Xiaomi 13T Pro review

Triple camera co-developed with Leica

Xiaomi has definitely upped its game and the partnership with Leica has made its high-end phones known for their excellent photo and video quality. Plus, having Leica's Vibrant and Authentic modes means you will be getting the best from two universes - Samsung-like punchy rendition and Apple-like realistic one.

Back to the camera setup on the Xiaomi 13T Pro - it houses a 50MP OIS primary, a 50MP 2x telephoto, and a 12MP ultrawide imagers. The only difference with the regular 13T is the option to shoot 8K videos with the main camera.

The primary camera relies on a 50MP Sony IMX 707 1/1.28" sensor with 1.22µm individual pixels and Quad-Bayer RGB color filter. The sensor sits behind a 24mm f/1.9 stabilized 7-element lens (OIS).

The telephoto camera uses a 50MP OmniVision OV50D 1/2.88" sensor with Quad-Bayer filter and 0.61µm pixels. It offers 2x optical zoom over the main camera via a 50mm f/1.9 5-element lens.

The ultrawide camera relies on a 13MP OmniVision OV13B 1/30.6" with 1.12µm pixels. It is coupled with a 15mm f/2.2 5-element lens. The focus is fixed at infinity.

Finally, the selfie camera is a rather disappointing one. It has a 20MP Sony IMX596 1/2.8" sensor of Quad Bayer design. It is coupled with a 26mm f/2.2 lens, and the focus is fixed.

Camera app

The camera app on the 13T Pro is more or less the same as on other Xiaomis, but with a twist - the accent color here is red, presumably in honor of the Leica collaboration.

Another Leica-related touch is the processing 'mode' you need to choose the first time you launch the camera. The two options are Leica Vibrant (default) and Leica Authentic (mostly color accurate), and once you're past the welcome screen, you can switch back and forth between them all you want. You do have to be in one or the other - there's no 'generic' non-Leica auto mode.

There is an 'AI' toggle in addition to that because, of course, there needs to be. It usually increases contrast and saturation depending on the scene.

Camera app

Previously added Teleprompter Video mode is here to stay. You can paste your video script here and read it easily while you capture your video. And now you can also enabled or disables the electronic stabilization, but only for the Pro Video and Timelapse Modes (this widens the field of view).

Camera app

Aside from that, the app functions like on any other recent Xiaomi. Basic operation for changing modes works with side swipes as expected, and you can also tap on the modes that you can see to switch to those directly. You can add, remove, and rearrange modes in the main rolodex by going to the More tab and navigating to the edit button, and you can access that from the settings menu as well.

At the far end of the viewfinder, you have a flash mode switch, an HDR switch, and the AI toggle. There's also the hamburger menu which contains additional options like aspect ratio, self-timer and grid lines. You won't find an option to set the output resolution for any of the cameras (not that we particularly care), besides the 50MP mode that supposedly outputs at full res.

On the near end, you have the camera zoom switch that operates in one of two fashions. The first one is simply tapping on one of the four dots that represent the ultra-wide (0.6x), primary (1x), and telephoto (2x) options. Or you can tap on the active magnification and reveal even more zoom modes - 5x, 10x, and 20x.

There's a nicely capable Pro mode, where you can tweak the shooting parameters yourself. You get to pick one of 4 white balance presets or dial in the light temperature with a slider; there's a manual focusing slider (with peaking as an option), and shutter speed and ISO control with ranges depending on which camera you're using - yes, you can access each of the three cams in Pro mode.

Night Mode is available on all four cameras, and there is even Night video for the primary cam.

Finally, the Portrait mode uses the telephoto camera by default, but you can switch to the main camera, if you want. There are different effects for those wanting more artsy portraits.

Daylight photo quality

The photo mode defaults to Leica Vibrant mode with AI turned off, and we adopted this mode as a default one for our tests, naturally.

We want to start by acknowledging that both modes appear to have been toned down since the Xiaomi 13 series - the Vibrant look is still punchier and brighter, but not over the top and not over-processed. The Authentic one does target more accurate colors and uses darker exposure. But the vignetting is now far more subtle, if available at all.

Let's talk about the default photos. Quite expectedly those are saved in 12.5MP. They resolved detail is plenty enough, the sharpness is just right and there is no visible noise. The image processing is balanced and delivers natural-looking detail in the photos, especially the foliage.

The colors in the Leica Vibrant mode are, well, vibrant and punchier than they were in real life, but they are definitely not over the top. The contrast is high, while the dynamic range is wide enough, but not too extreme and helps for the overall balanced look. HDR often kicked in.

One more thing - while there is no Macro camera or mode on the Xiaomi 13T Pro, the primary camera can focus from as close as, say, 20cm or so, and that's why we think it can serve for closeup shots when the occasion presents itself.

Main camera, 12.5MP

The Leica Authentic photos are of darker exposure and offer more realistic colors and deeper shadows. This mode is perfect for greenery as it will yield far better-looking photos. HDR never triggered on in Leica Authentic and the pictures look less processed and even more natural.

Main camera, Leica Authentic

The 50MP photos from the dedicated high-res mode of the main camera are good - they are more than just simple upscale - some super-sampling is definitely happening here. They will not offer more real detail if downsized to 12.5MP, but they may appear as better because they weren't processed.

Main camera, 50MP

The 12.5MP photos from the 50MP telephoto camera are solid. They have enough detail and their Leica Vibrant Look matches the one from the primary camera. Meaning they have saturated colors, high contrast and good dynamic range.

These photos are not as detailed as the ones coming from the main camera, because the sensor is much smaller. In fact, the grass and other intricate details often outresolved the sensor resulting in an over-sharpened mess.

Overall, great photos, but Xiaomi should go gentle with that sharpening.

Telephoto camera, 12.5MP

Well, the Leica Authentic mode would not only offer less processed and not over-sharpened photos, but it will be responsible for more accurate colors. And we think the slightly darker exposure here serves those well.

Telephoto camera, Leica Authentic

The ultrawide camera uses a 13MP sensor but saves 12MP photos and it's advertised as 12MP imager. We suspect Xiaomi crops a bit, so it can get rid of the warped and soft extreme corners.

Anyway, the 12MP ultrawide photos in their default look are good - the detail is average, but enough for the ultrawide purposes. The noise is low, colors are likable, the dynamic range is wide.

These could benefit from a contrast boost, though and a bit darker exposure maybe.

Ultrawide camera, 12MP

And if you think like us, then the Leuca Authentic mode will help. It saves less processed images, with more realistic colors, exposure and higher contrast.

Ultrawide camera, Leica Authentic

Xiaomi and Leica offer a powerful Portrait mode with a few options to choose from - default (50mm, no enhancements), 35mm (crop from main camera), 50mm Swirly Bokeh, and 90mm Soft Focus. There is also a Full Body mode, which shoots portraits with the primary camera.

The default portraits are taken with the telephoto camera and are incredibly nice. The subject is detailed, well-exposed, and free of noise, with natural rendition and likable colors. The bokeh is lovely.

Indoor portraits bring a bit softer subjects, but still quite likable.

Default Portraits (2x tele)

The 35mm cropped portraits from the main camera are equally impressive and we couldn't tell that they have suffered from the crop from 24mm. Maybe they were super-sample, we cannot know for sure. But still, another excellent batch of portraits.

Portraits with main cam (35mm)

And here are some samples of the 50mm Swirly Bokeh and the 90mm Soft Focus. The Swirly Bokeh shoots with the telephoto camera and the quality is a match to the standard portraits, but it introduces vignetting and changes the bokeh effect, the blurred highlights shape specifically.

The 90mm soft focus mode is not for everyone, that is for sure. It zooms over the telephoto camera, and everything is soft, as promised.

50mm Swirly Bokeh • 50mm Swirly Bokeh • 90mm Soft Focus • 90mm Soft Focus

The 20MP selfie camera on the Xiaomi 13T Pro uses a Quad-Bayer sensor. It saves 20MP pictures instead of 5MP, which makes the situation worse. See, the 20MP photos are poor in detail, everything is soft and looks upscaled. Other than that - the exposure is great, colors are lively and punchy, the noise is low, and the dynamic range is adequate.

These would look great on the phone's screen and when not zoomed, so we don't see an issue with them being 5MP and done the right way. But we also don't understand why Xiaomi is still using such archaic cameras on its top cameraphones.

Selfies, 20MP

Low-light photo quality

The Xiaomi 13T Pro, just like many other Xiaomi, Samsung and Apple devices, offers auto Night mode processing in its Photo mode. It will apply whatever simulated exposure and stacking as it sees fit.

The Auto Night Mode is the default state and we would advise leaving it as is - it rarely triggers on the primary and telephoto camera, but almost every time on the ultrawide camera - and it does need it.

All the samples you are about to see from the primary and telephoto camera were shot on Auto Night Mode and the actual Night Mode triggered only once. Going to Night Mode manually won't trigger it either as it is not necessary.

The nighttime samples from the primary camera are easily among the best you can get from a smartphone, a night below the ones coming from 1" imagers on higher-tier Xiaomi phones. The photos are incredibly rich in detail, with no visible noise, wide dynamic range, and superb color saturation. The highlights across all photos are handled with commendable proficiency.

Main camera, Auto

There is minimal difference between the Leica Vibrant and Authentic photos at night, if any. Sometimes the color saturation seems to have been taken a notch down, but that's about it.

Main camera, Leica Authentic

The 50MP telephoto camera also shoots impressive night photos. They are as great as the primary ones when it comes to colors, dynamic range, noise reduction and the overall processing. The image sensor on this camera is smaller, though, and that's why the photos are not as incredibly detailed and if enough.

Telephoto camera, Auto

All 12MP photos from the ultrawide camera were shot with the help of Night Mode, usually 1s or 2s. They are good - they are well exposed, the dynamic range is wide, the colors are excellent, and the detail is enough even if some of it gets smeared by the noise reduction.

Ultrawide camera, Auto

Opting out of the Night Mode is not recommended on the ultrawide camera - the photos usable but noticeably noisier.

Ultrawide camera, NM OFF

And here's how the main camera stacks up against the competition in our extensive Photo compare database.

Xiaomi 13T Pro against the vivo X90 Pro and the Motorola Edge 40 Pro in our Photo compare tool

Video quality

The Xiaomi 13 Pro can record videos up to 4K60 with its primary and telephoto. The ultrawide maxes out at 4K30 though it can do 1080p60. Finally, 8K24 is available only for the main camera.

You can choose between the h.264 codec (the one used by default) and the more efficient h.265. There's always-on stabilization across the board too, which can be turned off only for Pro video and Timelapse.

Super Stable mode is available, Teleprompter option, HDR10+ mode for the main camera, and you can use Motion Tracking focus for your videos shot on the primary and zoom cameras.

The selfie camera is limited to 1080p@30fps, EIS is still available.

The video bitrate is about 56Mbps for the 4K footage and about 100Mbps for the 8K videos. Audio is always recorded in stereo with 260Kbps bitrate, and it always sounds great.

The 8K24 video from the main camera is okay - the detail is mediocre but it still reveals more than the 4K footage - such as readable plate numbers and signs. The foliage and other random detail do look artificial, but the footage is detailed enough to be usable if you want to extract more from your scene, the noise is low, the colors are accurate, and the dynamic range is wide.

Main camera

The 8K24 low-light footage looks like upscaled from 4K though, it is incredibly soft.

The 4K videos from the primary camera are excellent - we observed plenty of resolved detail and well-developed complex subjects and foliage. The noise was cleaned proficiently. The exposure and the colors are realistic, the dynamic range is wide too, and the contrast is high.

The 4K low-light videos are also of high quality - they are rich in detail, the noise is low, and the color saturation is lively and likable. The contrast is great and the dynamic range is wide enough.

The main camera also offers Night Mode 1080p video capturing, which improves on the exposure and the dynamic range; the colors get a noticeable saturation boost, too. We don't think it's worth lowering the resolution for such unrealistic colors, when the standard videos are that great.

The always-on stabilization works great.

Telephoto camera

The telephoto camera saves good 4K clips, noise-free, with enough detail, realistic colors and wide dynamic range.

The zoomed low-light videos are quite usable - they keep enough fine detail; the exposure is good and the colors are accurate. The video is noisy, but not to quality-ruining extent.

The stabilization works really well on this camera, too. We shot this test clip in 4K at 60fps for a change.

Ultrawide camera

The 4K videos from the ultrawide camera are very good as well. Just like the rest of the cameras, the ultrawide one captures videos with enough detail, noise-free, with great color presentation, good contrast and wide dynamic range.

The low-light ultrawide videos are usable as they have good colors and are not completely ruined by the noise, but they are still of dark exposure and of narrow dynamic range.

The stabilization does an excellent job on this camera, too.

Selfie camera

The 1080p clips from the selfie camera are stabilized nicely, with well-exposed subject at all times, good enough dynamic range and lively colors. The detail is average at best, though.

Finally, here are snapshots from each video.

8K main • 4K main • 4K UW • 4K 2x

8K main • 4K main • 4K UW • 4K 2x

1080p Night Mode main • 1080p selfie

Here's how the Xiaomi 13T Pro compares to other devices in our vast video compare database.

Xiaomi 13T Pro against the vivo X90 Pro and the Motorola Edge 40 Pro in our Video compare tool