we tried a practical photo set – SMARTmania.cz

• The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is headed for the title of the best camera phone of the year
• Four 50 Mpx cameras are hidden in the distinctive photo module
• The Photography Kit adds a grip with battery, two triggers and a filter ring
• The standard price of the set is CZK 4,999

In our recent review, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra received the photomobile award and is on course to become the best of the year. Why not, when it boasts four 50 Mpx sensors on the back. We put the hot new product through its paces once again in a separate, detailed test focused exclusively on photography and filming. Now it’s time to check out the special accessories that will take photography with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra to an even higher level.

We are talking about a practical and unique photography set, which you can buy for the price of CZK 4,999. What is our experience after a month of photography and filming with this kit? Is this really a useful and necessary accessory that you must have? I will look at all this through the eyes of a photographer.

Package contents

The package contains almost everything an (amateur) photographer would expect. There is a special case, an additional grip, two frames, a circular thread for filters and a hand strap. You might just be missing a filter that might have been included in the package for the price.

The box is surprisingly very large. Actually, the manufacturer probably couldn’t pack it in a bigger box. While somewhere they save on packaging, here Xiaomi has done a great job. It doesn’t offend me personally. At least I feel like I’m unpacking something really premium.

Design and processing

The plastic case with leatherette treatment will delight you with its precise processing and elegant design. The silver frame complements the rough surface that looks like a woven fabric. The cover is very pleasant to the touch, it is soft and at the same time resistant to fingerprints and dirt. It feels premium and I’d say it can withstand rougher handling so the phone stays safe in it.

The case is not too heavy and another advantage is that it better protects the cover glass of the cameras. The photo module surrounds a kind of bayonet for attaching decorative, cover and expansion rings. You will find two decorative ones in the package. Orange looks absolutely amazing on a smartphone. Everyone notices it on the street.

The rings snap into place very easily. Just put it on the spot marked with a dot and turn about 30 degrees to the right. The frame holds it in place really firmly. To remove it, it is necessary to press the button in the corner.

The main role is the additional grip

Last year’s kit for the Xiaomi 13 Ultra already included an added grip. However, this year’s one is completely different and much more practical. It contains a battery and connects via USB-C. After deployment, the grip pairs immediately and thanks to the hardware connection, greater stability and lower response latency are guaranteed. With the handle and cover, it is of course a larger device and you can’t just put the phone in your pocket.

The grip is equipped with a soft lining on the inside, so the cover does not scratch and everything fits together nicely. You can’t put the Grip on without the case, because it’s obviously wider than the phone. Everything works together as a whole. In addition, there is a smaller groove in the case, which serves to secure the grip. To prevent it from slipping, you secure it with a lever on the side. After that, it holds everything like nails and you won’t have the grip loosen somehow.

In addition, you can attach a practical strap to it. It is made of classic more flexible fabric. Unfortunately, you can’t tighten the strap in any way, which is a big shame for me. During testing, it occurred to me several times that instead of carrying the phone in my hand all the time, because it doesn’t fit in my pocket with this case and grip, there could be eyelets for a classic photo strap, which we know from SLR or mirrorless cameras.

The moment you put the grip case on your phone, others start to wonder if you’re shooting with a camera, mirrorless or compact. From the front, you really can’t tell at first that it’s a smartphone. I will add that on the grip there is a classic two-position trigger with a rotating ring, then a video button and at the end a rotating wheel.

Adapter ring for filters

If you snap the threaded ring onto the cover, suddenly no one will recognize from the front that the phone is hiding behind it all. The adapter ring is intended for filters with a diameter of 67 mm, but of course you can also use a larger glass through various reductions. Now it really looks like a mirrorless camera from the front.

I tried my larger variable ND filter, thanks to which I can determine the light transmission. This is especially useful when you want to shoot with a more realistic shutter speed of 1/50 or 1/60, for example, and still require a low f-number.

Of course, other filters can also be added. I also tested my polarizing filter, which eliminates light reflections, so you can take pictures of transparent water on a pond, etc. For me, this adapter ring is a great accessory that will take your creation to a higher level.

Features and settings

Immediately after connecting the grip, it pairs with the phone. A nice graphic pops up in which you can see the charge level of the phone and the grip, and you can immediately go to its settings. In the menu, you can update the firmware, choose whether to stop charging the phone after 80%, or set the function to hold the trigger – open the camera application or take a photo immediately.

Deeper in the settings, you can choose functions for the camera application itself and for individual buttons. Classic single-shot photography or batch shooting can be mapped to the trigger. For the rotary ring under the trigger, you can set the classic zoom or change the focal length. The rotary wheel can have a function to change EV, aperture, shutter, ISO, white balance, focus or change bokeh.

The video button can control a variety of actions: start video recording, change shutter, choose metering preference, switch automatic exposure, white balance, choose custom style, turn video stabilization on/off, highlight over-/under-exposure, adjust sound, change aspect ratio pages, image format or turning on 50Mpx mode.

We shoot with a grip with a hardware trigger

Anyone who has ever taken pictures with a camera knows that taking pictures with a proper grip is much more comfortable. Although the grip here is not the greatest, it is sufficient even for a larger hand. It allows you to take pictures with one hand, and in addition, you can comfortably hold the phone from multiple angles. You can comfortably reach the trigger with your index finger. In addition, it squeezes comfortably and securely. A useful feature is that in the gallery, half-pressing the shutter button will return you to the camera interface.

However, he has several negative findings about photography. Pressing the shutter button halfway will focus the lens, but holding it down will unfortunately not fix the focus point or the exposure. If you then move the phone elsewhere, it will automatically refocus and change the brightness. This is certainly not good news for photographers. Unfortunately, it is not possible to adjust the sensitivity of zooming or focusing. This option would be suitable for a ring, because for some the movement may be too fast or, on the contrary, slow.

Otherwise, I was very comfortable taking pictures and filming with the grip. I took the Xioami 14 Ultra on a trip to Amsterdam and I couldn’t boast that I don’t have to bring a mirrorless camera with me and I’ll handle everything with this camera phone. Personally, I’m one of those people who don’t allow manual shutter release and it’s more convenient for me than tapping on the display.

Trip to Amsterdam

I took photos with the Xioami 14 Ultra for more than a month and summarized all the findings in a review and in a little more detail in a special article. However, I only took pictures with the grip and the whole kit on a trip to Amsterdam. Here I am attaching a few photos for example. I love those slats on the main camera that make beautiful rays from lamps, lights and the sun at f/4.0.

Tip: all test images in full resolution can be found here

While shooting with the grip, I appreciated the confidence it gives you in your hand. You can easily stretch your hand, turn it to a different angle and still hold the phone firmly in your hand – in short, you don’t feel like it should fall. Likewise, I was able to take more stable and smoother shots when shooting. Undoubtedly, another pleasant thing is that I didn’t have to take a power bank with me for the whole day, and thanks to the additional battery, the smartphone still showed me 18% of the battery at the end of a busy day.

Battery life and charging

There is a 1,500 mAh battery in the girp. There is a USB-C connector for charging on the bottom. You can charge up to 90 W, so you won’t miss out on this super fast power. First the phone is charged, as soon as it is charged to one hundred percent, power will start to be supplied to the grip. It takes about 10 minutes to fully charge the drip – it’s really quick. The Grip itself also charges the smartphone quickly.

The tests show that the grip can supply the phone with about a quarter of extra energy. Of course, this is not enough when the phone itself lasts 1 to 1.5 days. With the flu, I usually managed to last about two days. It works great as a power bank, so you can easily use it even just to charge your phone when it’s running low on power.

Final assessment

For most people, compact cameras are long dead. Today, the vast majority take photos with a smartphone. It’s faster and you can immediately share your creations on social networks. However, phones will never be fundamentally the same as classic cameras. We are mainly talking about the grip that you get on your phone thanks to this kit. It’s not very big, but it’s big enough for bigger hands. In addition, it adds a battery and a few extra practical buttons. Photographers also like to use various filters, which they can use again playfully and take compact photography to a higher level.

However, what photographers may still lack is a tripod thread, which I would personally use as well. Some may also be bothered by the inability to fix the focus point and exposure with the trigger. The small thing is that you cannot tighten the strap on your hand. But overall, this is a well-made accessory that photographers will love, especially for the grip with battery and trigger and the adapter ring for filters. However, the price is set unnecessarily high for me. If the price was a thousand crowns less with VAT, it could be accepted.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra smartphone is sold on the Czech market in a variant with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage, for which the manufacturer charges CZK 34,990 including VAT.