Xiaomi 13 Pro long-term review

Camera

While it may not have the 13 Ultra's entire set of cameras, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is absolutely no slouch in the camera department, at least on paper. The "type 1-inch" main sensor is present, and still the biggest fitted in a smartphone (even though it's not technically 1", but that's a quirk of the camera industry which has been perpetuated in the smartphone world).

The ultrawide is the same resolution as the Ultra's, but less wide, and the 3.2x optical zoom camera is obviously no match for the Ultra's 5x periscope telephoto at longer distances, but should be very comparable to the Ultra's very own 3.2x snapper for closer targets.

If the 13 Ultra didn't exist, the 13 Pro's camera system would easily be described as top of the line, with the omission of a periscope that is. So don't underestimate this phone's abilities in the camera department.

Let's prove our point. Daytime shots captured by the main camera are outstanding, with practically no noise, loads of detail, high contrast, good dynamic range, and great sharpness that doesn't go overboard. Similarly, colors are saturated, but not overly so - at least not based on what everyone seems to prefer.

Daytime samples from the main camera

Please note that all of our shots for this long-term review use the Leica Vibrant mode with AI off, since those are the defaults. If you want more accuracy, go with Leica Authentic, but do be advised that this look also seems to bring with it a vignetting effect, which may not be to everyone's liking. It sure helps capture more 'atmospheric' shots, if that's what you're into, but if the 'Samsung look' has proven anything in recent years, is that the Leica Vibrant profile is the one most non-photographers, non-enthusiasts will enjoy more. Hence our decision to go with it.

Thus, all of our comments apply to this profile - if you want a comparison with Leica Authentic, refer to our normal review. It's a similar recommendation if you want to see what 50 MP shots come out like - by default all cameras output 12.5 MP stills, and that's what you're seeing here since that's what most people will be seeing too.

The ultrawide shots during the day are great as well, with good levels of detail (more than what most ultrawides produce), minimal noise, and good distortion correction. Colors are accurate-ish (with a bit of 'pop' but not too much), contrast is good and dynamic range is high.

Daytime samples from the ultrawide

There are two zoom levels in the viewfinder, an intermediate 2x and the telephoto camera's native 3.2x. The former is achieved from the main camera, in a lossless way, so the shots are very similar to the 1x ones in terms of noise, colors, contrast, and dynamic range. Detail levels are lower, but that's the only downside.

Daytime 2x zoom samples

Moving over to 3.2x, these images out of the telephoto camera are - you guessed it - outstanding too. There is plenty of resolved detail, sharpness is great, noise is well taken care of, and saturation is on point without ever going too far. Contrast and dynamic range are good. The zoom camera can also double as a macro lens, and it's very good at that too - if you want to see some samples, check out our normal review.

Daytime 3.2x zoom samples

At night there's an Auto night mode that's turned on by default, and a manual Night Mode that you can engage too. We left Auto night mode on as that's the default and we doubt many people will go into the Camera app's settings to turn it off. We also don't think you should. It doesn't add a lot to the capture time and does improve images compared to what you'd get without it - for a side-by-side comparison, make sure you check out our normal review of this phone.

The difference between shots for which Auto night mode triggered and those with manual Night mode applied is generally marginal, but there still is one if you like to go pixel peeping. That said, we assume that, for most people, simply leaving Auto night mode on and then shooting with the Auto mode will almost always represent the best compromise between image quality and capture time.

The main camera produces impressive nighttime photos in its default state, among the best on the market - and in history, when we're talking about phone shots. Detail levels are outstanding, the dynamic range is very wide, and even highlights are generally handled very well, almost flawlessly in some cases. Colors stay nicely saturated, the white balance is great too. Shot times are faster than what most other Auto night modes can produce, which is a big part of our recommendation to leave this on.

Nighttime samples from the main camera

However, if you do engage manual Night Mode, you are presented with an ever so slightly longer capture time. This is still among the fastest Night Modes out there, but it does take about a second or so longer to take a shot in this mode. And honestly, you aren't getting that much in return most of the time - but that's not because the manual Night Mode is bad, it's that the Auto night mode is so good.

Night Mode samples from the main camera

The ultrawide camera, as always, will struggle the most at night, but that's not to say it gave us bad shots. There is a decent amount of detail in these, reasonably low noise, and great dynamic range, while the colors are saturated enough. Sure, these will come out darker than the main camera's, but compared to any other ultrawide out there - they definitely stand on their own and are very, very good. Among the best, actually.

Nighttime samples from the ultrawide

Applying manual Night Mode sometimes improves the dynamic range even further, as well as the rendition of the sky, but again, this and the Auto night mode are more similar than they are different in what they offer.

Night Mode samples from the ultrawide

The 2x zoom shots are good for what they seem to be - which is digitally zoomed shots from the main sensor. Detail levels thus take a hit, but otherwise they are very comparable to what the 1x magnification gives you. Weirdly enough, it doesn't seem possible to apply manual Night Mode to these, although it used to be the case - an update must have changed this.

Nighttime 2x zoom samples

Going to 3.2x at night means you're using the telephoto camera, which produces good pictures, with a ton of detail, wide dynamic range, great colors, very low noise, and overall an excellent exposure, although there is a lot of sharpness, and that might not be to everyone's liking.

Nighttime 3.2x zoom samples

Using manual Night Mode sometimes improves detail levels in very complex areas, and ever so slightly reduces sharpness (which isn't a bad thing considering the starting point). That's about the extent of the difference it can provide, so unless you really need that, perhaps stick with the Auto night mode for this one.

Night Mode 3.2x zoom samples

Selfies are saved as 32 MP images, which is weird since the camera has a sensor that should pixel bin to 8 MP. But Xiaomi likes to then upscale back to the sensor's full resolution for some reason, as it does here. The lens is 21mm which makes it reasonably wide for fitting more than one person in a shot with ease - and for that purpose you get two options in the viewfinder: 0.8x (wider) and 1x (closer).

Because these are upscaled 32 MP images, detail levels aren't amazing, and if you know your cameras you'll be able to see that these have been upscaled. That said, that's really the only point of contention we have here - contrast is great, as is the dynamic range, noise is low, and colors are pleasant.

At night things understandably take a hit in terms of quality, but if you take a shot in an area with a reasonable amount of ambient lighting, and use the screen flash function, you might get results that are way better than what you'd expect, as we did.

Selfie samples, day and night

Overall then, the Xiaomi 13 Pro has a properly flagship level set of cameras indeed. There's a periscope missing, and the selfie camera could do without upscaling, but other than that, we have absolutely no complaints. Not just that, but it's been a great pleasure looking at the shots we captured with this phone every single time - they're just that good. And definitely befitting the 13 Pro's price point.