One of the Best Budget Android Phones of 2024 Isn’t Made by Samsung or Google

Many smartphones crossed my desk in 2024 but none surprised me as much as the Xiaomi 14T Pro. This is a £649 smartphone, which isn’t exactly cheap, but it costs less than competing handsets from Apple, Samsung, OnePlus and Google, but offers just as much as them, and in some cases even more.

With top-of-the-line cameras that beat the price, a great screen with a 144Hz refresh rate, exceptional battery life, super-fast charging, and great software – despite a few quirks – this is a phone that’s ahead competition and often comes out on top. This is worth celebrating.

Xiaomi has been selling phones in the UK for a few years, quietly producing powerful handsets that often represent good value for money. With its Redmi sub-brand, the company offers an alternative to the default Samsung smartphone choice that many in the UK still associate with Android.

In the past, Xiaomi phones have been held back by poor software, both in terms of design and the amount of bloatware, the latter referring to dozens of unwanted apps preloaded on the device. I’m happy to say that both of these points have been addressed with the 14T Pro thanks to Xiaomi’s new software, HyperOS.

While some choices echo iOS, like swiping from the left of the screen to show notifications and the right for Control Center, thus avoiding Android standards, these are minor points. I received an update since using the phone to Android 15, the latest version, with Xiaomi beating Samsung to the punch. HyperOS 2.0, which replaces Xiaomi’s old and worse MIUI Android skin, looks more mature while still being relatively customizable.

Xiaomi is promising four Android OS updates, which should mean the phone will get at least Android 18 as it comes with Android 14. Five years of security updates means it will be safe to use security until 2029, which is pretty good, but lags behind Samsung. and seven years of support from Google.

The phone feels well put together thanks to solid build quality, even though it’s a very unremarkable design. My black review sample has flat sides, a flat screen, and a nondescript square camera island on the back. But in use, it doesn’t really matter, and it might just appeal to you over the large circular camera module on phones like the Oppo Find X8 Pro, which still opt for curved screens.

I was impressed by the camera quality of the Xiaomi 14T Pro, which, while not as good as the superlative Xiaomi 14 Ultra, is still excellent. It’s rare for phone cameras to have such character in 2024, as many companies produce deliberately enhanced shots with a sheen suitable for posting on social media, often with a less-than-realistic rendering of the scene.

The photography prowess elevates the phone compared to others in its price range. Xiaomi’s partnership with camera company Leica seems to have had a positive effect on the results, and you can choose to shoot with Leica Vibrant or Leica Authentic. I love the latter, which injects a film feel into your shots. There are also several Leica brand filters built into the camera app: film a rainy scene at night in Lecia Authentic and the black and white filter and you’re in a film noir setting, and the excellent 50 main camera MP handles shadows and highlights well. These are details that some competing phones, including the iPhone 16, often ignore in favor of flattened or brightened images.

The 14T Pro’s main camera makes me want to take more photos, which I’ve always considered an important indicator of a phone’s camera quality. When what you shoot looks great and has character, it encourages you to shoot more and be creative. You get that in spades with this device, which I wasn’t expecting. I prefer the results on this phone compared to the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, a phone that costs almost twice as much at £1,249.

Beneath the relatively simple and uninteresting design of the 14T Pro lies a powerful device. It uses the MediaTek Dimensity 9300+, a chipset that should perform well for years and is comparable in capabilities to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the S24 Ultra and OnePlus 12. Only smartphone nerds tend to really care of their phone’s processor, so rest assured that the one included here is top-notch, enabling fast performance, high-end mobile gaming, and efficient battery life.

Although the phone can last two days on a single charge, in my experience it’s a shame that it doesn’t come with a charger in the box. This isn’t unusual in 2024, but it matters less for iPhones or Galaxy phones that don’t have very fast charging, because you can use any USB-C charger and be relatively happy. But the Xiaomi 14T Pro can charge at a blazing fast 120W, which can charge the phone from death to full in about half an hour. If you want the charger, it will cost you £59.99. At least the phone itself is a bargain at £649, but when the charger is a first-party accessory I think it should be included in the box.

There is also a 50W wireless charging stand that you can purchase for the phone, or £79.99. At least there’s a half-decent black silicone case included, as well as a USB-C cable.

£649 gets you the Xiaomi 14T Pro with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is a good amount that most people might not fill up in a hurry, but it’s good to see that you can get a model with 512GB for just £50 more at £699. There’s even a 1TB storage model for £799 – if you can get there, you can fill your phone of photos, apps, games and downloaded music for years and you probably won’t run out of space.

I tested the 1TB model which, like all models, has Hi-Res and Hi-Res Audio Wireless certifications as well as Dolby Atmos support. With compatible headphones, I was able to enjoy high-quality music downloads through Qobuz, the music streaming service with some of the highest quality music files possible. The files are large, but downloading on 1TB does a lot less damage than if you’re stuck with 128GB, as you would be on a £799 iPhone 16 – a phone that doesn’t support hi-res audio in the first place.

If you don’t mind having a phone that your friends probably haven’t heard of but want a device that delivers on all levels and with great value for money, my pick of the year is the Xiaomi 14T Pro.