We put the Xiaomi 14 through our rigorous SBMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance in both recording sound using the built-in microphones, and playing audio through its speakers.
In this review, we’ll break down how it performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
Key audio specifications include:
- Two speakers (front top under screen, bottom side)
- No Jack audio output
Playback
Registration
Pros
- Good resistance to wind noise, especially with the main camera, effective noise cancellation in difficult conditions
- Good audio zoom, notable lateral rejection at telephoto and super telephoto zoom, maintaining tonal balance without artifacts
With a score of 135, the Xiaomi 14 achieved fairly average results in the SBMARK Audio tests. Our testers liked the playback performance through the built-in speakers, thanks to the good timbre and dynamics. However, they also noted a lack of low-end, as well as some distortion and clipping when playing sound at maximum volume. Playback results were better overall when gaming, but about the same level for listening to music and watching movies.
The Xiaomi did less well in the recording category, with recorded audio clips showing some tonal issues, as well as dynamics that leave some room for improvement. On the plus side, the results for audio zoom and wind noise were good, making the Xiaomi 14 a decent option for isolating specific sound elements from the background and recording in windy conditions. In recording the Xiaomi 14 did better with voice memos. Recordings with the main and selfie cameras weren’t quite at the same level.
Test summary
About SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our playback protocol, click here; for more details on our recording protocol, click here.)
The following section brings together key elements of our comprehensive testing and analysis performed in SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
How the audio playback score is composed
SBMARK engineers test playback through smartphone speakers, whose performance is evaluated in our labs and in real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
Listen to the playback performance of the tested smartphone in this comparison with some of its competitors:
Recordings of smartphones playing some of our music tracks at 60 LAeq in an anechoic environment using 2 microphones in AB configuration, at 30 cm
Here’s how the Xiaomi 14 fares in playback usage cases compared to its competitors:
Playing use case scores
The Timbre score represents the quality with which a phone reproduces sound across the entire audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble, tonal balance and volume dependence. It is the most important attribute for reproduction.
Frequency response of music playback
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, measuring the loudness of each frequency output by the smartphone when playing a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately a bass note or the sound of a drum impact is reproduced.
Secondary attributes of spatial tests include identifying the location of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance, and amplitude.
The volume score represents the overall volume of a smartphone and how smoothly the volume increases and decreases based on user input.
Here are some sound pressure levels (SPLs) measured when playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:
| Hip Hop | Classic | |
| Xiaomi14 | 73.6 dBA | 70.2 dBA |
| Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro | 77 dBA | 76.6 dBA |
| Samsung Galaxy S23FE | 74.1 dBA | 70.9 dBA |
The following graph shows the gradual changes in volume going from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume increases match user expectations:
Music volume consistency
This line graph shows the relative volume of playback versus the user-selected volume increment, measured at different volume increments with correlated pink noise in an anechoic box recorded on-axis at 0.20 meters.
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which the sound is affected by various types of distortion. The higher the score, the less noticeable the sound disturbances will be. Distortions may occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the speakers.
Total harmonic distortion during playback (maximum volume)
This graph shows total harmonic distortion and noise in the audible frequency range.
It represents the distortion and noise of the device playing our test signal (0 dB Fs, Sweep Sine in an anechoic box at 40 cm) at the device’s maximum volume.
How the score of the audio recording is composed
SBMARK engineers test recording by evaluating recorded files on reference audio equipment. These recordings are made in our laboratories and in real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
Here’s how the Xiaomi 14 performs in recording use cases compared to its competitors:
Recording use case scores
The Timbre score represents how well a phone captures sounds across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, mids, treble and tonal balance. It is the most important attribute for registration.
Video frequency response of life
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, measuring the loudness of each frequency captured by the smartphone while recording a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately a voice’s plosives (p, tek, for example) are reproduced. The score also considers the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), such as how loud the main voice is compared to the background noise.
Secondary attributes for spatial testing include identifying the location of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance, and amplitude on recorded audio files.
Directivity of registration
The loudness score represents how well the audio on recorded files is normalized and how well the device handles noisy environments, such as electronic concerts, during recording.
Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); For reference, we expect volume levels to be above -24 LUFS for recorded content:
| Encounter | Videos about life | Selfie videos | Memorandum | |
| Xiaomi14 | -24.4 LUFS | -19.7 LUFS | -17.6 LUFS | -18.8 LUFS |
| Nubia Red Magic 8 Pro | -33.5 LUFS | -24.4 LUFS | -19.2 LUFS | -28.4 LUFS |
| Samsung Galaxy S23FE | -24.2 LUFS | -21.1 LUFS | -19.6 LUFS | -20.7 LUFS |
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which recorded sounds are affected by various types of distortions. The higher the score, the less noticeable the sound disturbances will be. Distortions may occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the microphones, as well as user handling, such as how the phone is held.
In this audio comparison you can hear how this smartphone handles wind noise compared to its competitors:
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[“Xiaomi 14”]=> string(71) “resources/Xiaomi/Xiaomi14V2.2/XiaomiXiaomi14V22_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a”
[“Nubia Redmagic 8 Pro”]=> string(74) “resources/Xiaomi/Xiaomi14V2.2/NubiaRedmagic8ProV22_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a”
[“Samsung Galaxy S23 FE”]=> string(75) “resources/Xiaomi/Xiaomi14V2.2/SamsungGalaxyS23FEV22_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a” }
Recordings of a speech sample with light background noise, exposed to a turbulent wind of 5 m/s
Background evaluates how naturally the various sounds around a voice blend together in the video recording file. For example, when recording a speech at an event, the background should not interfere with the main voice, but should provide context to the surrounding environment.
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