Xiaomi 13 Pro Review: Can it Compete with the Best Flagship Phones on the Market?
Check out the Latest Xiaomi 13 Pro 5G
Xiaomi has been primarily known for its value-for-money Redmi series, but the Chinese tech giant has been making flagship phones for over a decade now. Their flagship phones, however, have never been competitive enough to challenge the likes of Samsung and Apple iPhones. That is until the past couple of years. Xiaomi has been investing heavily in research and development to bring a true flagship phone to the market.
This year, Xiaomi has launched the Xiaomi 13 Pro, the company's most expensive phone to date. Priced at 80,000 rupees in India, it is quite competitively priced, especially with the Bank discounts available, bringing the price down to as low as 70,000 rupees. In this review, we will be comparing it with one of the author's daily drivers, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus, to see if Xiaomi has finally produced a true flagship killer.
Design of Xaomi 13 Pro
The Xiaomi 13 Pro looks clean, nice, and premium, especially in the shiny white color variant. The phone comes with Gorilla Glass vectors protection up front and scratch-resistant ceramic glass on the back, which adds to the phone's robust build quality. The aluminum frames also provide a high-quality feel. However, the phone feels very heavy due to the uneven weight distribution, making it difficult to hold and type with one hand. The S23 Plus, on the other hand, is much lighter and has a nice grip, making it easier to hold.
Xiaomi has included an official IP68 rating on the 13 Pro, making it the only other Xiaomi flagship phone in the global market with IP68 certification, apart from the 2021 Mi 11 Ultra. The side buttons are also conveniently placed, providing good tactile feedback.
Display of Xaomi 13 Pro
The Xiaomi 13 Pro has a high-quality Samsung-made E6 AMOLED screen. It has everything from AQHD resolution to LTPS adaptive refresh rate and 10-bit color depth. The display gets quite bright and is comfortable to read even outdoors on a sunny day or during nighttime. The colors coming out of this display are also noteworthy, with support for HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and 120Hz. The stereo speakers also get quite loud, with good treble and bass.
The only downside to the display is the curved sides. Despite customizing the touch setting to a small area, there are still some accidental touches here and there. The overall touch responsiveness of the screen, however, is top-notch, and the phone has an excellent set of vibration motors, making the haptics great.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Performance
The Xiaomi 13 Pro comes with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. Although it has a vapor cooling solution, the phone still gets warm when charging, recording videos, or using mobile data. The phone does not overheat or throttle, but it does get warm. In comparison, the Snapdragon chip on the S23 Plus is better optimized.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Operating System
The Xiaomi 13 Pro comes with the latest MIUI 14 update. The memory management is great, and there are tons of customization options to play with. The always-on display implementation is also noteworthy. However, the one-hand usage could be better, and the overall UI/UX could improve as well. The fingerprint sensor is placed in the Goldilocks zone, and the phone could benefit from an Ultrasonic sensor instead of the optical one.
Camera of Xiaomi 13 Pro
One of the biggest selling points of the Xiaomi 13 Pro is its camera setup. It features a quad-camera array with a 50-megapixel primary sensor, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and two telephoto lenses with 3x and 10x optical zoom capabilities. Overall, I was quite impressed with the camera's performance. In daylight conditions, the pictures were sharp, detailed, and had accurate colors. The 10x optical zoom worked quite well, and the ultra-wide lens was also quite good.
The camera also features a variety of shooting modes and features, including night mode, macro mode, and portrait mode. However, the night mode could be better, as it tends to overexpose bright lights and can produce images that look artificial. The portrait mode, on the other hand, produced some stunning images with a nice bokeh effect.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Battery Life
Finally, let's talk about battery life. The Xiaomi 13 Pro comes with a 4,500mAh battery, which is quite good. With moderate usage, the phone easily lasted me a day and a half on a single charge. It also supports fast charging and wireless charging, which is a nice touch.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is an impressive flagship phone that offers great value for money. It has a premium design, an excellent display, a powerful processor, a versatile camera setup, and great battery life. However, it is not perfect, and there are a few areas where it could improve, such as its weight distribution, UI, and night mode photography. Overall, if you're looking for a flagship phone that won't break the bank, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is definitely worth considering.