Take Note

Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series needs no introduction to Indian buyers, and the latest and greatest in the lineup is the top-trim Redmi Note 14 Pro+. Starting at Rs. 30,999 (8GB/128GB) and going all the way up to Rs. 35,999 for the 12/512 model, the phone packs in a number of big upgrades, but with it comes the inevitable price hike.

Sporting a refreshed design, the Note 14 Pro+ looks and feels far more premium than its predecessors in the family, and the curved edge screen and rear panel sit far better in the hand, despite its sizeable dimensions and 210g weight. The metal ring around the camera module is a nice touch, as is the vegan leather back on the Phantom Purple variant. The phone checks the durability boxes – Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and Glass 7i on the back, plus IP68 rating for dust/water ingress protection – all of which are still somewhat rare in its price segment.

Around the front is a brighter (3000nits) 6.67-inch, 1220x2712-pixel resolution AMOLED display with a fluid 120Hz refresh rate and excellent outdoor legibility, and the dual speaker setup is plenty loud for headphone-free use. Under the sleek exterior beats a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset, and the phone handles browsing, streaming and photo/video duties without missing a beat, with one odd exception – slightly slower storage speeds when compared to the previous gen 13 Pro+. Running Call of Duty and Genshin Impact on the new chip was a breeze even at high frame rate settings, and the phone handled its much-touted AI features well – summarization, translation, image object erasing, proportional image expansion – courtesy the dedicated neural processing unit on the 7s Gen 3 chip. Everyday use with HyperOS 1.0.4 is expectedly good, though the bloatware situation still persists – Xiaomi isn’t alone here, to be fair. Xiaomi promises 3 years of major OS updates and 4 years of security patches, slightly lower than the standards set by the competition.

And while the camera setup may seem like a bit of a downgrade – the previous generation offered 200-megapixel sensors compared to the 50-megapixel sensors on the Note 14 Pro+ - it is anything but, with the primary Light Fusion 800 sensor and wider aperture capturing tons of additional light and details in low-light photos and turning out impressively sharp and well exposed shots during the day. The 50MP telephoto does well too, although the color temperature varies from the main shooter. The ultrawide shots are serviceable, as are the selfies.

The biggest leap that you won’t see is the massive battery upgrade, from 5000mAh on the Note 13 Pro+ to 6200mAh on the 14 Pro+, with no discernible difference in thickness or weight. One saw two days of normal usage on the 14 Pro+, and even if you pushed the phone with heavy camera use or gaming, it still lasted the better part of the second day. 90W HyperCharge support for fast charging is plenty fast too.

Rating:8/10

Price: Rs. 30,999 onwards