Redmi 14C Evaluation: The brand new finances telephone king

Price range telephones are sometimes considered beginner-friendly smartphones that may mainly let customers dip their toes in smartphone waters with out spending a bomb. Whereas these are necessary smartphones and promote in giant numbers, they’re usually thought of stepping stones that might merely get replaced with a a lot better, extra power-packed machine. That is why when individuals hear of finances telephones, compromises are the very first thing that involves their thoughts.

Design, energy, cameras… all are areas the place smartphone manufacturers minimize corners to maintain costs low, and this inevitably impacts the efficiency and notion of finances telephones. Redmi is seeking to change that with its newest finances telephone, the Redmi 14C 5G (henceforth known as “Redmi 14C” for the sake of simplicity), which begins at Rs 9,999. Can it succeed?

Redmi 14C 5G Design: A finances telephone that appears premium? It’s attainable!

Design is the primary space that will get compromised when a telephone hails from the finances section. You by no means actually think about a telephone that prices under Rs.10,000 to be a looker. However the Redmi 14C is just not your traditional finances smartphone. The telephone comes with seems that may simply make people consider that it’s a dearer and even premium machine. The credit score for this goes to its starry, glittery again. We acquired the Star Mild Blue variant, which has a plastic again, however the different two colour choices, Stargaze Black and Stardust Purple, look equally good and produce premium glass backs, which could be very spectacular at this value level. Because the names of the colour variants would recommend, the Redmi 14C’s design inspiration comes from outer area. And the again, laden with tiny sparkles, gives the look of stars, making the telephone match proper into the theme.

To maintain up with the day’s design traits, Redmi added an enormous, barely protruding round digital camera unit on the again, which has 4 tiny circles inside it. Whereas one in all these carries the principle sensor and one other an auxiliary lens, the opposite two that give the impression of being cameras really are a flash and ‘50 MP AI digital camera’ branding – an phantasm that additionally provides to the premium look of the telephone. The blue colour isn’t just blue. It has an ombre impact the place the highest is silver, and the colour deepens into darkish blue as you progress towards the bottom of the again, which has Redmi 5G branding. The body is plastic however has a metallic end in the identical shade of blue. The bottom of the telephone carries the loudspeaker and USB sort C port, whereas the highest holds a 3.5 mm audio jack. The left facet is dwelling to the SIM and microSD card tray, whereas the precise facet has the quantity rocker and the facility/lock button, which doubles up because the fingerprint scanner.

The face of the telephone is kind of common – an enormous show, surrounded by bezels that might be thought of ‘thick’ by trendy requirements, and with a water drop notch, which can be an outdated design contact. The Redmi 14C is a large telephone at 171.9 mm tall, and you’d discover it troublesome to get it into your denims pocket with out some a part of it poking out, however it’s comparatively slim at 8.2 mm and weighs just a little over 200 grams (205 to be exact), which is reasonably gentle for its dimension. It has no gorilla glass safety however appears sturdy sufficient and has IP52 mud and water resistance, which ought to maintain it secure from splashes of water.

Redmi 14C 5G Specs and Efficiency: A really succesful on a regular basis telephone

This being a Redmi telephone, you get aggressive specs for the worth, even in a finances machine. And this interprets into good efficiency as effectively. The telephone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 processor, which isn’t solely a really succesful chipset however can be usually seen at greater value factors. This was paired with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage, which could be expanded utilizing a microSD card (the telephone has a devoted slot, so you’ll not need to compromise one in all your networks for it) in our unit. This mix makes the telephone an excellent every day driver.

It moved via our on a regular basis chores with ease. We did face an odd lag and app crash right here and there, however that was a once-in-a-blue-moon incidence. Aside from that, the telephone mainly glided via our on a regular basis smartphone duties with none hiccups. You’ll be able to doomscroll on social media, textual content endlessly, browse the net, and leap from informal video games to binge-watching your favourite content material – the telephone will dangle in with you with out hanging or struggling. The telephone is just not meant for high-end titles, so we’d recommend you preserve an arm’s distance from them, but when informal video games can repair your gaming itch, the Redmi 14C will match your steps no matter whether or not you are attempting to run from the police in Subway Surfer or simply making an attempt to crack ranges in Sweet Crush.

The large 6.88-inch IPS LCD show with HD+ decision and excessive refresh charge of 120 Hz is a serious plus, and when paired with a speaker that’s fairly loud and a 3.5 mm audio jack, makes the Redmi 14C an amazing multimedia machine. The excessive refresh charge additionally makes it an amazing base for net shopping and Instagram scrolling. It’s an LCD show, so the colours will not be as punchy, and the blacks don’t appear as deep as on an AMOLED one, however by no means do the colours really feel washed out, and at this value level, we’re very pleased with that. And whereas some may need anticipated a

The side-mounted fingerprint scanner takes a fraction of a second to unlock the telephone, and there may be face unlock (warning: not safe) and good outdated passwords to guard your privateness, too.

5G labored very effectively on the machine, and we didn’t face any name drop points throughout our assessment. Our solely grievance right here is that the telephone misses out on a Redmi staple, IR blaster. It’s a function that you don’t understand you want except you really want it (like once you misplace the TV distant), and we undoubtedly missed its presence on the telephone.

Redmi 14C 5G Digital camera: Primarily about the principle sensor

The Redmi 14C comes with a 50-megapixel major sensor paired with an auxiliary lens. This basically means there is just one digital camera on the machine’s again (don’t get fooled by the 4 black circles on the again. They’re strictly for aesthetics). That mentioned, the 50-megapixel sensor does a great job in well-lit circumstances. You’ll be able to seize a good quantity of element with colours that appear only a tad bit saturated however by no means too far off from the actual setting.

The standard of the photographs dips in low gentle, with each colour and particulars taking a success, however you continue to find yourself with photographs you should use on most makes an attempt. The telephone has a devoted Night time mode, which makes a distinction, however the change isn’t monumental. The Portrait mode is surprisingly spectacular and takes good portraits with deep bokeh, though it misses a couple of edges generally. The telephone captures video at 1080p and 30fps most, and the video high quality is sweet, however don’t anticipate something mind-blowing right here.

The cameras are accompanied by a really complete digital camera app that permits us to tweak settings and even make modifications proper earlier than taking a snap. You get 2x digital zoom, which compromises the main points a bit however will get you a step nearer to the topic with out trouble. You additionally get the choice to take a 50-megapixel photograph proper from the app, which is useful. There are filters, totally different modes, and settings, and the Google Lens function can be current within the digital camera app itself. The telephone has an 8-megapixel selfie snapper, which takes common selfies at greatest. Even with the wonder mode off (it’s turned on by default), you get beautified selfies with little to no pores and skin textures and colours that appear a bit washed out. They can be utilized for social media functions, however that’s about it.

Redmi 14C 5G Battery and OS: Spectacular battery, unimpressive OS

The battery is a particular USP of the Redmi 14C. The telephone has a 5,160 mAh battery, which is spectacular given the slim determine of the telephone. It comes with 18W charging help, however the model has generously paired a sooner 33W charger with the telephone within the field. It costs the telephone at 18W, nevertheless it can be used with different units (33W is sweet sufficient to cost some notebooks). The battery simply lasts a full day even for those who push the telephone (maybe because of the ‘not-so-full-HD-LCD’ show). Use it extra rigorously, and you will get rather more out of it. The 18W charging help is gradual, and the telephone takes about an hour and a half to cost fully.

A ache level of the Redmi 14C’s spec sheet is the Android model it runs on. The telephone ships with Android 14 out of the field, which is a serious disappointment, provided that Android 15 has been out for some time. The model guarantees two years of main Android updates, however provided that one in all them is more likely to be Android 15, you solely get one actual replace on the machine. The telephone comes with Xiaomi’s HyperOS interface, which is kind of loaded with out being overwhelming. HyperOS brings quite a lot of performance and options to the desk, which is available in fairly useful in day-to-day use. You get plenty of third-party apps on the telephone, however they will all be simply eliminated.

Redmi 14C Evaluation Verdict: A fantastic finances every day driver, which doesn’t look finances in any respect!

The Redmi 14C 5G is available in three RAM and storage variations – 4 GB/ 64 GB for Rs. 9,999, 4 GB/ 128 GB for Rs. 10,999, and 6 GB/ 128 GB at Rs. 11,999. Whereas there are different telephones in that value vary, such because the Moto G45, which comes with a battery processor and cameras, and the iQOO Z9x, which has sooner charging, a much bigger battery, and even an IP64 ranking, they aren’t the whole packages that the Redmi 14C 5G is.

The telephone brings a really sturdy spec sheet, is a really succesful on a regular basis machine, and comes with a design that makes it look extra premium than its precise value. In case you are in search of a telephone that does every thing effectively and never only one factor exceptionally effectively and appears darned good, too, the Redmi 14C is the machine it’s best to get. The finances telephone section has a brand new king. One that appears premium.

Buy Redmi 14C 5G