When scouring through Amazon's best Prime Day 2 deals it's easy to miss anything other than the big hitters which sit in the Top 100 and typically float to the top of the page. But there are some hidden gems behind the scenes well worth considering – such as what could be Android's best camera phone.
Contentious claim, I know, as the best Android phones right now offer so many excellent options – especially when it comes to photography. But when my T3 colleague got his mitts on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra earlier this year, it was nothing but praise for the mega-camera on this handset, which netted 5-stars in our review.
Check out the Xiaomi 14 Ultra deal on Amazon
The thing with flagship Android phones, however, just as it is with the best iPhones too, is that they tend to cost a lot. And while this Amazon Big Deal Days promotion doesn't squash the Xiaomi handset to a pittance, it's still down to its lowest-ever price point.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra: was £1,299, now £999 on Amazon
Every bit the flagship, thanks to a 6.73-inch OLED display, 5000mAh battery with 90W fast-charging, and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 top-tier processor. But it's the cameras where this impressive phone wins: its four high-resolution sensors to the rear feature Leica optics and advanced features. Sure, the software isn't as fluid as Google's original Android, but even without heaps of artificial intelligence (AI) smarts, Xiaomi's camera is a king.
I verified the pricing using third-party price-tracker, CamelCamelCamel, which shows the sub-£1K sale price is £100 lower than back in May of this year – but over £152 less than it was just the other day. Amazon hasn't been dynamically pricing this handset, as per some other sudden price jumps just ahead of a sale, so it's a respectable price – and cheaper than buying from Xiaomi direct by quite a margin.
So why consider the Xiaomi 14 Ultra over, say, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL? Xiaomi's presence in the UK has been somewhat quieter in recent years, but that hasn't meant it's stopped producing stellar handsets. Especially when it comes to photography – which is where the 14 Ultra's strengths are.
"The Xiaomi 14 Ultra's camera spec is so far ahead of the competition," reads our review, that "if photography is your main priority then it's the obvious choice". That's thanks to not one, not two or three, but four 50-megapixel cameras on the rear catering for main, wide, 3.2x and 5x optical zoom. Large sensors, optical stabilisation, variable apertures – this camera phone has it all.
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Mike is T3's Tech Editor. He's been writing about consumer technology for 15 years and his beat covers phones – of which he's seen hundreds of handsets over the years – laptops, gaming, TV & audio, and more. There's little consumer tech he's not had a hand at trying, and with extensive commissioning and editing experience, he knows the industry inside out. As the former Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint for 10 years where he furthered his knowledge and expertise, whilst writing about literally thousands of products, he's also provided work for publications such as Wired, The Guardian, Metro, and more.