The Xiaomi 13 is the latest mainstream flagship phone from the company. Since it first came out in China in December of last year, the phone isn’t exactly new. But now it’s going to be released all over the world, and as part of that process, a unit stopped by the office for a full review. The Xiaomi 13 is a big step up from its predecessor in a few important ways. Its screen is now 6.36 inches, but it still has the same FullHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate as last year’s model.
Xiaomi 13: Description
With the help of an ambient colour sensor, the same is true for Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. Unlike the 13 Pro, the plain model’s screen still doesn’t have an LTPO substrate for switching the refresh rate quickly and on the fly. But this year, its brightness has been increased to 1,900 nits, which is the same as the Pro models you can buy this smartphone directly from Xiaomi’s store.
The battery and charging systems are the same as last year, with a 4,500 mAh pack, 67W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. The Xiaomi 13 also has stereo speakers with Dolby Head tracking and an IP68 rating for protection against water and dust. In terms of how it’s made, the Xiaomi 13 has a glass back, a Gorilla Glass front, and a flat, shiny middle frame that makes it feel like an iPhone.
The Xiaomi 13 has a new way to set up its camera. Not as fancy as the one on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, but it fixes the main problem with the Xiaomi 12: it doesn’t have a telephoto camera. This year, there is a 10MP, f/2, OIS, 3.2x optical zoom, and a 50MP main camera, as well as a 12MP ultrawide.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Small and stunning design
- Powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor
- Excellent main camera
Cons
- Camera isn’t a complete success
- Software takes some getting used to
- Poor colour options in the UK
Xiaomi 13: Specifications
| RAM | 8/12GB |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 |
| Battery | 4500mAh |
| Fast charging | 67W |
| Dimension | 152.8 x 71.5 x 7.98mm |
| Weight | 180g |
Design and Screen
Even though they are in the same series, the Xiaomi 13 and the Xiaomi Pro look nothing alike. And I know for sure that I like the Xiaomi 13’s look, feel, and overall size much better. The Xiaomi 13 has a very flat design, which is unusual for an Android phone. The polished sides and great 6.36-inch OLED screen don’t have any curves, which makes the phone look a bit like an iPhone 14 with a glossier finish.
It has an IP68 rating, and the glass back lets you charge it wirelessly. These are two features that are sometimes left out of devices that don’t say “Pro” on them. The Xiaomi 13 looks great in this Flora Green color, as you can see in the pictures. So, it’s too bad that, at least in the UK, the phone will only come in a boring black finish. It also has a lot of style, from the small bezel around the screen to the elegant camera housing on the back. This Android phone is easily one of the best-looking ones on the market right now.
At 189g, it is one of the lighter and smaller flagship phones on the market. It’s a phone I can hold in one hand without having to stretch my thumb too much. The screen is also a star because it has bright colors and a lot of brightness. When Dolby Vision content from Netflix was being played back, the OLED panel did a great job of making the brighter scenes stand out and making sure the darker scenes were dark and immersive.
Camera & video
Xiaomi has again gone with a 50Mp main camera, but this time it has teamed up with Leica. It has the same Sony IMX800 sensor as the Honor 70, an f/1.8 aperture, and optical image stabilization (OIS). This leads to photos that are clear, sharp, and full of detail. Both inside and outside, it’s easy to take a picture that looks great. Textures like clothes and animal fur look real, and the colors don’t look washed out or too saturated.
With Leica image processing, you can choose between the finishes Vibrant and Authentic. The first one has a wider dynamic range and brighter tones, while the second one is a bit less bright. This leads to photos that are clear, sharp, and full of detail. Both inside and outside, it’s easy to take a picture that looks great. Textures like clothes and animal fur look real, and the colors don’t look washed out or too saturated.
With Leica image processing, you can choose between the finishes Vibrant and Authentic. The first one has a wider dynamic range and brighter tones, while the second one is a bit less bright. There is also a 10Mp telephoto camera with an aperture of f/2.2 and a zoom range of up to 3.2x.
This gives you very clear pictures that don’t lose color or quality. You can digitally zoom in up to 30 times, but the images get very blurry. The 12MP wide-angle camera isn’t as impressive as the others, which have a 120-degree field of view and f/2.0 aperture. Shadows lose their depth and colors become less vivid. At some angles, this camera can make some things look a little bit out of shape.
Xiaomi 13: Connectivity
With fast Wi-Fi 6E, the Xiaomi 13 can connect to a local data network and use the 6GHz band. When paired with our reference router, the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000, the phone not only gave us very fast transfer speeds, but it also kept our connection very stable. On the 5GHz band, the Xiaomi device did just as well, only slowing down when sending data. On paper, the Xiaomi 13 also supports Wi-Fi 7, but we didn’t have a compatible router with us so we couldn’t test it.
Our import unit has mobile frequency bands that are made for the Asian market. This isn’t a problem for sub-6G 5G in Europe, where all the necessary bands are supported. With LTE, things are different. Band 20 (800MHz) is not supported, which is especially important to point out because it is used by service providers to cover a large area. Because of this, you probably wouldn’t notice this in cities and towns with a lot of people, but it can be a problem in rural areas and on highways.
Xiaomi 13: Performance
The Xiaomi 13 is powered by Qualcomm’s latest flagship chipset, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and has up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. There’s no need to explain what this chipset can do or how powerful it is. It’s a flagship chipset for a reason. You can move quickly and smoothly through your daily tasks. The apps open quickly, and it was easy to switch between them. It wasn’t hard to do more than one thing at once. Also, the animations were smooth.
Even the apps that used a lot of resources worked just fine. As for gaming, it can run games with a lot of graphics at the highest settings. I played a few games, like Genshin Impact, Apex Legends Mobile, and Asphalt 9, to see if this was true. It wasn’t a surprise that all of the games worked well at their highest settings for graphics. I played Genshin Impact for about 45 minutes with the graphics set to the highest level, and there were no lags or frame drops.
It’s not just about speed, but also about stability, and I’m happy to say that the Xiaomi 13 has a pretty stable speed for a long time. The temperature was normal, and the phone didn’t get too hot. I can promise you that you won’t be unhappy with how well the Xiaomi 13 works. It’s a real beast that can deal with anything you throw at it.
Final Words
The Xiaomi 13 is a small phone with all the features you’d expect from a powerful one. It has a beautiful OLED screen for everyday use and a top-of-the-line chipset to run it. The camera takes good pictures in a variety of lighting conditions and is easy to carry around because it is so light.
We think it’s one of the only things you can buy for less than $600. From here, you can get to the page about the device’s specs. Leave your thoughts about Xiaomi 13 in the box below, and stay tuned for more.
FAQs
Is Xiaomi better than iPhone?
People who don’t spend a lot of time on their phones and just want a simple phone like Xiaomi instead of an iPhone, which costs almost three times as much. Xiaomi is the clear winner, since Apple products are expensive. But Xiaomi phones can be bought for very little money.
Is Xiaomi camera better than iPhone?
Not only is Xiaomi’s 10X zoom clearly sharper and cleaner than Apple’s 10X zoom, but the 12S Ultra’s 5X zoom is also more detailed than the iPhone’s 3X zoom if we make them both the same size.
