The flagship smartphone Xiaomi 14 has drawn attention for a camera that seems sensitive to fog and condensation. This observation came from the Mobiltelefon portal, where the editor-in-chief Evgeniy Makarov described the issue after reviewing a photo taken with the Xiaomi 14 on a cool day. The report was shared via the portal’s telegram channel, highlighting a problem spotted during real-world testing outside in typical street conditions.
In one post, Makarov exclaimed that the Xiaomi 14’s camera appeared foggy, a reaction to a photo that immediately suggested a lens moisture issue. The incident occurred during practical field testing, where ambient temperatures were lower than ideal for keeping optics perfectly dry. While it is not yet clear whether this fogging is widespread or tied to specific batches, the early impressions point to condensation forming on the lens under cold outdoor conditions.
Historically, a similar phenomenon was noted with Xiaomi’s earlier flagships. When the Xiaomi 12 series debuted at the end of 2021, fan and media reports described fogging as a potential problem under certain environmental conditions. By 2022, brand representatives acknowledged that fogging appeared to affect some users in Russia, but they also stated that there were no widespread reports of the issue in other markets, including China where the device had been introduced first.
Subsequent investigations and user reports revealed a practical workaround that seemed to resolve fogging in many cases: heating the device briefly while the SIM tray was removed. Reports varied on the exact method, with some users applying simple household warmth to the phone, while others ran demanding software or games to raise the internal temperature. The working theory described moisture present on the surface or inside the camera module and moisture’s subsequent evaporation when the unit was heated, leading to condensation that cleared as the device warmed up. The idea behind this solution was not to fix a hardware flaw, but to alter the micro-environment around the lens long enough to evaporate any trapped moisture more quickly than it would naturally under outdoor conditions.
Beyond camera reliability, there was also mention of Xiaomi’s Poco C65, a separate model introduced with a 90 Hz display at a budget price of around ten thousand rubles. While the two topics sit apart in positioning and price, both reflect the broader conversation about how different Xiaomi devices handle optics and display performance under real-world use. Users and reviewers continue to compare how new flagship cameras cope with cold weather, humidity, and rapid temperature changes, particularly when those devices are carried from warm interiors to frosty exteriors or vice versa. As such, the discussion around fogging is part of a wider narrative about device resilience, lens coatings, and internal camera software that may adjust exposure, white balance, and noise reduction in challenging weather conditions. It remains to be seen whether future firmware updates will further refine how the Xiaomi 14 handles quick transitions from warm to cool environments and whether new hardware revisions address condensation more robustly than the prior generation.