bright light
  • Good details in photos and videos recorded in broad daylight and indoors
  • Good detail in close-up telezoom shots
  • Effective video stabilization

Against

  • Unstable exposure
  • Color casts in low light
  • Unnatural rendering of spotlights in bokeh mode
  • The dynamic range in the preview image does not match the capture
  • Artifacts related to scene integrity in the video
  • Strong noise in low-light videos
  • Inaccurate skin tones in the video

In SBMARK Camera tests, the Xiaomi 14T delivered overall strong performance in both photos and videos, offering a satisfying user experience. That said, our testers also noted some drawbacks. In photo mode, we were particularly impressed by the natural color rendition, the wide depth of field, the stable white balance in bright light and the good rendering of fine details. The downside is that the exposure may be unstable, the camera has problems with color casts in low light, the bokeh effect in portrait mode looks unnatural, and the preview image on the display often doesn’t look like the final image, especially in terms of dynamic range.

In video mode, the Xiaomi 14T recorded high levels of detail, the white balance was good and the effective stabilization system made footage smooth. However, our testers also observed some scene integrity artifacts across all testing conditions, video noise was quite strong in low-light conditions, and skin tones were often rendered inaccurately.

Test summary

About SBMARK Camera Tests: SBMARK camera evaluations take place in laboratories and real-world situations using a wide variety of subjects. Scores are based on objective tests whose results are calculated directly by measurement software in our laboratory setups, and on perceptual tests where a sophisticated set of metrics allows a panel of imaging experts to compare aspects of image quality images that require human judgment. Testing a smartphone involves a team of engineers and technicians for about a week. Photo, zoom and video quality are evaluated separately and then combined into an overall score for comparing cameras on different devices. For more information on the SBMARK camera protocol, click here. More details on smartphone camera scores can be found here. The following section compiles key elements of SBMARK’s comprehensive testing and analysis. Full performance evaluations are available upon request. Please contact us to find out how to receive a full report.

Xiaomi 14T camera scores compared to Premium

This graph compares SBMARK photo, zoom, and video scores between the tested device and the references. The average and maximum scores of the price range are also indicated. The average and maximum scores for each price segment are calculated based on the SBMARK database of tested devices.

Photo

130

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

About SBMARK Camera Photo Tests

For scoring and analysis, SBMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 2,600 test images in both controlled laboratory environments and natural outdoor, indoor, and low-light scenes, using the camera’s default settings. The photography protocol is designed to take into account key use cases and is based on typical shooting scenarios, such as portrait, family and landscape photography. Evaluation is performed by visually examining images Cons a natural scene reference and performing objective measurements on laboratory-captured graph images under varying lighting conditions from 1 to 1,000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300K to 6,500K.

Xiaomi 14T photo scores compared to Premium

Photography tests analyze image quality attributes such as exposure, color, texture and noise under various lighting conditions. Autofocus performance and the presence of artifacts are also evaluated on all images captured under controlled laboratory conditions and in real-life images. All of these attributes have a significant impact on the final quality of images captured with the tested device and can help understand the camera’s key strengths and weaknesses.

Xiaomi 14T – Nice skin tone rendering and precise target exposure

Autofocus irregularity and speed: 1000Lux Δ0EV portable daylight

This graph illustrates focus accuracy and speed as well as zero shutter lag capability by showing edge sharpness versus shooting time measured with the AFHDR setup over a series of images. All photos were taken at 1000 Lux with daylight illuminant, 500 ms after blur. Edge sharpness is measured on the four edges of the Dead Leaves chart and shooting time is measured on the LED universal timer.

SBMARK CHART (DMC) Detail Retention Score vs. Lux Levels for Tripod and Handheld Conditions

This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail retention score with lux level, for two retention conditions. The DMC Detail Retention Score is derived from an AI-based metric trained to evaluate the performance of texture and detail on a selection of crops from our SBMARK chart.

Evolution of visual noise with illuminance levels under handheld conditions

This graph shows the evolution of the visual noise metric with lux level in handheld conditions. The visual noise metric is the average of the visual noise measurement across all areas of the Dead Leaves graph in the AFHDR configuration. SBMARK visual noise measurement is derived from the ISO15739 standard.

Zoom

140

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

Learn about SBMARK camera zoom tests

SBMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 400 test images in controlled laboratory environments and in natural scenes outdoors, indoors, and in low-light conditions, using default camera settings and pinch zoom at various zoom factors from ultra wide zoom to long range zoom. The evaluation is performed by visually examining the images Cons a reference of natural scenes and performing objective measurements of map images captured in the laboratory under different conditions from 20 to 1000 lux and color temperatures from 2300K to 6500K.

Xiaomi 14T Zoom Scores vs. Premium

This graph illustrates the relative scores for the different zoom ranges evaluated. The abscissa is expressed in focal length equivalent to 35 mm. Zoomed scores appear on the right and zoomed scores appear on the left.

Video

133

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

Learn about SBMARK camera video tests

SBMARK engineers capture and evaluate more than 2.5 hours of video in controlled laboratory environments and natural low-light scenes, indoors and outdoors, using default camera settings. The evaluation consists of visual inspection of natural videos taken under various conditions and performing objective measurements on videos of graphs recorded in the laboratory under different conditions from 1 to 1000+ lux and color temperatures from 2,300 K to 6,500 K.

Xiaomi 14T video scores compared to Premium

Video tests analyze the same image quality attributes as still images, such as exposure, color, texture or noise, as well as temporal aspects such as speed, smoothness and stability of exposure, white balance and autofocus transitions.

Please note that for this review, the device’s videos were captured and analyzed in HDR mode. You’ll need an HDR-compatible screen to view HDR exposure and color rendition of videos on the YouTube player.

Xiaomi 14T – Pleasant white balance, precise target exposure and autofocus

SBMARK CHART (DMC) Video detail retention score versus lux levels

This graph shows the evolution of the DMC detail retention video score with the lux level in the video. The DMC Detail Retention Score is derived from an AI-based metric trained to evaluate the performance of texture and detail on a selection of crops from our SBMARK chart.

Evolution of spatial visual noise with illuminance level

This graph shows the evolution of spatial visual noise with lux level. Spatial visual noise is measured on the visual noise graph in the video noise setup. SBMARK visual noise measurement is derived from the ISO15739 standard.

Temporal evolution of visual noise with illuminance level

This graph shows the evolution of temporal visual noise with lux level. Temporal visual noise is measured on the visual noise graph in the video noise setup.

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Philip Owell

Professional blogger, here to bring you new and interesting content every time you visit our blog.