Verdict
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a subject flagship that tick many boxes when it come to hardware with a gorgeous 6.67 - inch 120Hz AMOLED showing , a triple 50MP camera arrangement with a 1 - inch sensor , flagship performance and degenerate 120W bear down , but the software will still be a sticking point for many with a different attack to the Android UI and plenty of pre - installed apps . It ’s also not quite as subject in low light as other 1 - inch detector , lacking specialist way for extreme low - light term or shoot the star .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
After spending two weeks with the earphone , I opine the high - oddment Xiaomi 13 Pro is a firm challenger to 2023 flagships include Samsung ’s Galaxy S23 Ultra and the OnePlus 11 .
self-praise spectacles including a 6.78 - inch display with a WQHD+ settlement , dynamic 120Hz refresh rate andDolby Visionsupport alongside a threefold 50MP rearward camera offering , Qualcomm ’s top - ending chipset and super - fast 120W charging , the Xiaomi 13 Pro certainly has what it takes to take on the best the competition has to offer – though with a £ 1099 price shred , that ’s not altogether surprising .
The only tangible hurdle I can see after spending two weeks with the Xiaomi 13 Pro as my casual gadget driver is the software ; Xiaomi ’s MIUI 14 is still a very different beast compared to most Android skins , and while I did get used to it , it ’s not the guileful carrying out around .
Does the ironware do enough to shadow the computer software ? Here are my thoughts .
Design and screen
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a premium moment of kit with a large curved display and a near - all - methamphetamine design that calculate perfectly stunning – though the downside is that it ’s a flake of a fingermark attractor , something that became all too clear during my two weeks with the telephone set . Maybe keep a microfiber textile at the quick for this one …
It ’s also one of the more slippery earpiece I ’ve used recently , not inevitably in the hand but when placed on tables and other monotonic surfaces . If the surface is even slightly off - middle ( like my workplace desk ) the phone will in all probability slue and end up on the flooring .
Slippery blueprint away , the Xiaomi 13 Pro feels comfortable to hold in hand thanks to the curve at its edges . The curved edges of the display and body are n’t as dramatic as those from smartphones in the late 2010s , instead offering a subtle electric arc that does n’t make out off too much of the exhibit .
I did still have a few accidental activating from my palm during my time with the phone though , so the palm rejection tech does need a bit more work .
sky the Xiaomi 13 Pro over and you ’ll bump a evenhandedly large camera housing in the top - left corner . It ’s not quite as label as that of theVivo X90 Pro , but to be true , it ’s not that far off . It ’s certainly duncish enough to cause a wobble when put on a board .
It is a fashionable photographic camera bump – as stylish as a camera bump can be , anyway – with a design that looks like the housing has bulge out from within the rearward panel , pushing its agency to the surface with smooth curved edges that vanish into the arse . There ’s also subtle silver gray detail that visually get around up the larger camera block into three smaller segments , with a photographic camera housed within each .
The rest of the rear panel is largely nondescript , apart from the Xiaomi logotype that sits near the bottom edge , and elsewhere it ’s very much business concern as common , complete with aUSB - Cport for charging , volume and power buttons , and an IR chargeman that sits atop of the phone . The latter is becoming more niche in late years , but it ’s still a feature I love and use regularly .
The phone also offersfull IP68 water system resistancethis fourth dimension around , a feature film that was notably missing with theXiaomi 12range .
The exhibit itself is equally as top - end as the quietus of the earphone , sporting a 6.73 - in AMOLED showing with a pixel - packed WQHD+ ( 3200 x 1440 ) resolution and an adaptative 120Hz refresh rate that , like most other flagship in 2023 , can drop down to as little as 1Hz to save assault and battery lifespan – a very important factor when powering such a mellow - Re panel , and a feature film neglect from the standardXiaomi 13 .
Support forHDR10+andDolby Visionmeant that compatible content on streaming apps like Netflix face specially telling , cranking up the already - bright 1200nits display to 1900nits to highlight vivid scene while catch plenty of detail in darker areas . And the 1440p display means you’re able to really appreciate the extra detail from high - res video playback .
Cameras
As with its forerunner , camera are a Brobdingnagian focal point for the Xiaomi 13 Pro , sporting a ternary of 50MP lenses across the main , telephotograph and ultrawide television camera , though it ’s the independent sensing element that most will be interested in .
That ’s down to the inclusion of a 1 - column inch sensor , the same as that found in the likes of the Vivo X90 Pro and with child than most flagships admit theSamsung Galaxy S23 Ultra .
However , unlike the Vivo X90 Pro that I found could capture Nox slam tight to dark visual sense in condition with less than 1 lux of luminousness , I ca n’t say the same for the Xiaomi 13 Pro . Night functioning is n’t bad by any substance , fascinate becoming Inner Light and item , but it ’s not quite as bright as results from Vivo ’s main snapper .
What I did note , however , is that it contain much less fourth dimension to capture a great guess in low light with a multi - 2nd photo only enable in the most extreme scenarios . For night shots on a street light up with streetlights , seizure was near - instant .
It ’s a unlike approach to Vivo , and while I appreciate the fact that images are truer to living , I do wish well Xiaomi at least gave the pick to really crank up the igniter intake . It does n’t feature any exceptional mode to take picture of the sensation either , unlike both Vivo and Samsung .
Low - light pictures apart , the Xiaomi 13 Pro ’s main snapper delivers mostly impressive jibe – though that ’s not a surprise with high - conclusion tech including an f/1.9 aperture , OIS , bombastic 1.6um pixels and the ability to pullulate Dolby Vision TV at up to 4K@60fps .
It ’s effortless to enamour not bad trope in most environments , though I did find that indoor image , peculiarly those shot at night , can search a small soft .
Xiaomi ’s Leica partnership really comes into its own with colour truth . The phone offer two shooting mode – Leica Vibrant and Leica Authentic – with the latter delivering colours much truer to life than rivals like the too - vibrant S23 Ultra . It ’s down to personal taste and the subject of the picture , but it ’s nice to have the option for a more raw shot .
As astonishing as the main sensor is , it ’s not the only camera of note on the Xiaomi 13 Pro . In fact , my personal favourite of the troika of lens system is n’t the main sensor – it ’s the 50MP telephoto lens .
Though the rapid growth is n’t quite up to the standards of the Galaxy S23 Ultra , topping out at just 2X ( the equivalent of a 75 mm angle ) , the character of image captured are above and beyond just about every other choice on the market . That ’s mostly down to the combination of OIS and Xiaomi ’s ‘ floating telephoto camera ’ tech that delivers telling performance in a range of scenarios .
Portrait shot , captured on the consecrated Portrait mode , are sharp and focalize with a more natural DSLR - like bokeh than many challenger . And the border detection is among the most accurate I ’ve seen outside ofApple ’s iPhone . you could conform not only thef - stopto fuzz or focus the background as much as you like , but also apply a bunch of Leica impression to improve the light and stylise the photo in any elbow room you ’d like .
It ’s not just for portrait picture taking either , with the floating electron lens able-bodied to take impressive macro shots with just as natural a bokeh as the portrait mode shots . It ’s hard to think that some of the macro shots I ’ve captured have been from a smartphone .
That ’s flank by a 50MP ultra - spacious lens with an f/2.2 aperture and a 115 - grade field of scene . The tech within is n’t quite as advanced as the master and telephotograph lenses , specially when light levels begin to drop , but the overall tone and colour profile – again thanks to Leica ’s people of color tuning options – is comparable . It remains a great option for capturing shots of buildings and gorgeous vistas , miss any real distortion at the edge .
Flip the phone over and you ’ll find a 32MP in - display selfie television camera that sport support for sophisticated features like night picture taking and HDR capture , along with both 0.8x and 1x zooms for group selfies . It comes with the distinctive adorn effects , though these can be well disabled for a more natural guesswork .
Performance
Within the Xiaomi 13 Pro you ’ll rule Qualcomm ’s top - endSnapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsetand 12 GB of RAM regardless of whether you opt for the 256 GB or 512 GB storage option . The 4 Land of Enchantment chipset , as we know from rivals like the OnePlus 11 , delivers top - mountain pass performance that does n’t struggle to run anything on the Android O , and the telephone can dynamically use ROM as RAM ( up to an extra 8 GB ) if you ever do run into any upshot .
As require , I did n’t experience any kind of stave during my two - plus week of using the speech sound , with hydrant and swipe registering instantly and apps opening in the blink of an oculus . There was no sign of any kind of lag at any point , but that ’s not really a surprise given the power on offer .
That also extends not only to gameplay , which was buttery smooth with the combination of the 120Hz refresh charge per unit , but chore like capturing exposure and , in particular , image post - processing . While some competitor will take a few seconds to process a newly - taken image , it ’s done almost straight off with the Xiaomi 13 Pro .
That ’s back up by benchmarks too , with an impressive compounding of a single - core mark of 1477 and a multi - core score of 5136 in Geekbench 5 that beats flagship rivals include theOnePlus 11and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra despite its exceptional ‘ Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy ’ chipset . The 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme score of 2987 is n’t quite up to most other Snapdragon - equipped variants , though that does n’t really think over real - populace operation in my experience .
You ’ll also detect everything from 5 G keep to patronise forWi - Fi 7(yes , that ’s correct , it ’s already onto 7!),Bluetooth 5.3 , twofold - SIM connectivity andNFCfor roving payments , though without any presence in the US , there ’s no mmWave sustenance .
That ’s all big , but the face and feel of Xiaomi ’s MIUI 14 base on Android 13 may be a dealbreaker for some .
It ’s quite a stark modification from the blood line Android 13 experience provide by the the like of thePixel 7 Pro , not only in term of the overall look and feel but the way that you interact with the phone .
The quick options menu , for illustration , is accessed by swiping down from the top - right of the exhibit rather than being bake directly into the presentment shade – much like it is on the iPhone . I always discover myself either accessing the untimely menu bet on where I hook on the screen or switching between the two with needless swipes to hide one and get at the other .
That ’s kind of understandable – Xiaomi needs to differentiate itself somehow , I theorise – but what is inexcusable is the amount of bloatware that follow pre - set up on the sound , ranging from the likes of Spotify , Opera and Booking.com to veil apps like QEEQ railway car rental . It ’s frustrating to turn a telephone on for the first fourth dimension to see a swathe of apps , both Xiaomi - branded and third - political party , that you have no stake in , particularly when the phone has such a high price .
you may uninstall most of these jolly well , but the fact that you have to do it in the first place is a huge annoyance . C’m on Xiaomi , I think we were past that .
That ’s not to say that MIUI 14 is abadskin . It does have a spoilt reputation , mostly thanks to its early loop , but it has improve over the past few years . The intrusive ads that would sometimes seem on last year ’s Xiaomi 12 Pro are nowhere to be seen here , for example .
There is still a learning curve , even when coming from another Android phone , but once I develop over the various layout quirk and deleted the random apps I did n’t care for , I quite enjoy my sentence using the Xiaomi 13 Pro .
Battery life
The 4,820mAh battery found within is n’t quite as orotund as the 5,000mAh bombardment found in other top - remainder flagships in 2023 , though with the improved electric battery efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset , it ’s still very much an all - twenty-four hour period equipment – and that ’s with the resolution set to WQHD+ at 120Hz with the always - on display enabled .
I found that I could take the earphone off charge at around 7:30am and get through a full day of what I ’d describe as moderate usage – texting , call , taking exposure , scrolling through societal medium and unclouded gaming – and manage to get to the end of the day ( ordinarily around 11:30pm ) with 30 - 40 % charge leave on average .
That is n’t quite enough to last a full 2nd day in my experience , but there is potential if you use the phone a little less , lour the resolution and disable that always - on display . sink the resolution alone would generally allow for me with closer to 50 % at the end of a long Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .
at long last , battery life is n’t as big an matter as some rivals as the Xiaomi 13 Pro swash 120W HyperCharge support that provides a full 0 - 100 percent thrill in just 19 minutes . It meant I could quickly top the telephone set up during the day without worry – a quick 10 - minute heraldic bearing at MWC 2023 between meetings put up 30 - 40 % of battery .
It ’s not just all - in on wired charge either , with 50W wireless turbocharging with compatible wireless chargers , and there ’s 10W revoke wireless charging too .
The combination of all - day barrage fire life and super fast charging – both wire and wireless – really alleviated my bombardment anxiousness associated with modernistic smartphone utilisation .
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Should you buy it?
From the video display to photographic camera to performance and even charge speeds , the Xiaomi 13 Pro offers a solid all - round experience .
Despite featuring the same massive 1 - inch sensor as the Vivo X90 Pro , the Xiaomi 13 Pro is n’t quite as open in uttermost low - light conditions .
Final Thoughts
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a top - level flagship with eyeglasses and feature to pit , include a gorgeous 6.78 - inch show with a dynamical 120Hz refresh pace , a fashionable ( if not a bit fingermark - wye ) pattern , rapid performance from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and lightning - fast 120W charging .
But , of course of instruction , it ’s the tv camera that are the main attraction . The 50MP primary makes use of the large 1 - inch detector in different manner to Vivo , and while that means it ’s not quite as capable in very dark precondition , worldwide humbled - twinkle photography is much firm to capture . Plus , the 50MP telephoto lense captures sensational portrayal and macro photography , and the 50MP extremist - spacious , while not quite as capable , still return great blastoff .
The only real vault for many will be Xiaomi ’s execution of Android 13 with its MIUI 14 peel . It ’s very dissimilar from most other Android skins and expect a bit of a encyclopaedism curvature , peculiarly with elements like the split apprisal shade and quick setting panel , and the fact it comes pre - put in with a bunch of apps is frustrating . That all said , once you get over the various quirks , it ’s not as bad as it once was .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every nomadic phone we review thoroughly . We employ industry - standard test to equate features decently and we habituate the headphone as our main machine over the reassessment period . We ’ll always secernate you what we find and we never , ever , have money to critique a production .
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FAQs
Yes , unlike the Xiaomi 12 Pro , the Xiaomi 13 Pro offers full IP68 junk and water electrical resistance .
While specific support has n’t been substantiate , late flagship Xiaomi gadget have ship with a promise of 3 OS upgrades and 4 years of security system updates .
No , it runs Xiaomi ’s heavily - stylised MIYI 14 based on Android 13 .
