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Xiaomi launched its performance beast Xiaomi 14 Ultra globally earlier this year. This is a flagship that delivers on all fronts, especially in the camera department. It has blown everyone’s mind with its camera capabilities.
It is the reason it makes complete sense to put it against the best of the flagship smartphones out there. We have already done a comparison with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. Today, we will have a look at the Xiaomi 14 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Design and Display
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a design that makes it stand out easily. You will see a huge round camera module on the back that will remind you of point-and-shoot cameras. It has four rear cameras and LED flash along with Leica branding. The phone has a curved display and corners on all four sides. You get an aluminum frame along with glass. A special edition offers titanium frames and a vegan leather back option in China.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a design with no surprises. It looks and feels the same as older iPhone models. The major difference is that Apple has opted for a titanium frame this year. It has a flat display and corners which is more of a preference thing.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a 6.73-inch Quad HD+ LTPO AMOLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate. There is Shield Glass protection and 3,000 nits peak brightness. It has a punch-hole cutout in the center for the front camera.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max sports a 6.7-inch OLED display with 1290 x 2796 pixels resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. You get Ceramic Shield glass and 2,000 nits peak brightness. It has a pill-shaped cutout that houses the front camera and Face ID sensors. Apple has further utilized it in the form of Dynamic Island, a functionality that shows crucial information from apps without requiring you to open them again and again.
Performance
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. It is a 3nm flagship chipset with eight CPU cores and Adreno 750 GPU. You get 12GB and 16GB RAM options along with up to 1TB UFS 4.0 storage options.
As for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, you will get Apple’s A17 Pro processor which is also fabricated on the 3nm process. It is an insanely powerful chipset and capable of running AAA console games natively on the iPhone. It offers 8GB of RAM across all variants and up to 1TB storage options.
None of these phones will disappoint you when it comes to performance.
Cameras
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a quad-camera setup featuring a 50MP wide-angle sensor (1-inch-type Sony LYT-900), a 50MP telephoto sensor with 3.2x optical zoom, a 50MP periscope telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom, and a 50MP ultra-wide sensor. You get PDAF across all cameras but miss out on OIS with the fourth sensor. There is Leica tuning that boosts the overall camera performance.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a triple camera setup featuring a 48MP wide-angle sensor, a 12MP periscope telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide sensor. Apple has offered PDAF on all three camera sensors but OIS is limited to the first two.
Both smartphones are amongst the best when it comes to smartphone photography. However, we would prefer the Xiaomi 14 Ultra because of all the versatile camera and photography options it offers.
Software
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra ships with HyperOS based on Android 14. It is the new custom Android skin seen as an evolution of the well-known MIUI. It is smoother, more fluidic, and well-optimized than before. It will receive four major OS upgrades and five years of security patches.
Battery
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra also has a 5,000mAh battery but with a faster charging speed. It offers 90W wired fast charging (100% in 33 minutes), 80W wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is packed with a 4,441mAh battery. It is claimed to deliver up to 50% charge within 30 minutes. It supports 15W wireless charging support via MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging. There is also support for 4.5W reverse wireless charging.
Verdict
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is undoubtedly a worthy competitor to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. It delivers across all aspects including display, performance, camera, and software updates. If you are an iOS lover, you will surely love the iPhone 15 Pro Max but if you want to switch to Android, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra will leave you happy. The only thing is it is not available officially and would cost you more than the iPhone 15 Pro Max. You will need to keep this in mind.
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