New £179 Android phone hits UK shores with specs that beat the iPhone 16

The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ 5G, Note 14 Pro 5G, Note 14 Pro and Note 14 range in price from £179 to £399, the former two phones offering 5G connectivity and the latter two only 4G.

They offer various different specs and features depending on whether things like long distance zoom, camera smarts, AI tools or drop resistance matter to you.

At the bottom end of the pricing scale, the £179 Redmi Note 14 boasts a 108MP main camera sensor and a 120Hz high refresh rate display for smooth scrolling.

On paper, these specs outgun the iPhone 16, which has a 48MP camera and only a 60Hz refresh rate screen.

Elsewhere the Note 14 has a large 5,500mAh battery with 33W turbo charging, protective corning Gorilla Glass 5 protecting the display, which also houses an in screen fingerprint sensor.

And if you have always lamented the modern smartphone’s rejection of the humble headphone jack, fear not - there’s one on this phone. Add to that Google Gemini and other AI tools, dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC for mobile payments, 128GB storage with 6GB RAM plus microSD expansion with an IP54 water and dust resistance rating, this cheap phone is fully loaded.

Though the main camera is 108MP and should take decent shots, it’s a shame Xiaomi has put two extra cameras on the back with only 2MP sensors. If you want portrait or macro shots, these are unlikely to impress. The 20MP selfie shooter should fare better and the phone ships with Android 14 using Xiaomi’s HyperOS software skin.

The Redmi Note 14 comes in black, blue or green and will be available to buy soon.

For £249, the Redmi Note 14 Pro adds in more protective Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultra chipset, more RAM and hopefully better cameras including a 200MP main lens.

At £299, the Note 14 Pro 5G adds, well, 5G, but if you can stretch to £399, the Note 14 Pro+ 5G gives you a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor that will fare better for high-end mobile games and should last longer at acceptable performance than the other phones in the series. It's the first time a phone has been sold in the UK with the new mid-range chipset.