Do you remember how the Xiaomi 12S Ultra did not launch outside China even though it had the potential to become one of the bestselling smartphones? Yes, we are still bitter about that, too. But today, we have some sweet, sweet news! The Xiaomi 13 Pro, the company's most current flagship, is what the road to redemption looks like and everyone's chance to own an even better and more refined Ultra.
Indeed, the flagship Xiaomi 13 duo has officially launched on the global markets, and the Xiaomi 13 Lite premium mid-ranger also tags along for the ride. The Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro are part of the selected few smartphones to pack the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. But while the Xiaomi 13 is a compact device with a rather mainstream camera, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is all-in across all aspects, camera included.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a beautiful glass smartphone with a new camera housing on the back, one that will probably become a signature for the next generation of Xiaomi smartphones. It has the same 6.73-inch LTPO QHD OLED panel as the Xiaomi 12 Pro and 12S Ultra. But while the resolution, color, refresh rate, and HDR capabilities have remained identical, the maximum brightness has been increased.
Then comes the new chipset - the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is part of the Xiaomi 13 Pro and, in addition to all the performance improvements it brings, it also comes coupled with faster RAM and storage chips.
The camera department gets the best from the 12S Ultra and builds on that. The 50MP main camera relies on the same 1" Sony sensor we loved on the Ultra. But it updates the ultrawide camera with a new 50MP sensor, and the telephoto camera gets another 50MP sensor sitting behind a 75mm lens for both 3.2x optical zoom and macro photography, as it can focus from as close as 10cm away!
Xiaomi 13 Pro and Xiaomi 13
The rear cameras once again rely on Leica lenses, and Leica color profiles are present, too. There are all sorts of video capturing options, including Dolby Vision recording.
The battery capacity remains somewhat similar to the Ultra and a bit higher than on the previous Pro - it's 4,820mAh. It is 120W fast wired and 50W fast wireless charging support.
Now, let's take a look at the full specs sheet.
- Body: 162.9x74.6x8.4mm, 210g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), ceramic back or silicone polymer back, aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min).
- Display: 6.73" LTPO OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 1200 nits (HBM), 1900 nits (peak), 1440x3200px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 522ppi.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.2 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
- Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1 - 128GB, UFS 4.0 - 256/512GB.
- OS/Software: Android 13, MIUI 14.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 50.3 MP, f/1.9, 23mm, 1.0"-type, 1.6µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.0, 75mm, PDAF (10cm - ∞), 3.2x optical zoom; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 115˚, AF.
- Front camera: 32 MP, (wide).
- Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps (HDR), 4K@24/30/60fps (HDR10+, 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR, 10-bit LOG), 1080p@30/120/240/960fps, 1080p@1920fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 4820mAh; 120W wired, PD3.0, QC4, 100% in 19 min (advertised), 50W wireless, 100% in 36 min (advertised), 10W reverse wireless.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under the display, optical); NFC; Infrared port; stereo speakers.
We are happy to see Xiaomi bringing official IP68 ingress protection to the new flagship series, something that was reserved for China-exclusive premium models until now. Xiaomi has long ignored complete water resistance, and we hope we've finally seen the end of it.
But what we are saddened to see is that the Xiaomi 13 Pro, a premium cameraphone of sorts, is still using the dated 32MP selfie camera with a Quad-Bayer sensor, one that doesn't even offer 4K video capturing.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro arrives in a thick black box with Xiaomi and Leica logos. Inside, you will find the phone itself, a 120W charger with a USB-A port, and a 6A-rated cable.
The retail bundle also contains a soft transparent case and a SIM ejection tool.
Finally, the Xiaomi 13 Pro arrives with a thin protective film that was applied in the factory. It's low quality and a huge smudge magnet, so we peeled that off on day one.
We've reached that point where all smartphones are lookalikes, and the only thing that often distinguishes one phone from another is the camera housing. And that's probably the biggest change in the Xiaomi 13 series since the Xiaomi 12 phones.
The Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro are the first global phones the maker launches with an official IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. Technically, the international Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra was the first, but its market availability was cut short not long after its premiere. And that's why we think it's safe to proclaim the globally available series 13 as pioneers.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a curved smartphone with durable panels, a metal frame, and huge square camera housing with Leica branding. It is also waterproof, as we established, but the most memorable thing about the 13 Pro is its glossiness.
Xiaomi 13 Pro and 12S Ultra
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a shiny smartphone with a slightly curved Gorilla Glass Victus front and an equally curved ceramic back. The frame is made of aluminum, quite thin for the most part, and polished to perfection. It's either silver for the Ceramic White model or matching dark gray for the (dark gray) Ceramic Black version we have for our review.
The most notable design change - the camera housing at the back - is of the volcano-like type, slowly evolving from the back panel towards the camera glass. It looks fine on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, the Leica branding hints at its premium quality. And because it is gigantic, the 13 Pro does not wobble when used on a flat desk. But if it were up to us, we'd have preferred the Xiaomi 12S Ultra circular housing. It looks, well, more pro.
The 13 Pro's sleek looks are a double-edged sword. The shiny exterior is both stylish and eye-catchy, and it can distinguish your phone from its flagship peers. On the other hand, the grip is rather poor. The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a nightmare to handle and operate, let alone shoot photos or videos. You can fix this by using the provided case, but the concept of making a $1,000 design and then slapping a $5 case on it is beyond this reviewer's understanding.
Let's take a closer look at the Xiaomi 13 Pro now.
The 6.73-inch LTPO OLED panel is the centerpiece at the front, covered with a slightly curved Gorilla Glass Victus sheet. The screen has 1440p resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit color depth, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+ support. Its bezels are reasonably thin.
The panel has a small perforation centered around the top - here, you can spot the 32MP selfie camera. It uses one of those dated Quad Bayer sensors, and its video-capturing resolution maxes out at 1080p.
An optical fingerprint scanner is under the screen, centered around the bottom. It appears to be of the most current generation and is fast and reliable.
There is a small and impressively thin outlet between the Gorilla Glass and the metal frame around the top. Here lies one of the speakers, which also doubles as an earpiece. Just like on other Xiaomi phones, this top speaker also has a second outlet for the sound positioned on the frame, at the top of the phone.
The camera island is the only thing of interest on the back, and it's huge! The 50MP zoom camera is first at the top left corner, and next is the 50MP ultrawide shooter. The 50MP primary camera is below, just before the Leica logo.
The island also houses the laser emitter and receiver for the laser-assisted autofocus, and the dual-LED flash.
Let's explore the aluminum frame. It is quite thin around the longer sides, and flat at the top and the bottom. There is nothing on its left side.
The volume control and the power/lock key are on the right.
The top of the Xiaomi 13 Pro has two microphones, an IR blaster, and a small speaker outlet.
The bottom of the phone accommodates the dual SIM slot, the primary mic, the USB-C port, and the other speaker.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro measures 162.9 x 74.6 x 8.4 mm and weighs 229 grams - that's about the same as the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, just a whisker thinner. Note that the profile number excludes the camera housing.
Xiaomi 13 Pro and 12S Ultra
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a beautiful smartphone of distinguished build (IP68, ceramic) and it's very pleasant to look at. We would have preferred a round camera housing for the digital camera look, but maybe it wasn't possible on the 13 Pro.
The handling experience is terrible as the Xiaomi 13 Pro has no grip at all. And that's our only beef with it - the Xiaomi 13 Pro must be used with a case otherwise, we can see many users drop it on day one. But such a flagship phone deserves more than a cheap silicone case like the bundled one.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro appears to feature the same 6.73-inch LTPO OLED panel we experienced on the Xiaomi 12 Pro and the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. It offers QHD resolution, 10-bit color depth, adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, and Dolby Vision support. The only improvement since the previous versions is the increased maximum brightness.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro has a flat LTPO OLED panel with a slightly curved Gorilla Glass Victus protection. The screen has a 3,200 x 1,440 px resolution or 522ppi density. It supports an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, one that can drop as low as 1Hz when necessary. There is also support for 240Hz touch sensing.
The display has 10-bit color depth, which means it can support more than a billion colors and will have no color banding even with challenging images compared to 8-bit panels. There is support for the DCI-P3 color gamut and a promise of great color accuracy.
The screen is certified for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision content. Xiaomi has listed 1,900 nits of peak brightness (up from 1,500) and 1,200 nits of high maximum brightness (up from 1,000). We've completed our display test, and the numbers are in line with Xiaomi's advertisement.
We captured 527 units of maximum brightness when using the brightness slider manually. When set on Auto, or with the Sunlight Boost on, the screen can be much brighter - 1,253 nits to be specific. And simulating a local peak brightness on a small white square, we did capture 1,900 nits.
Color accuracy
The Xiaomi 13 Pro display supports DCI-P3 wide color space, and it's the default setting. The display color options offer three different color models - Vivid (default, DCI-P3), Saturated (DCI-P3 with saturation boost), and Original color (sRGB). You can fine-tune the color temperature for each mode.
There is also a custom section, where you can select the color gamut (Original, P3, sRGB) and fine-tune colors, saturation, hue, contrast, and gamma.
The Vivid (default) option reproduces DCI-P3 faithfully, and we found it to be fairly accurate, excluding the slightly bluish-white and gray hues, but this is fixable by selecting the Warm Color temperature.
The Original color option corresponds to sRGB and offers very accurate rendering, including the white and gray colors.
We also tested the modes on the Advanced Settings - P3 and sRGB offer good accuracy, but they both exhibit the blue tint over the white and gray colors. The Original color from Advanced Settings has the same perfect accuracy towards sRGB targets as the Original Color from the Standard display settings.
Refresh rate and resolution
Just like the 12 Pro and 12S Ultra, the 13 Pro lets you choose whether the phone should render in its native 1440p resolution or a lower 1080p, the presumption being that the lower-res setting would be less taxing on the battery. When you're in 1440p mode, there's also a toggle that allows the phone to automatically switch down to 1080p when it decides it's appropriate.
Color, resolution, and refresh rate settings
The display supports up to 120Hz refresh rate, and there are two refresh modes - Custom (choose between 120Hz or 60Hz refresh ceilings), and Default (automatic switching behavior).
The adaptive refresh rate works as expected - it drops down to 1Hz when the screen shows static content and can be incredibly dynamic (constantly changing between 10Hz and 120Hz with no fixed steps) in games or browsers. The few scenarios where we saw it go for fixed refresh rates, besides 1Hz for static pictures, were 24Hz for 24fps videos, 30Hz for 30fps clips, and 60Hz for HFR clips and apps which are incompatible with dynamic refresh rate adjustments.
The always-on display uses 30Hz, and on a couple of occasions, we saw static content display at 10Hz - as we mentioned, the screen is indeed as dynamic as it can be these days.
There is a twist, though. The minimum refresh rate depends on the screen brightness. If the brightness is below 100 units or so, the refresh rate will be kept at maximum (60Hz or 120Hz), depending on the occasion, and the only time it will drop below these maximums is for specific video fps (24 or 30 fps).
On the positive side, the display supports high-frequency 1920Hz PWM dimming so it shouldn't bother anyone sensitive to the usual low-frequency PWM brightness control on OLED screens.
HDR and streaming
The Xiaomi 13 Pro comes with Widevine L1 DRM support and Full HD streaming with HDR10 and Dolby Vision support available across popular platforms, Netflix included.
Display enhancements
The Xiaomi 13 Pro offers three AI Image Engine features (all disabled by default).
The first one is Super Resolution - this feature tries to upscale the resolution of local videos. It could increase battery consumption and may not yield much improvement.
The second feature is called AI Image Enhancement and works only within the Gallery app. It automatically scans and identifies objects across your photos and applies some predefined contrast/color/filter settings when you are viewing said photos.
Finally, the AI HDR enhancement uses some sort of processing across SDR content to bring more detail to both lighter and darker areas.
AI Image Engine Features
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is powered by a 4,820mAh battery, about the same as on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and 5% larger than the one inside the Xiaomi 12 Pro.
We've completed our battery life test, and the Xiaomi 13 Pro simply aced it with a total endurance rating of 115 hours. The phone offered excellent run times across all our tests - calls, web browsing, and video playback.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro supports 120W HyperCharge support for its 4,820mAh battery. The phone comes bundled with that charger and an appropriate 6A-rated cable, so you are good to go right out of the box.
Battery options
The Xiaomi 13 Pro also supports up to 50W wireless charging, but you will need to buy Xiaomi's 50W wireless charger and connect it to one of Xiaomi's 60W+ wired chargers. There is also support for reverse wired and 10W wireless charging. The latter needs to be enabled from Settings->Battery or from the Control Center.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro supports Boost Charge mode - this feature allows the fastest possible charging at 120W, but only when the phone is with its screen turned off as an overheating prevention measure. This option is turned off by default, but you can enable it from within the Battery settings.
Naturally, we did our charging test with the Boost mode, as otherwise the phone is limited to 60W-80W charging.
So, the Xiaomi 13 Pro and its 120W power brick are an awesome combination. We got 10% in just 75 seconds of charging and 33% in 5 minutes. Then we clocked 61% of the charge in 10 minutes and 81% in 15 minutes!
The Xiaomi 13 Pro has a stereo speaker setup with the two pieces placed on its top and bottom sides behind dedicated grilles. The top speaker also acts as an earpiece, and that's why it has another front-facing outlet.
The top speaker is quieter than the bottom and less bassy, but thanks to the two outlets - the Xiaomi 13 Pro delivers balanced audio output. The speakers support Dolby Atmos enhancement, and it's OFF by default.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro scored a Very Good mark on our loudness test; the sound quality is very good as well - the vocals are great, there is some bass, and the high frequencies are fine, too.
Using a Dolby Atmos makes a little difference - it improves on the bass, but its vocals aren't as rich.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is running the company's latest MIUI 14 on top of Android 13. This new OS combo promises, among other things, major performance improvements and optimizations. This is all wrapped up in what Xiaomi calls "Project Razor". The team behind MIUI 14 updated the system architecture on the Android Kernel level with CPU, GPU, and memory resource scheduling, lighter system firmware size, and decreased memory usage. Apparently, the result is a 60% smoother operation of MIUI 14 on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra compared to MIUI 13.
Let's quickly go over the new things we found in MIUI 14 running on our Xiaomi 13 Pro unit. Only eight system apps cannot be uninstalled, which is a major leap from past MIUI releases. Other neat optimizations include automatic compression for apps that are not actively used and a toggle to turn off permanent notifications. These ones seem to stem from the Android 13 core rather than the MIUI shell. Privacy is also overhauled with end-to-end encryption and local on-device processing of user data.
Going over the list of expected new additions to MIUI 14 from its official release, we oddly found a lot is not yet present on our Xiaomi 13 Pro unit. Perhaps some of the new features will be delivered later with updates. Our unit lacks the new animated character widgets, for one, but it does have the new style of enlarged folders.
Enlarged folders
We also didn't find the duplicate file merger, Xiaomi wireless accessory cross-device switching controls, or the new family account features. The improved text recognition and extraction from images in the gallery are present, however.
Text recognition from the gallery
Other than these few changes, MIUI hasn't morphed in any major way, and users will feel right at home.
The split between a notification shade and Control Center is enabled by default this time, and that's probably a good thing. We found it to be quite convenient, and it's a way to educate users about MIUI's unique approach to the UI. And in case you are not a fan, you can always revert back to the standard notification shade with quick toggles in one place.
Lockscreen • Home screen • notification shade • Control center
The home screen, recent apps, and the general settings menu are business as usual. The app drawer is also enabled by default, and we like that Xiaomi has placed the search bar at the bottom of the screen for easier reach. There are custom and preset app categories for faster navigation.
Unlike the standard recent apps menu, the MIUI task switcher lists the apps vertically and provides several useful shortcuts. That's where you can open up apps in floating windows. However, you can have only one floating app open at a time. In case you want a faster shortcut to apps that support free-form windows, just enable the Sidebar.
Recent apps • Options • Floating window • Split screen • app drawer
Notably, the Sidebar is different depending on the scenario. In games, the Sidebar provides a couple of gaming-related features, while in video apps, the Sidebar becomes a Video toolbox. It lets you launch video apps in pop-up windows, Screenshot, Record screen, Cast, and Play Video with the screen off, including on YouTube without a Premium subscription. The only caveat is that the apps where you want the feature enabled need to be whitelisted in advance.
Sidebar and Video toolbox
Customization is, as always, a big part of MIUI. The system lets you choose the style of the Always-on display or the theme of the UI. Aside from the ones pre-installed on the device, there's a Themes store that gives you a wide selection. The themes themselves change not only the general appearance but also the ringtones and system icons.
Themes and Always-on display
Moving on to privacy and security, MIUI comes with a pre-installed system Security app. Aside from the additional malware protection layer it provides, the app holds many of the app settings and privacy features in one place. It can manage your blacklist, manage or restrict your data usage, configure battery behavior, and free up some RAM. It can also manage the permissions of your installed apps, define the battery behavior of selected apps, and apply restrictions only to certain apps.
MIUI 14 offers a Memory Extension option that's active by default (you can disable it if you like). On our review unit, we could choose between 3GB, 5GB, and 7GB of internal storage reserved to serve as RAM extension. Less important memory blocks should come here.
Security app • Security app • Memory extension
Speaking of security, the fingerprint reader is fast and reliable. We had no issues even when outside on a bright sunny day. There's extended functionality for the fingerprint reader, allowing you to open up an app or initiate action as soon as you unlock the device - just keep your finger on the scanner when it unlocks. It's a lot like OnePlus' OxygenOS/Oppo's ColorOS/Realme's Realme UI feature, but this one doesn't allow customization. We didn't find a way to add shortcut apps, so you are stuck with the Search and QR Code scanner.
Fingerprint reader and shortcuts
There is also an experimental feature that lets you use the fingerprint reader to measure heart rate. It is a bit wonky, but still an interesting little addition.
Heart rate monitoring with the fingerprint reader
MIUI comes with its proprietary multimedia apps - there's Gallery, and Music and Mi Video (both with local and streaming options). An MIUI File manager is also on board. And, of course, there is a Mi Remote app that uses the integrated IR blaster.
Gallery • Music • Video • File manager • Mi Remote
All in all, MIUI 14 changed a little over the 13th iteration. At least on our Xiaomi 13 Pro unit, that is. It's just as snappy and customizable as ever. Xiaomi has paid special attention to the haptics on this unit, and we found the motor to be crisp, strong, and accurate. There's even haptic feedback intensity adjustment if you find it obtrusive or not strong enough.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, the same as on the Xiaomi 13, and an upgrade over the regular and plus versions of the SD 8 Gen 1 inside the Xiaomi 12 generation.
The new chipset has an octa-core processor with one prime core, four performance ones (2+2), and three efficient cores a.k.a. 1+2+2+3 configuration. This means the CPU contains 1x3.2GHz Cortex-X3 + 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0GHz Cortex-A510 CPU cores.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset comes with an Adreno 740 GPU capable of Ray Tracing. Whether and how that gets used in actual mobile games remains to be seen in the future.
The new Gen 2 chipset offers 35% higher performance and 40% improved efficiency in the CPU department over its Gen 1 counterpart and 25% and 45% performance and efficiency bumps on the GPU side of things. It also has support for new, faster memory technologies (LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0).
The Xiaomi 13 Pro comes with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM in both its storage variants, 256GB and 512GB. Both of those use UFS 4.0 chips.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and dual-SIM 5G.
And now, let's run some benchmarks. The Xiaomi 13 Pro has the best Android chipset in mass production, and that's all we can ask from it as far as performance is concerned. It also packs one of the best smartphone displays, giving even more points to Xiaomi.
Last, but not least in importance, let's explore sustained performance and thermal handling.
We ran the CPU Throttle test for an hour, and the Xiaomi 13 Pro scored 74% stability, which is an excellent one for a smartphone without an active cooling system. The phone actually kept more than 80% of its performance though there are a few noticeable hiccups lasting about 5 seconds each - these are overheating prevention.
Then we ran the 3D Mark stress test, and the Xiaomi 13 Pro easily aces this one with 97% stability. That's an impressive result for a dual-glass smartphone with passive cooling and a top-of-the-line chipset.
CPU test • GPU test
The phone became quite warm during the CPU stress test, mostly across the frame, but it wasn't burning hot, and it was still possible to hold it comfortably. During the GPU stress test, the Xiaomi 13 Pro was barely warm, which is quite an achievement.
Overall, we'd rate the Xiaomi 13 Pro performance, sustained performance, and thermal handling as A- with the minus being for the few CPU hiccups. Still, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is probably the best-performing Android phone on the market right now as far as all three subjects are concerned.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro has a triple camera on the back that's reminiscent of the one on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. The primary camera uses a 50MP 1" sensor, then we have a 50MP telephoto for 3.2x optical magnification and Tele macro purposes, and finally, there is a 50MP ultrawide camera with AF capabilities.
The main camera is identical to the one on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, while the rest follow a similar logic, though they use different sensors and lenses. All lenses were allegedly developed to be up to Leica's standards, and there are two Leica color profiles to choose from when taking photos.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is the second Xiaomi phone to use a 1" sensor, the same Sony IMX 989 we saw on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. We have already explained what the 1" means in our 12S Ultra review - it's not the actual sensor size, but a legacy concept that refers to the diameter of the video camera tube needed to project an image that would cover the size of the sensor. You can learn more about that here.
The 50.3MP Sony IMX 989 sensor is the largest sensor available on a smartphone with 1.6µm individual pixels and a Quad-Bayer RGB color filter. The sensor sits behind a 23mm f/1.9 stabilized 8-element lens with aspherical elements with HyperOIS stabilization. The sensor features Octa-PD autofocus, Sony's Dual Pixel implementation for Quad Bayer sensors.
The telephoto camera uses a 50MP Samsung (S5K)JN1 1/2.76"" sensor with a Tetracell filter and 0.64µm pixels. It offers 3.2x optical zoom over the main camera via a 75mm f/2.0 Leica floating lens. Optical stabilization is present on this camera, too. The interesting bit is that it has a close focusing distance of just 10 cm and that's why the telephoto also acts as a Super Macro camera, too.
The ultrawide camera relies on the same 50MP Samsung (S5K)JN1 sensor as the zoom one, but it's coupled with a 14mm f/2.2 lens. There is support for autofocus, but as we said - the Super Macro mode uses the telephoto camera.
Finally, the selfie camera is similar to the one on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, and a rather disappointing one. It has a 32MP 1/3.14" OmniVision OV32C sensor with 0.7µm pixels and a 4-cell filter array (OV's Quad Bayer). There is one change since the 12S Ultra, and that's the wider 21mm f/2.0 lens (vs. 25mm f/24 on the Ultra). The focus is still fixed.
The camera app on the 13 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 (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
There is a new function in Video mode - Teleprompter. You can paste your video script here and read it easily while you capture your video.
Teleprompter
Aside from that, the app functions like any other recent Xiaomi. The basic operation for changing modes works with sideswipes 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, the Super Macro switch is here, plus the shortcut to the settings. 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 outputs at full res.
At 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), primary (2x digital zoom), and telephoto (3.2x optical zoom) options. Or you can tap on the active magnification and reveal even more zoom modes - 2x, 10x, and 70x (because why limit yourself to sensible digital zoom magnifications).
Pro mode • Pro mode • Pro mode • Portrait mode • Portrait mode
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.
There is also a Super Moon mode, where you can add various photo elements to your enhanced moon photos.
Night Mode is available on all four cameras, and there is even Night video for the primary cam.
Night mode • Supermoon • Settings
Finally, the Portrait mode uses the telephoto camera by default, but you can switch to Full Body mode (main camera) if you want. There are different effects for those wanting more artsy portraits.
The photo mode defaults to Leica Vibrant mode with AI turned off, and we adopted this mode as a default one for our tests, too. It offers more vivid photos with vibrant colors, higher contrast, and a somewhat more processed look. These photos look livelier on both small and big screens.
The Leica Authentic mode saves color-accurate photos with a slight dynamic range boost and a less processed look. The Authentic Leica look also brings a vignetting effect, which may not be everyone's cup of tea.
Let's start with the default photos - those are saved in 12.5MP. They offer plenty of resolved detail, there is no visible noise, and the sharpness is just great. Random detail and foliage have this over-processed look at times, which is not our favorite - they aren't exactly over-sharpened, but they surely seem artificial.
The colors are nicely saturated, and the contrast is high - typical for the Leica Vibrant profile. That's why some of the shadows may appear darker than what you've seen in other photos.
The dynamic range is good, but not over the top, and overall, we liked these photos despite the minor caveats.
The main camera, 12.5MP
Now, here are some of the scenes shot with the Leica Authentic profile. These have spot-on white balance and color rendering, as expected. Some of them also appear of a bit higher dynamic range and a tiny bit lower contrast.
But the most important change other than the color presentation is the less-processed and more natural look, especially in areas of random detail such as foliage. It's also easy to spot the vignetting effect on our image thumbnails, as it's not as apparent when you look at the photo's fullscreen. We also suspect there is some brightening of the image center.
We are glad the Authentic mode is present on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, and we can see why many people would prefer it over the Vibrant. Stylistically, it creates moodier photos.
The main camera, Leica Authentic
Thanks to the large sensor and the high resolution, the main camera also offers 2x lossless zoom, and there is a dedicated zoom toggle on the viewfinder.
The 2x zoomed photos are alright, they use some sort of advanced digital zoom, maybe a crop from the 50MP output, and they offer satisfying detail for this mode to make sense even if it's not on par with a 2x telephoto camera. The other properties - noise reduction, colors, contrast, and dynamic range - are a match to the default output we already talked about.
The main camera, 2x zoom
And you can use Leica Authentic on 2x zoom as well if you prefer that look.
2x zoom Vibrant • 2x zoom Authentic • 2x zoom Vibrant • 2x zoom Authentic
You can shoot in 50MP resolution with all cameras, and the photos coming from the primary are excellent - they are as vibrant as the regular 12.5MP pictures with likable colors, contrast, and dynamic range. There is no visible noise.
The detail isn't impressive, but it's more than other 50MP modes can offer to date, probably to the large sensor size.
The main camera, 50MP
Let's talk about the telephoto camera. It also saves 12.5MP by default, and those are great with plenty of resolved detail, top-notch sharpness, well-cleaned noise, and a lovely rendition.
The Leica Vibrant photos are more saturated, with higher contrast and good dynamic range.
Telephoto cam 3.2x zoom, 12.5MP
The Leica Authentic samples offer accurate colors and slightly more dynamic range, at the expense of a minor drop in the contrast. Their processing is also toned down and they once again present a more natural rendition with a less processed look, especially in areas of high complexity.
Telephoto camera, Leica Authentic
The Zoom camera also doubles as a macro shooter. Thanks to its floating lens, it's able to focus from as close as 10cm away. And the closeups we shot with the telephoto are outstanding - they are the sharpest ones we've seen lately with outstanding rendition, excellent detail, and easily likable vivid colors. The dynamic range is often spectacular, too.
The autofocus is proficient, and it won't fail you as it did not fail us. Our only complaint is that the Super Macro switch is hidden in the advanced menu on the viewfinder instead of being put on the Modes page.
Telephoto camera, macro mode
The Zoom camera also supports 50MP shooting, but the results are not the same as on the primary cam. These 50MP samples are average in detail and a bit noisy. Resizing those to 12.5MP reveals no real benefits unless we count the less processed look. But, as we established, we have Leica Authentic switch for that.
Tele camera, 50MP
Moving on to the ultrawide camera. Its photos also come from a 50MP sensor and are saved in 12.5MP resolution. And unlike on the other cameras, here, both Leica Vibrant and Authentic photos look identical.
The samples we shot on the ultrawide camera are great - there is plenty of resolved detail, higher than what we get on most UW cameras these days. The noise is minimal if any, and the corners are strengthened out rather well (this can be turned off if you prefer).
The photos offer accurate colors, good contrast, and high dynamic range. The rendition is natural-looking even when it comes to foliage and similar random detail.
Overall, the ultrawide camera offers solid performance and delivers excellent photos with, well, ultra-wide field of view.
Ultrawide camera, 12.5MP
And here are the scenes shot with Leica Authentic. As we said, these have little to no difference with Leica Vibrant.
Ultrawide cam, Leica Authentic
The 50MP photos taken with the ultrawide camera are rather poor - their detail is average at best, and they are incredibly noisy. The colors and the dynamic range remain good, though.
Ultrawide cam, 50MP
Xiaomi and Leica offer a powerful Portrait mode with a few options to choose from - default (75mm, no enhancements), 35mm Black and White, 50mm Swirly Bokeh, 75mm Portrait, 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 impressive. The subject is detailed, well-exposed, and free of noise, with natural rendition and likable colors. The natural bokeh is lovely.
Portraits, 75mm no effects
And these are the portraits taken with the 75mm mode - they seem almost identical to the non-enhanced ones, but the bokeh has been enhanced with some sort of swirly highlights.
Portraits, 75mm portrait effect
The full-body mode shoots portraits with the main camera and its 23mm lens. The images are great, with excellent subjects, proficient separation, and likable blur. The colors, contrast, and dynamic range are excellent, as usual.
Portraits, 23mm full body mode
The 50mm zoomed portraits are shot on the main camera, and we still consider them excellent even if the subject's detail isn't top-notch.
Portraits, 50mm swirly bokeh
We liked the dramatic 35mm B&W portraits shot on the main camera. Those are quite artsy, with the excellent monochrome presentation, more than enough detail, proficient subject separation, and likable blurry background.
Portraits, 35mm black&white
The 90mm soft focus mode is, well, not for everyone. It zooms over the telephoto camera, and everything is soft, as promised.
Portrait, 90mm soft focus
The 32MP selfie camera on the Xiaomi 13 Pro uses a Quad-Bayer sensor, just like on the Xiaomi 12S Ultra and the vivo X90 Pro. It saves 32MP pictures instead of 8MP, which makes the situation worse.
This year, Xiaomi used a wider 21mm lens, and you have 0.8x and 1x (crop) zoom levels.
The full resolution of 32MP means the detail will be rather average. And it is, indeed, you can almost tell those looked upscaled from the 8MP images.
Everything else is superb, though - contrast, dynamic range, and color presentation. The subject is rendered well and naturally, and the noise is low.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro, just like the 12S Ultra and 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, though we did turn it on and off for comparison purposes - the second and third sets of samples for each camera.
The default Auto low-light photos from the main camera are impressive, among the best nighttime images we've seen lately and rivaling only the ones coming from the same sensor (vivo X90 Pro, Xiaomi 12S Ultra). The resolved detail and overall rendition are class-leading, the dynamic range is impressively wide, and most of the highlights are handled with extreme proficiency.
The white balance is outstanding, and the colors retain a really nice level of saturation.
Night Mode triggers on almost most scenes, but it is a bit faster than if we were to force it manually.
The main camera, Auto
And here are a few sample shots with the Night Mode. They are similar to the default photos, though we can see some improvements in the skies, the overall contrast, and dynamic range. There are deeper shadows at times and even more contained highlights. Sometimes we can see slightly more detail in foliage and random elements on buildings.
The Night Mode improvements of the Auto mode are marginal at best, and we'd stick to Auto for sure.
The main camera, Night Mode
Even without Night Mode, the primary camera offers class-leading photos. They have average dynamic range, evident by the blown highlights, but overall - the detail remains ground-breaking, the exposure is great, and the color rendition and noise reduction are thoroughly impressive.
The main camera, Auto OFF
The 2x zoomed photos at night look less like lossless zoom and more like regular digital ones. Other than the halved detail, they are excellent across the board.
Main cam 2x, Auto
The 2x ones taken without Night Mode are still of the sort-of lossless kind with notably more detail and sharpness than the Auto output. They are as great as the 1x one and quite impressive for digitally zoomed ones.
Main cam 2x, Auto OFF
The Auto photos from the telephoto camera at night are incredibly detailed, with a wide dynamic range, outstanding exposure, and color saturation. The noise is impressively low, and we really liked their rendition.
Telephoto cam 3.2x, Auto
The Night Mode sometimes yields a bit more detail across areas of high complexity, but other than that - the photos look more or like the same as the Auto ones.
Telephoto cam 3.2x, Night Mode
Turning the Night Mode OFF on the zoom camera sometimes presents you with even more detailed photos, but they are darker and of lower dynamic range. Other times you will just get darker and noisier photos.
Telephoto cam 3.2x, Auto OFF
The Auto photos from the ultrawide camera are good. The resolved detail is satisfying, the noise is low, and the dynamic range is great. The colors remain saturated enough, too, and even if the pictures are a bit darker, they are still among the best low-light ultrawide ones we've seen.
Ultrawide camera, Auto
The Night Mode sometimes improves the skies and the dynamic range, but for the most part - the Night Mode and the Auto Mode offer similar if not identical photos.
Ultrawide camera, Night Mode
Turning the Night Mode off will give you a bit darker and noisier photo, with still likable color saturation and enough detail.
Ultrawide camera, Auto OFF
And here are photos of our usual posters taken with the Xiaomi 13 Pro. You can see how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro can record videos up to 4K60 with all three of its rear cameras, while 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.
The selfie camera is limited to 1080p@30fps, EIS is still available.
The video bitrate is about 50Mbps for the 4K footage and about 100Mbps for the 8K videos. Audio is always recorded in stereo with 320Kbps bitrate, and it always sounds great.
The 8K24 video from the main camera is great - there is a lot more detail than what we usually get from 8K footage from smaller sensors. Sure, some of the foliage and other random detail may look somewhat artificial, but the footage is detailed enough, the noise is low, the colors are accurate, and the dynamic range is impressive. The 8K24 low-light footage is not bad, too. There is enough detail, the noise is kept reasonably low, colors are nice, but the dynamic range is rather low.
We can imagine only a few of you will capture 8K videos, and those are limited to just a few minutes, so let's move to the mainstream 4K resolution.
The 4K clips from the primary camera are superb - they offer a ton of resolved detail and balanced processing, the colors are vibrant and nice, the dynamic range is quite impressive, too, and the contrast is good. We can't see any noise present in the footage. The 4K low-light videos present enough detail and good color saturation, and the noise is kept low enough. The videos are somewhat darker than we expected and have a low dynamic range. The main camera also offers Night Mode 4K video capturing, which greatly improves the exposure and the dynamic range; the colors get a noticeable saturation boost, too. These perks are at the expense of a slight drop in the sharpness and contrast. The 2x zoomed clips in both daylight and low-light conditions are just cropped and upscaled from the regular videos, meaning their detail is halved. The telephoto camera captures superb 4K videos with plenty of detail, accurate colors, wide dynamic range, and well-handled noise. The contrast could have been a bit higher, but even as it is - the footage is great. The 4K low-light videos from the telephoto camera are quite usable - the noise reduction is quite gentle, and there is enough detail even if accompanied by visible noise. The exposure is true-to-life, the dynamic range is okay, and the colors are good.
The 4K videos from the ultrawide camera are very good, too. Just like the rest of the cameras, this one captured detailed videos with excellent dynamic range, great color presentation, good contrast, and natural rendering.
The low-light ultrawide videos are dark, noisy, and with low dynamic range. They are still usable, but that's the best we can say about them.
As we said, stabilization is available across all cameras, though the telephoto one relies only on optical one and doesn't use electronic stabilization.
The primary and the ultrawide cameras record well-stabilized videos, and we have no complaints at all.
Finally, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is in our video comparison database.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is the 12S Ultra you never had the chance to own. It's a global smartphone with a luxurious design, IP68-rated at that, with a class-leading display, performance, and camera capabilities. It's battery life and charging speed is something many should envy, too. Indeed, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is a flagship anyone should be considering if looking for a top-notch smartphone in 2023.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro launches for €1300, which is in line with the current flagship crop. And let's explore some alternative offers from that crop.
The first one that comes to mind is the vivo X90 Pro we've recently reviewed. While it has launched on the global markets, the X90 Pro is actually available in about 10 countries, which means it's still a limited choice. It offers a much better grip with its vegan leather design, its camera processing is more natural, and we found its photo and video quality to be amazing, maybe even a whisker better than what Xiaomi offers. The vivo has a shorter zoom though, there is no Tele macro, and battery life is not the same, probably because of the less dynamic display. Still, a worthy opponent here.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a fan-favorite smartphone, and there are many reasons why. It has an excellent AMOLED screen with S-Pen support, an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, and four high-end cams with a 200MP primary and two zoom cameras for 3x and 10x optical magnifications. What's also better is the selfie camera with autofocus and much better selfie photo and video quality.
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max is an offer worth considering if you want the most reliable hardware and software experience. It has one of the sturdiest panels available, better water protection, faster performance, and an even better 2x lossless zoom. Its photo quality is inferior, though the video one is arguably superior. Sure, iOS is not for everyone, so you should decide for yourselves.
Finally, we are going to mention the Huawei Mate 50 Pro, which recently got Gbox integration within the AppGallery - a feature that made it easy to install whatever Google apps and services you were missing. Huawei's ecosystem grew much bigger over the last two years, with excellent smartwatches, Earbuds, and laptops, which is another argument to think of a Huawei phone. The Mate 50 Pro impressed us with a truly variable aperture on its primary camera and naturally-looking photo and video quality across the board, including on the selfie camera. Its grip is also much better, though the one thing you won't get is 5G connectivity - regardless of who your mobile operator is.
vivo X90 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra • Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max • Huawei Mate 50 Pro
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a flagship that's so easy to love. Its ceramic design is beautiful and we do appreciate the ingress protection. Then there is one of the best displays in the industry - a 1440p OLED with 10-bit color depth, dynamic 120Hz refresh, and Dolby Vision support.
Then there is the most current Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset with class-leading performance. The Xiaomi 13 Pro has excellent thermal handling and offers great sustained performance, and will not become hot no matter what. We even double-checked its performance with sideloaded benchmarks with modded IDs to avoid any cheating, and we are happy to report there was none to report.
We can also praise the battery life and, of course, the charging speed. Kudos for including the 120W charger in the box, too, as this has become a rare thing lately. We also liked the speakers' loudness and quality.
The camera department did not disappoint; on the contrary. The Xiaomi 13 Pro is shaping as one of the best cameraphones in 2023 with a class-leading primary camera with superb photo and video quality and 2x lossless zoom. Then there is the incredibly powerful telephoto and Tele macro camera, which excels across the board, too, and its closeups and portraits are very impressive. We can also praise the ultrawide-balanced performance.
Finally, the Xiaomi 13 Pro offers rich connectivity suit and comes with the latest Android and MIUI. Oddly, the global MIUI 14 omits many of the perks the Chinese one offers, but we've seen this in previous MIUI versions, too.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is not a perfect smartphone. First - there is no grip. It is impossible to use the 13 Pro without a case, as you would probably drop it in the first few hours. And then there is the dated selfie camera that's unworthy of a flagship, let alone a camera phone. We hope this is the last time we see this 32MP Quad-Bayer camera, but somehow, we doubt that, unfortunately.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro is one of the easiest recommendations we've ever given despite its horrible grip experience (beauty has its price, obviously, but please, buy yourself a premium case). It delivers on every promise and every important aspect, and it is one of the most beautiful, powerful, and skillful devices we've used. It is jam-packed with cutting-edge smartphone and imaging technology, and it's worth every penny.
- Premium ceramic design, IP68 rating.
- Class-leading OLED with QHD resolution, dynamic 120Hz refresh, and 1B colors.
- Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support.
- Excellent battery life.
- Incredibly fast wired and wireless charging.
- Loud stereo speakers, very good audio quality.
- Top-notch performance and thermal handling, impressive stability.
- Class-leading photo and video quality, outstanding portraits.
- Lossless 2x photo zoom via the main camera.
- Macro with the telephoto camera is something else.
- Leica Authentic mode delivers very accurate colors.
- 5G, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 7, IR blaster.
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