Xiaomi 13 review

Introduction

The Xiaomi 13 is the company's latest mainstream flagship. The phone isn't exactly new since it made a debut in China back in December last year. However, now it is moving on to a global release, and in the process, a unit came by the office for a full review.

The Xiaomi 13 brings about a few notable upgrades over its predecessor. Its display has gotten bigger at 6.36 inches while retaining last year's FullHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The same goes for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG support, aided by an ambient color sensor. Unlike the 13 Pro, the panel on the vanilla model still lacks an LTPO substrate for fast and dynamic refresh rate switching. However, its brightness has been upgraded this year to match the Pro models at a whopping 1,900 nits peak.

Xiaomi 13 specs at a glance:

• Body: 152.8x71.5x8.0mm, 185g; Glass front, glass back or silicone polymer back, aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.36" OLED, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1200 nits (HBM), 1900 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 414ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 13, MIUI 14.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, 1/1.49", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.0 75mm, 1/3.75", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3.2x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 15mm, 120-degree, 1/3.06", 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.0, 22mm (wide), 0.7µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps (HDR), 4K@24/30/60fps (HDR10+, 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR, 10-bit LOG), 1080p@30/120/240/960fps, 1080p@1920fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 4500mAh; 67W wired, PD3.0, QC4, 100% in 38 min (advertised), 50W wireless, 100% in 48 min (advertised), 10W reverse wireless.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; Infrared port; stereo speakers.

The battery and charging setups are the same as last year, with a 4,500 mAh pack, 67W wired, 50W wireless and 10W reverse wireless charging. Other features on the Xiaomi 13 include stereo speakers with Dolby Head tracking and an IP68 ingress protection rating. Speaking of built, the Xiaomi 13 has a glass back, a Gorilla Glass front, and a glossy and flat middle frame that gives off distinct iPhone vibes.

There is a new camera setup on the Xiaomi 13. Not quite as tricked-out as the one on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, but still one that addresses the main issue of the Xiaomi 12 - the lack of a telephoto cam. There is a 10MP, f/2.0, OIS-enabled, 3.2x optical zoom unit this year, as well as a 50MP main snapper and a 12MP ultrawide.

All things considered, the Xiaomi 13 represents a nice all-around generational upgrade. Before we dive into particulars, let's start with unboxing the phone.

Unboxing

The Xiaomi 13 ships in a standard white, two-piece box. It is made of thick cardboard and is very solid. On the inside - more cardboard to support the actual phone in a cradle. This omission of plastic is a nice eco detail.

Xiaomi includes some accessories in the box. First and foremost, there is the charger - a 67W unit rated for output between 5-20V and 6.2-3.25A. There is an accompanying USB Type-A to Type-C cable, which you need to hold on to along with the charger since both are proprietary. You also get a nice transparent TPU case in the box, which is a nice touch.