Xiaomi 14 Pro review – Leica camera smartphone with a great display leaves some questions

The Xiaomi HyperOS kernel, which is a hybrid of Linux and the Vela system that was developed in-house, is used for the first time in a smartphone. Those who had hoped to get a completely new operating system based on Android with HyperOS might be disappointed, seeing the many similarities in the visuals and menu structures compared to the MIUI user interface. However, in everyday operation HyperOS is still a very well-optimized user interface with a refreshed look of the earlier MIUI – but a new start in software looks different, even if there are several optimizations and implementations under the hood, such as the security and data privacy protections.  

Xiaomi plans to provide its 14 Pro with four years of software updates, and there are even supposed to be security patches for a year longer – although it is unknown how many updates there will be every quarter. During the time of our testing, the operating system is based on Android 14 and the security patch level of November 2023.

Our test unit on loan from Trading Shenzhen already has the new Xiaomi.eu surface preinstalled, including access to the Play Store and the German language. However, as it comes from the manufacturer, the Chinese version supports neither Google applications nor an extensive selection of languages. So users need to install the apk files themselves here and be content with the English language.