Xiaomi 13 Pro Review: Fanastic camera and battery life plus powerful processing
Xiaomi is an electronics manufacturer based in China, and although it doesn't have the largest market share in the UK, Xiaomi is the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world.
The 13 Pro is their latest attempt at taking it to the big boys, boasting some huge specs and features at a price tag higher than any of their previous entries.
Design
The Xiaomi 13 Pro officially comes in two colours, Ceramic White, and Ceramic Black, and in terms of aesthetics, it carries the generic Android design, complete with a curved screen and a square camera module on the back of the phone.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a fierce contender in the flagship market, although the pricetag is a bit hefty (Xiaomi)It weighs 229g, which is weighty enough to make it feel sturdy but not so heavy that it becomes cumbersome, and measures 162.9 mm x 74.6 mm x 8.38 mm.
It has slightly more square corners than a lot of other Android devices, and overall it feels bulky and sturdy. It's also IP68 rated, meaning it's safe from dust getting in, and it can survive being entirely submerged in water.
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Display
The device has a 6.73-inch 3D-Curved Display, with a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of up to 240Hz.
It's 20:9, with a resolution of 3200x1440. Its brightness peaks at 1900 nits, and it offers Pro HDR, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and cornering Gorilla Glass Victus.
These are a lot of fancy words that essentially boil down to a fantastic display that functions well at all external light levels and brightness settings.
The display is capable of over 1 billion colours, has 360-degree ambient light sensors, and even features AdaptiveSync Pro, allowing the refresh rate to change to match the content it's displaying. This is great for keeping images clear and avoiding tearing and staggering straight lines at high speeds.
Overall the display is impressive, rivalling that of even the Samsung S23 Ultra.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is well-built, and feels strong and sturdy in your hand (Xiaomi)Hardware Specifications
The Xiaomi 13 Pro carries the latest Spapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, as well as 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM.
The New Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is a potential beast, featuring 8 cores - 1 "Prime" core, which is X3 based and runs up to 3.19 GHz, 4 "Performance" cores, 2 A715 and 2 A710 which run up to 2.8 GHz, and then 3 "efficiency" cores, which are A510 based and run up to 2.0 GHz.
It benches around 5200 on Geekbench, (1400 single core) and tops the charts with GFXBench achieving over 7500.
Practically, it can play any game you throw at it, from Call of Duty to Genshin Impact. Combined with the Adaptive display and the excellent resolution, this device is decent for gaming on.
It comes in two storage options - 256GB at £1099,00, or the 512GB option which will set you back slightly more (although is currently nigh impossible to get hold of in the UK outside of using a third-party seller, and prices vary dramatically).
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It connects to and serves WiFi using WiFi 7, 6E, or 6, offers Bluetooth 5.3, and supports AAC, LDAC, and LHDC - great news for music lovers.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro features the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and it is truly a powerhouse. (Xiaomi)Battery Life and Software
At first glance, the battery in the Xiaomi 13 Pro looks average - 4820 mAh battery with a 120W charger. The reality, however, is a little different, with Xiaomi's Surge charging chip promising to charge the battery in 20 minutes.
There's a setting you have to turn on to unlock the 20 minutes charging - without this, it goes from 0-100% in around 30 minutes which is still pretty astounding.
While charging it does get warm, even warmer if you have the 20-minute charge switched on, but Xiaomi promise that the Surge chip will prevent damage or excessive degradation to the battery over time due to the stress of the fast charging.
The battery life is also very reasonable, easily cruising through 24 hours of moderate use without around a third of the battery left. With heavy use you'll still get a full day, but only just.
The operating system is based on Android 13, it's called MIUI 14, and although it's clean and close to Android, it won't be to some people's liking. It's also not as polished as the offerings from Samsung, Apple, and Google, with a few bugs spoiling the experience, a lot of them related to Battery Saving.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro boasts relatively good battery life, and charges exceptionally fast (Xiaomi)Cameras
The cameras are where Xiaomi has really attempted to stake their claim, and they've done an awesome job.
The front camera is a 32 MP in-display selfie camera, with an f/2.0 aperture and an 89.6° field of view. It features a night mode and can record up to 1080p video at 30fps. It also has a Video Teleprompter, and a "Vlog Mode", which allows you to shoot with a number of effects and filters to later upload to Social Media.
The front camera is great and is bolstered by the usual Android features, including Portrait Mode and depth control.
The rear camera is an absolute beast, featuring a Leica professional optical lens. It has a 1" main camera, a 75mm floating telephoto camera as well as an ultra-wide camera.
All rear cameras are 50 MP, with the main camera boasting a f/1.9 aperture, and featuring an 8P lens. The telephoto camera has an f/2.0 aperture, a 75mm equivalent focal length, and supports 10cm macro photography.
The ultra-wide camera has an incredible 115° Feild of View, a 14mm equivalent focal length, and it f/2.2 aperture.
The XIaomi 13 Pro takes great photographs, even in low light conditions (Xiaomi)In terms of features, Xiaomi has smashed it out of the park, with the Xiaomi Imaging Engine offering motion tracking, eye tracking, motion capture, lightning burst, digital zoom up to 70x, HDR, panoramic shots, and even scanning functionality.
On top of that, it captures video up to 4k at 60fps and 8k at 24fps. You can also use the One-click AI cinema to add slow shutter, time freeze, night time-lapse, and freeze frame video. Slow-motion videos run up to 1920 fps, which is honestly insane to watch back.
Overall, the camera is just fantastic, to the point that the rear camera sort of throws the rest of the device on its back. Photos are almost perfect in all lighting conditions, and they can even handle the motion of fast objects like cars, balls, or animals.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Review Verdict: 4/5
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is an excellent entry into the high-end smartphone market, boasting a decent battery which charges quickly, an awesome camera, and most standard Android features.
That being said, it is relatively expensive, and the OS is a little janky at times. This doesn't detract too much from the experience though, with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor handling anything you can throw at it.
The rear cameras are a real show-stopper, and will have you looking at any potential fallbacks of this device by thinking "Yeah but the camera..."
In terms of pricing, it finds itself in the same bracket as the ROG Phone 7, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, The iPhone Pro Max, and a few of the flip and fold phones that seem to be emerging onto the market.
This might be questionable for some, but others will think it's more than worth it, particularly if they're keen to escape the standard Google, Samsung, or iPhone dominance.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is available now for £1099.00, from anywhere you'd usually buy your smartphones.
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