Xiaomi 13 review

Alternatives

With a starting MSRP of EUR 1000, the Xiaomi 13 is not cheap. Then again, it does offer a very complete package for that price. If you expect nothing less, then Samsung's Galaxy S23 series instantly comes to mind. There are a few obvious discrepancies, though. EUR 1000 or so only buy you the base Galaxy S23, which is quite a bit smaller physically than the Xiaomi 13. The more viable alternative in our mind is the Galaxy S23+, for which you will have to stretch your budget a bit.

Still, you get a lot of phone for your money. Some highlights of the S23+ include excellent build quality with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and an IP68 rating, stereo speakers, an excellent Dynamic AMOLED 120Hz display, the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset, a potent triple camera setup, very similar to the one on the Xiaomi 13 and a large 4,700 mAh battery. Of course, all of this is topped by the company's signature One UI experience.

Samsung Galaxy S23+ • OnePlus 11 • Google Pixel 7 Pro • Apple iPhone 14 Plus

The OnePlus 11 is also another easy recommendation. Once again, you are getting a bigger phone with a 6.7-inch excellent LTPO3 Fluid AMOLED, 120Hz display, but the extra size does also come with a bigger 5,000 mAh battery with 100W wired charging. Other highlights of the phone include an IP64 rating - not quite IP68, but still good, stereo speakers, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and a very potent triple camera setup.

EUR 1000 is plenty of budget to get yourself a Google Pixel 7 Pro and even have plenty left over for some other gadgets or accessories. Google's flagship has a downright competitive price tag these days and is not shabby at all in terms of specs. You get a sturdy phone with an IP68 rating, stereo speakers, a 5,000 mAh battery (though not necessarily great battery life) and a 6.7-inch LTPO, 120Hz AMOLED display. Google is second to none in computational photography and makes great use of the triple camera setup on the Pixel 7 Pro. All of this is tied together by a clean AOSP software experience. Just like with the Galaxy S23+, we will mention that the Pixel 7 Pro is a bit physically bigger than the Xiaomi 13. The regular Pixel 7 is a bit of a better match in that regard, but it does come with some significant hardware sacrifices.

Why not consider a shiny new iPhone 14 too? It is a great alternative to the Xiaomi 13. Just like with the Galaxy S23, the vanilla iPhone 14 is a bit too small to be a direct competitor, while the iPhone 14 Plus is a bit too big. It seems like the closer match, however. There's nothing we can say about the iPhone that hasn't been repeated to death already. We will note, however, that you will be missing out on a dedicated telephoto camera by going the Apple route.

Our verdict

The Xiaomi 13 is a very well-rounded flagship offer. Xiaomi seems to have taken plenty of notes coming from the previous generation Xiaomi 12. The 13 is a very sturdy and well-made device, now with the important addition of IP68 ingress protection. It has a slightly bigger display than its predecessor and one that really impresses both in terms of brightness and color reproduction. It also has superb HDR support for all four major standards.

The Xiaomi 13 also has a great stereo speaker setup and gets to enjoy the latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. Qualcomm's best chip to date has been hugely beneficial to the Xiaomi 13. It delivers excellent, chart-topping all around performance, and amazing efficiency, which has pushed battery life to a whole new level this generation.

The camera setup is also much improved, particularly by including a dedicated telephoto snapper. We found the quality to be excellent all-around while testing the Xiaomi 13.

All things considered, the Xiaomi 13 is a really compelling, feature-rich package. There is very little compromise to speak of here beyond some nitpicks like the lack of Xiaomi's 120W charging, Gorilla Glass Victus and 8K@30fps video capture. Xiaomi has a great product on its hands. One that we can recommend without any hesitation.

Pros

• Great design. Solid and well put together - aluminum alloy frame, Gorilla Glass 5 front and IP68 rating.
• Flagship 120Hz OLED with amazing brightness, great color accuracy and excellent HDR support.
• Excellent battery life upgraded from the previous model and very fast charging.
• Great stereo audio output with Dolby Atmos support.
• Android 13, feature-rich MIUI 14.
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 offers chart-topping performance.
• Solid camera performance in all photo&video scenarios.

Cons

• It is not using Xiaomi's faster 120W charging standard.
• Gets pretty hot under sustained load but remains very performant.
• Gorilla Glass 5 instead of Victus, 24fps 8K instead of 30fps.