The Xiaomi 14 Civi (review) stands out with its impressive camera capabilities for obvious reasons. The handset features Leica-branded triple rear cameras, comprising a 50MP main sensor, a 50MP telephoto lens with 2x zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide unit. Additionally, it boasts dual 32MP front-facing cameras. Do these advanced cameras make the Xiaomi 14 Civi a natural winner against the performance-oriented iQOO Neo 9 Pro (review)? Let’s explore this in our camera comparison.
| Xiaomi 14 Civi | iQOO Neo 9 Pro |
| 50MP primary camera (Leica Hunter 800 sensor) | 50MP primary camera (IMX 920 sensor) |
| 12MP ultra-wide camera | 8MP ultra-wide camera |
| 50MP Leica telephoto camera | NA |
| 32MP primary front camera | 16MP front camera |
| 32MP ultra-wide front camera | NA |
Table of Contents
Daylight
The Xiaomi 14 Civi and iQOO Neo 9 Pro produce slightly different-looking images, with neither being closer to reality. The Xiaomi offering captures brighter images with warm tones, while the Neo 9 Pro favours cooler tones. This leads to the iQOO smartphone preserving more shadows than it is supposed to and not overexposing the areas where light is beating. This is not the case with the Xiaomi smartphone. However, despite that, the 14 Civi relatively delivers sharper results.
Winner: Xiaomi 14 Civi
Ultrawide
The Xiaomi 14 Civi is miles ahead of the iQOO Neo 9 Pro in ultrawide photography. It benefits from a larger 12MP sensor compared to the iQOO’s 8MP sensor, along with superior colour calibration. This results in much more natural and detailed images, whereas the iQOO Neo 9 Pro’s ultrawide photos lack contrast and vibrancy.
Winner: Xiaomi 14 Civi
Portrait
The Xiaomi 14 Civi features a dedicated telephoto lens for capturing portraits with its rear camera, while the iQOO Neo 9 Pro relies on software algorithms to distinguish between foreground and background. However, both smartphones struggle with edge detection, often causing slight warping around the subject’s edges. Moreover, the Xiaomi 14 Civi tends to overly smooth facial details, whereas the iQOO Neo 9 Pro may excessively tweak colours, so much so that the black shirt appears purplish in the image above.
Winner: Tie
Selfie
Owing to the dynamic range, the selfies from the iQOO Neo 9 Pro may catch your eye more than those from the Xiaomi 14 Civi. However, the colour calibration is not so accurate (notice the stripe on the T-shirt, which should have been blue instead of grey), and the images appear slightly overprocessed, lending them a somewhat unnatural appeal. In contrast, selfies from the Xiaomi smartphone display natural skin tones and facial detailing. Nevertheless, neither set of images meets expectations in terms of detail.
Winner: Tie
Lowlight
The iQOO Neo 9 Pro can be credited for handling light flare relatively well in lowlight. However, the Xiaomi 14 Civi captures images with those finer details, which could go missing on the iQOO smartphone. However, the Xiaomi 14 Civi captures finer details that may be missed by the iQOO smartphone. Despite this, both smartphones fail to capture the scene accurately, making the scene appear brighter than it actually is. The iQOO Neo 9 Pro enhances the brightness more than its counterpart, which might appeal to casual users.
Winner: Tie
Lowlight with Night mode on
With the night mode enabled, the Xiaomi 14 Civi provides superior images by minimising light flare and adding a dramatic effect, making them perfect for social media. The iQOO Neo 9 Pro does a similar thing, but it struggles with both details and colour accuracy.
Winner: Xiaomi 14 Civi
Verdict
The Xiaomi 14 Civi appears an obvious choice for camera enthusiasts in the mid-range. Its Leica-branded triple rear cameras, coupled with dual 32MP front-facing cameras, deliver superior image quality across various scenarios, including daylight, ultrawide, portrait, and night mode photography. However, the iQOO Neo 9 Pro is not far behind. Despite being gaming-focused, the handset manages to level up against the Xiaomi smartphone in portraits and selfies. Hence, the choice between the two depends on whether you are into photography or performance. The iQOO smartphone might appeal to the latter audience.
