The Xiaomi 13 Pro: An Ultimate Flagship, But Not For Everyone
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is finally here in India, making waves with its impressive specs and ambitious camera system. It boasts the latest Android 13-based MIUI 14 software and is the only phone in India to feature a 1-inch camera sensor, complete with Leica tuning. Coupled with a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, the 13 Pro checks all the boxes for a top-tier flagship experience. But with a crowded Indian smartphone market overflowing with remarkable options, is the Xiaomi 13 Pro truly the ‘ultimate’ flagship, or just another contender in the race for your attention? Let’s delve into a detailed review to help you decide.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Price in India
The Xiaomi 13 Pro arrives in India in a single configuration, packing 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage, priced at Rs. 79,999.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Design and Display
The Xiaomi 13 Pro distinguishes itself with a ceramic back panel, available in two color options: Ceramic Black and Ceramic White. While the glossy finish on the Ceramic Black variant adds to its premium appeal, it also attracts fingerprints and smudges, making it a bit of a fingerprint magnet.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is available in two colours, Ceramic Black and Ceramic White
The phone’s metal frame features curved sides, complementing the rear panel’s curvature. However, the flat top and bottom edges allow the phone to stand upright, which is a welcome design touch. While the phone boasts a premium feel, it is on the heavier side, weighing in at 229g.
On the front, the Xiaomi 13 Pro delivers a stunning 6.73-inch WQHD+ (2K) AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Supporting Dolby Vision and HDR10+, the display showcases media in exceptional detail, with deep blacks, vivid colors, and sharp clarity. The curved-edge screen and excellent speakers further enhance the immersive viewing experience.
Xiaomi 13 Pro’s 2K AMOLED display offers a great multimedia experience
The display’s peak brightness reaches 1,900 nits, making it the brightest on an Android smartphone, surpassing the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 1,750 nits. However, it’s important to note that the Xiaomi 13 Pro’s display doesn’t consistently reach this peak brightness. This high brightness limit is primarily activated during HDR content viewing or exposure to direct sunlight. For indoor use, the display shines at around 40 percent brightness, offering a comfortable viewing experience.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro’s display endured multiple accidental drops, thanks to the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection and the slippery nature of the ceramic back panel. This resilience reassures users who are prone to occasional missteps. Complementing the display’s brilliance is the dual speaker setup, delivering clear and robust sound even at high volume levels.
Although the Xiaomi 13 Pro lacks an official IP rating, Xiaomi claims that the Indian variant offers the same level of protection against dust and water as the global version, which does carry an IP68 rating.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Specifications and Software
Powering the Xiaomi 13 Pro is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, a 4nm chipset equipped with an Adreno 740 GPU. A 4,820mAh battery provides juice, while 120W wired fast charging with a bundled charger and 50W wireless charging with 10W reverse wireless charging capabilities round out the package.
Xiaomi 13 Pro gets the latest Android 13-based MIUI 14 software
The Xiaomi 13 Pro ships with Android 13-based MIUI 14, a software experience that Xiaomi emphasizes is more optimized than ever before. This claim translates to a smooth and responsive user interface, even when navigating demanding tasks. MIUI 14 further enhances the user experience with features like optical character recognition, object removal in the Gallery app, new wallpapers, and widgets.
Although popular apps like Facebook, Amazon Prime Video, LinkedIn, and Spotify come preinstalled, along with a suite of Xiaomi apps, most of these extra apps are removable. However, some system apps, like the Themes Store, may persistently send notifications. Aside from this occasional spam, the system apps are relatively unobtrusive.
In terms of updates, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is promised three major Android updates and five years of security patches. This commitment falls slightly short of the industry-leading four major Android updates offered by brands like Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, etc. Additionally, Xiaomi’s track record with timely updates is somewhat questionable. This raises concerns regarding the Xiaomi 13 Pro’s future software support.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Performance and Battery Life
The Xiaomi 13 Pro handles any task with ease, thanks to its powerful SoC. The smooth operation of the user interface is evident, with no lag or stutter. Gaming performance is also impressive. While playing Call of Duty: Mobile with Ultra framerate and Medium graphics settings, the device warmed up slightly after 45 minutes of gameplay, but remained manageable.
Xiaomi 13 Pro’s AnTuTu score is among the highest in our tests
Benchmark scores solidify the Xiaomi 13 Pro’s performance. In Geekbench 6, it achieved 1,386 and 4,529 points in the single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. In AnTuTu, the 13 Pro scored a remarkable 1,246,431 points, surpassing the OnePlus 11 5G on the same benchmark.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro comfortably lasts a full day with moderate usage. With activities like scrolling through social media, watching YouTube videos, and checking messages, the phone achieved a screen-on time of approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. However, more demanding tasks, like heavy camera use or gaming, resulted in a screen-on time of around 5 hours. In our HD video loop test, the Xiaomi 13 Pro lasted for 16 hours and 36 minutes.
The 120W fast charger with Boost Mode enabled charges the phone from empty to full in about 25-30 minutes. While Xiaomi claims 19 minutes for a full charge, this requires enabling Airplane mode and ensuring no background apps are running.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Cameras
The Xiaomi 13 Pro’s camera system stands out as its most celebrated feature. Similar to its predecessors, it boasts three 50-megapixel sensors on the back for wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto shots, complemented by a 32-megapixel front camera for selfies.
Xiaomi 13 Pro is the first smartphone from the company to feature a Leica-tuned camera setup
The main camera showcases a Sony IMX989 1-inch sensor, capturing impressive detail in both day and night. Its output boasts excellent dynamic range performance, showcasing a wide spectrum of colors and tones. The large sensor size allows for capturing more light in the same timeframe compared to smaller sensors, resulting in well-exposed and detailed low-light shots. Additionally, the phone’s lack of shutter lag ensures fast capture and minimized image blur.
Xiaomi 13 Pro primary camera samples (tap to see full size)
The ultra-wide camera with a 115-degree field of view delivers excellent dynamic range and captures crisp details. Its color temperature effectively matches that of the main camera. While some edge distortion is present, this is a common phenomenon with most ultra-wide cameras.
Xiaomi 13 Pro ultra-wide camera samples (tap to see full size)
Contributing to the camera setup’s versatility is the 3.2X telephoto camera sensor with a 75mm focal length. Zoom shots stand out with crisp detail and vivid color reproduction. The telephoto camera boasts a six-piece lens setup, arranged in two groups of three. The rear lens group closest to the sensor moves forward or backward in real-time, adapting to the subject’s distance from the phone. This allows for capturing macro shots using the telephoto lens at a focus distance as close as 10cm. Additionally, a Super Macro mode utilizes the telephoto camera, and users can also capture macro shots with the ultra-wide camera.
Xiaomi 13 Pro telephoto camera sample (3.2X): Tap to see full size
The Xiaomi 13 Pro further enhances its camera prowess with special features stemming from its collaboration with Leica. Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant offer distinct photography styles. Leica Authentic delivers a more neutral and realistic look, while Leica Vibrant provides a more saturated and social media-ready aesthetic.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro offers four portrait modes: 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 90mm. The 35mm focal length captures black and white images. 50mm and 75mm modes deliver color photographs with vignette effects around the edges. The 90mm portrait mode, termed Soft Focus, applies a dreamy filter. While the 90mm mode was less preferred, the 35mm and 75mm portrait modes proved to be favorites among users.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Portrait mode samples (tap to see full size)
While edge detection in Portrait mode is accurate in most cases, occasional errors occur, blurring out unintended parts of the subject. Conversely, in the 75mm portrait mode, the algorithm sometimes mistakenly identifies human faces in the background and fails to blur them. These instances are infrequent, but Xiaomi should address these issues with future software updates.
Times with Portrait mode blurs out the wrong objects (left) and when it fails to blur out the background properly (right)
The front camera delivers the best selfie experience among all Xiaomi phones. It consistently captures accurate details and skin tones. Edge detection in Portrait mode is sharp, providing sharp outlines around the subject. Various filters, both Leica and Xiaomi, allow users to experiment with tones and styles.
Xiaomi 13 Pro selfie camera samples
The Xiaomi 13 Pro adds a touch of Leica nostalgia with a shutter sound reminiscent of older Leica models. Various frames display EXIF data of the photo with a Leica watermark. Video capture on the Xiaomi 13 Pro is impressive as well. All three cameras record up to 4K 60fps videos, while the primary camera supports 8K 24fps. A balance between dynamic range, color, details, and stabilization is achieved in 4K 30/60fps videos, making it the preferred setting for most users.
Verdict
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a strong contender in the flagship smartphone arena. Beyond its top-tier hardware, it excels in the details that elevate the user experience. The Leica-influenced shutter sound, numerous camera filters, and software features in the Gallery app enhance the overall appeal. The versatile camera system with a variety of focal lengths caters to the photography enthusiast in every user.
Xiaomi’s flagship phone is well-optimized, boasting a refined MIUI coupled with potent performance. This combination delivers a seamless experience. The impressive battery life and 120W fast charging contribute significantly to the overall user satisfaction. While India’s variant lacks an official IP68 rating, it’s claimed to offer the same level of water and dust resistance as the global version.
One point of improvement for the Xiaomi 13 Pro is the software support. A year’s extension in Android update support, similar to Samsung and OnePlus flagships, would be a significant advantage. The OnePlus 11 5G, with a more affordable price tag and its own Hasselblad-tuned camera, matches the Xiaomi 13 Pro’s performance output. However, the Xiaomi 13 Pro’s camera system offers a wider range of features and a more enjoyable experience. Additionally, it includes wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, and a ceramic back panel. A notable upcoming competitor is the Vivo X90 Pro, which also features the Sony IMX989 1-inch sensor and Zeiss-tuned camera.
For individuals seeking a reliable camera system within a flagship smartphone, the Xiaomi 13 Pro stands as a strong contender. While it may not be the ultimate for everyone, it’s definitely an option worth considering.
