Review Summary
Expert Rating
The Redmi 14C 5G is the brand’s latest budget device, following up the legacy of the Redmi 13C 5G (review) launched in early 2024. The phone comes with a few key upgrades compared to its predecessor, including a bigger 6.88-inch display, a 120Hz refresh rate, an upgraded 8MP selfie camera, and faster UFS 2.2 storage. These thoughtful additions enhance the phone’s performance in day-to-day use, making it a more appealing option for entry-level users.
But is it enough to make this device truly stand out in the fierce budget phone category? I’ve been using the device for some time now, and I’ll try to answer that question in this review.
Table of Contents
Verdict
The Redmi 14C 5G is a reliable budget device with strengths in its multimedia experience, charging speed, and software support. It’s a decent choice for productivity-focused users on a tight budget. However, it falls short in some areas that could help it stand out against competitors. For example, the cameras struggle with low-light photography, and the base model comes with limited storage, which might be unsettling for some users.
Design and display
Smartphones | Weight | Thickness | IP rating |
Redmi 14C 5G | 205 grams | 8.22mm | IP52 |
Tecno Spark 30C | 189 grams | 7.82mm | IP54 |
Infinix Hot 50 | 188 grams | 7.82mm | IP54 |
The Redmi 14C 5G’s design is reminiscent of the Redmi A4, with a few upgrades. It now sports a glass-like back that feels premium to the touch and has a larger 6.88-inch display. The Starlight Blue review unit I received features a shimmering rear panel with an eye-catching concentric ring pattern, adding to its appeal.
Smartphones | Display | Peak brightness |
Redmi 14C 5G | 6.88-inch LCD | 600 nits |
Tecno Spark 30C | 6.67-inch LCD | 480 nits |
Infinix Hot 50 | 6.7-inch LCD | 600 nits |
The 6.88-inch drop-notch LCD display offers HD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and 600 nits brightness. The panel is vibrant and performs better than competitors like the Tecno Spark 30C (review) and Infinix Hot 50 (review). The mono speaker delivers clear audio with decent volume, though a stereo setup would be better. The brightness is sufficient indoors but slightly lacking outdoors, although that’s common for this segment. The multimedia experience is solid for its price, and the dedicated reading mode remains my favourite feature.
Cameras
The Redmi 14C 5G camera setup includes a 50MP dual rear camera setup and an 8MP selfie camera. In daylight, the rear camera captures appealing pictures with decent contrast, sharpness, and slightly boosted colours. The dynamic range is wide, and the 50MP lens retains good detail. The selfie camera produces good-looking selfies with a balanced colour profile, though it tends to add a yellowish tint to skin tones. Low-light scenarios present more challenges, with softer images, subpar detail, and a lot of noise, even with night mode enabled.
Daylight
The Redmi 14C 5G and Tecno Spark 30C’s daylight shots are quite close to each other in terms of details. While the former tries to maintain a more realistic representation of the scene, the latter uses colour correction to make the shot more appealing. The Spark 30C’s post-processing does increase the contrast and vibrancy of the image, and the image turns out more appealing compared to its competitor.
The story is similar when comparing the daylight shots between the Redmi 14C 5G and the Infinix Hot 50, with the latter’s image looking a lot more appealing since it has high contrast and punchy colours. The Redmi 14C 5G, however, does retain details better than its peers.
Selfie
For selfies, the Redmi 14C 5G’s cameras tune up the colours a little and add a yellow tint to the image to make it social media-ready. The Tecno Spark 30C’s image also looks good, but the contrast is comparatively low. The detail level in both is about the same, and there’s noise present if you zoom in a little.
The Infinix Hot 50’s selfie has better sharpness and detail level compared to the Redmi 14C 5G, and its skin-colour reproduction looks much closer to the actual scene.
Low-light
Taking low-light images was a challenge for both the Redmi 14C 5G and the Tecno Spark 30C. Although the latter does a much better job in basically every aspect you compare these phones on. Check it out below:
The Infinix Hot 50 also performs a lot better than the Redmi 14C 5G in low-light environments, where it brings out more details, better contrast, edge detection, etc.
Performance and software
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 fuels all the performance needs of the Redmi 14C 5G, paired with up to 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage. There’s also a dedicated SD card slot if you want additional storage space. Performance is one area where budget phones have seen significant improvements in 2024, and the Redmi 14C 5G is well-suited for entry-level users.
For daily tasks like browsing social media, taking photos, and messaging on WhatsApp, the phone performs smoothly. Some minor stutters may occur when multitasking or running several apps in the background, which is expected at this level.
The phone will also work as a casual gaming device, although keep your expectations levelled. At low graphical settings, a demanding title like COD: Mobile runs at playable frame rates of over 50 FPS. BGMI requires a bit more power and runs at about 28 FPS at HD graphics.
The Redmi 14C 5G runs on HyperOS, based on Android 14, straight out of the box. On the first boot, you’re greeted with several pre-installed apps, making the interface feel a bit cluttered. Thankfully, almost all of these can be uninstalled with ease. I’m a little peeved that this device only ships with Android 14 when Android 15 is already available, and it reduces its major OS support by a year. To be fair, many recently launched budget smartphones face the same OS issue, and do not isolate the Redmi 14C 5G.
Outside of these few issues, the UI is user-friendly and operates smoothly. A few noteworthy features include Game Turbo for performance and Reading Mode, which can adjust the display to black and white, minimal colours, or a paperback style—a feature I’m sure frequent readers will appreciate.
Smartphones | Pre-installed apps | Software support |
Redmi 14C 5G | 63 | 2 OS updates + 3 years security |
Tecno Spark 30C | 44 | 2 years security |
Infinix Hot 50 | 47 | 2 years security |
Battery and charging
Smartphones | Battery size | Charging time |
Redmi 14C 5G | 5,160mAh | 84 minutes (18W) |
Tecno Spark 30C | 5,000mAh | 120 minutes (18W) |
Infinix Hot 50 | 5,000mAh | 123 minutes (18W) |
A 5,160mAh battery powers the Redmi 14C 5G, with support for 18W fast charging and a 33W charger included in the retail box. The phone easily lasts a full day with moderate usage, providing an average screen-on time of 5-6 hours with regular browsing, light gaming, and multimedia use. Constant 5G usage drains the battery faster, so keep that in mind. Charging from 20 to 100 percent takes about 1.5 hours, which is decent for its price bracket.
Final Verdict
The Redmi 14C 5G has a starting price of Rs 9,999 for the 4GB+64GB variant and goes up to Rs 11,999 for the 6GB+128GB configuration. The device nails essentials and offers a smooth 120Hz display, decent battery life, quick charging speed, and satisfactory daylight photography. Its key rivals include the Tecno Spark 30C (review) and the Infinix Hot 50 (review).
Both these phones are equally matched with the Redmi 14C 5G in terms of performance and battery life but are better in low-light photography. In fact, for just Rs 1,000 more, you can get the Redmi 13 5G (review), which has a similar chipset, better cameras, better charging speed, and a better display for the same 6GB+128GB configuration.
The Redmi 14C 5G’s strengths lie in its multimedia experience, charging speed, and software support. If you’re on a tight budget and want a reliable phone with a great display and decent longevity, the Redmi 14C 5G is an option worth exploring.
Editor’s Rating: 7.5/10
Reasons to buy:
- The phone offers a large, bright display, great for multimedia consumption.
- The Redmi 14C 5G’s cameras are quite reliable in well-lit environments.
- The phone’s battery will deliver a full day of use on moderate usage.
Reasons not to buy:
- The cameras struggle in low-light environments.
- The base variant offers only 64GB of internal memory.
- The phone has a lot of pre-installed apps.
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