Xiaomi 13 Lite arrives with Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, island dual front camera

The Xiaomi 13 series is launching in new markets today and is gaining a new member, the Xiaomi 13 Lite. This is a sequel to the 12 Lite from last, this installment brings performance and camera improvements. The “lite” name clearly marks it as a mid-ranger, but on the plus side it costs only half as much as you would pay for a Xiaomi 13 (not to mention the Pro model).

The new model is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, which offers 20% more GPU and 30% more AI performance compared to the Snapdragon 778G inside the 12 Lite. However, Xiaomi did not update the RAM and storage and still uses LPDDR4X and UFS 2.2. There are two configurations available, 8/128GB and 8/256GB. The phone comes with MIUI 14 out of the box, though note that this particular version is based on Android 12.

Moving on to the camera, the Xiaomi 13 Lite uses the 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor that we have seen in a number of premium phones. The 1/1.56” sensor with 1.0µm pixels (2.0µm with binning enabled) and the f/1.8 aperture combined can capture 123% more light than the 108MP sensor with f/1.9 lens on last year’s 12 Lite.

The 8MP ultrawide camera (1/4” IMX355) with 119° field of view and the 2MP macro camera are seemingly unchanged from last year.

The 32MP selfie camera has made a new friend, an 8MP depth sensor. The pair lives in an island-style camera hole in the display. The depth sensor will be used for more natural-looking bokeh effects in selfies. The camera also has a FoV of 100° and will automatically adjust the framing of the shot for group photos.

Yes, the overall design has been based on the Civi 2, but there are some hardware differences. For example, the Civi has a dual 32MP camera on teh front and only one of the two has a 100° lens. Also, it has a 20MP ultra wqide camera.

The Xiaomi 13 Lite has a curved 6.55” AMOLED display. This is a 12-bit panel with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support and can render 68 billion colors. It uses PWM dimming at 1,920Hz and has a typical brightness of 500 nits, the peak is at 1,000 nits.

This display has 1,080 x 2,400px resolution (20:9) and runs at 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate. It is guarded by curved Gorilla Glass 5. There is glass on the back as well (not GG), the frame is made out of plastic. The phone has an IP53 rating for resistance against dust and splashes of water.

The battery has been slightly improved since last year and is almost a match for the Xiaomi 13 battery. It has the same 4,500mAh capacity (+200mAh over the 12 Lite) and the same 67W wired charging support, which can hit 100% in 40 minutes. There is no wireless charging here, however.

A few things left to mention include Dolby Atmos for audio, as well as wireless connectivity, which features Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and NFC support (note: NFC is not available in some regions). This is a dual-SIM phone with 5G support, thanks to the Snapdragon X62 modem.

The new Lite phone lives up to its name and tips the scales at 171g, it also measures 7.23mm thick. The available colorways at launch are Lite Blue, Lite Pink and Black. Its base 8/128GB version costs €499 and availability starts on March 8.