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Xiaomi 13 Smartphone Review: Well-Rounded But Pricey

Xiaomi 13 Review

Xiaomi Malaysia has recently launched the company’s latest lineup of flagship smartphones, comprising of the Xiaomi 13 Pro, which features a 1-inch sensor main camera, and its smaller sibling, the Xiaomi 13.

We have received the Xiaomi 13 for review, which retails for RM3,499.

Xiaomi 13 Specifications

ModelXiaomi 13
Dimensions152.8 x 71.5 x 8.0 mm
Weight185g
ProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
RAM12GB
Storage256GB
Display6.36″ AMOLED
1080 x 2400 pixels
120Hz, HDR10+
1900 nits (peak)
Camera (Front)32 MP, f/2
Camera (Rear)Main Camera: 50MP, f/1.8, 1/1.49″, PDAF, OIS
Ultrawide Camera: 12 MP, f/2.2, 1/3.06″
Telephoto Camera: 10 MP, f/2.2, , 1/3.75″, PDAF, OIS, 3.2x optical zoom
Operating SystemMIUI 14, Android 13
Battery and Charging4,500 mAh
67W fast charging, PD 3.0
50W wireless charging
ConnectivityWi-Fi 7, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct
Bluetooth 5.3
NFC
IR Blaster
GPS
BiometricsOn-screen fingerprint reader
Face unlock

What’s In The Box?

  • Xiaomi 13 smartphone
  • 67W charger
  • USB Type A to Type-C charging cable
  • Phone case
  • SIM tray remover
  • Documentation

Design

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The Xiaomi 13 is available in three colour options: Black, White and Flora Green. Our review sample came in white, which features a gloss finish. Looking from afar, it bears an uncanny resemblance to the iPhone. The device has a ring in chrome finish surrounding the edges. The device is shaped like a rounded rectangle, with all four corners being rounded off.

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At the front, you are greeted with a 6.36-inch AMOLED screen with a display with a hole-punch style selfie camera that can be found at the top of the screen.

The power button and volume rockers are placed at the right side. At the top, you will find a speaker port, and an IR blaster. The bottom houses the USB-C port, SIM tray and speaker grille.

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At the back, you will find the triple camera array. There is a slight camera bump, which houses all the cameras and LED flash in a rounded square housing. Within it, you will find the Leica branding.

Display

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The Xiaomi 13 uses an 1080 x 2400 pixel display with a 20:9 aspect ratio. You can set your display according to four different colour schemes: vivid, saturated, original and custom colour gamut. The phone sets vivid as default, which adjusts colour settings based on the content you are viewing. The colour reproduction is excellent, displaying punchy colours without oversaturating it.

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While you do not get a QHD+ resolution with this phone, it is still decent due to the smaller phone size. You get up to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, which can be overwritten via custom refresh rate settings. Sunlight legibility is excellent, thanks to the 1,900 nits peak brightness.

Even though it lacks a curved edge, the rounded corners does improve the overall ergonomics. It is easy to operate with one hand too. While the screen is not as large as I would like for gaming, the rounded corners does make the phone easy to hold sideways.

User Experience

The Xiaomi 13 uses MIUI 14 which is essentially a skin based on Android 13. As a result, it is pre-installed with some Mi specific apps, such as Getapps (Xiaomi’s app store) Game Center, Mi Video and more.

My past experience with Xiaomi’s OS was frustrating due to the sheer number of ads. This was understandable as past Xiaomi and Redmi phones were priced lower than the competition, and they needed to make money from other avenues.

However, Xiaomi has finally removed ads starting from MIUI 14, which is a much welcomed change.

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Performance

Like most current generation flagship smartphones on the market, the Xiaomi 13 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, with 12GB of RAM. This is more than sufficient for daily use, as I rarely faced any stuttering or lag even with multiple apps running in the background.

For the number crunchers out there, the Xiaomi 13 scored 1388 points for single core, and 5235 points for multi-core on Geekbench 6. On the GPU front, it has an OpenCL score of 4938, which is pretty much in line with phones equipped with this particular chipset.

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When it comes to gaming, the Xiaomi 13 performed well, capable of running Genshin Impact at above 55 fps with high settings.

Heat is well-maintained too, as it only felt slightly warm to the touch after prolonged gaming time.

Camera

The Xiaomi 13 is equipped with cameras co-engineered with Leica. As a result, the main shooter has excellent colour science out of the box. You do get two colour profiles: Leica Vibrant and Leica Authentic. Leica Vibrant saturates the colours a bit more to make pictures appear more vivid, while Leica Authentic is the more natural looking of the two. You also get some Leica filters to fine tune how your picture looks.

The Main Camera

The main shooter is equipped with a 50 megapixel Sony IMX800 sensor, which does a great job at capturing detail. The images look clean and sharp, and has a nice dynamic range. It captures 12.5 megapixel photos by default, which is more than enough for general use. When switched to 50 megapixel mode, the image quality is similar, but with much more detail. I would recommend shooting at 50 megapixels, but do keep in mind that the file sizes will be significantly larger.

Ultrawide & Telephoto

The ultrawide and telephoto cameras can be described as competent. While the ultrawide camera does not have autofocus, images still look sharp and detailed. On the other hand, the 3.2x telephoto captures a lot of detail, but is prone to over-sharpening. Both of them have excellent colour reproduction however, as images look consistent when compared to the main camera.

Portrait Mode

The Xiaomi 13 also has a dedicated portrait mode which simulates a few of Leica’s most popular lenses. The filters not only adjust the bokeh effects, but also the colour reproduction. All in all, the images look pleasant, however the minimum focus distance is much further away than usual.

Video

The Xiaomi 13 is capable of capturing up to 8K 24 FPS video. It also has OIS to compensate for handshake and minor movements. The videos look pleasant, with 4K having the best balance between frame rate and detail. You can shoot videos in 8K, but 24 FPS feels choppy at times especially when viewed on a high frame rate display. It would be much more useful if we can get 8K 30FPS instead.

Audio

Having stereo speakers makes movie watching and gaming sound more immersive. At moderate volumes (about 60%), the speakers did an adequate job is balancing between low and high notes. However, at higher volumes, the speakers tend to sound muddy.

Battery Life

The Xiaomi 13 comes with a 4,500mAh battery with 67W fast charging. While some may be disappointed with the lack of 120W charging found in the Pro variant, it is still pretty fast as I could get the device fully charged in about 40 minutes.

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Battery life is decent, if not spectacular. I could easily get more than a day’s worth before needing to recharge the phone.

Our Verdict

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While I like the overall package the Xiaomi 13 has to offer, we have to address the pricing at launch. It is priced at RM3,499, which is a hefty RM600 price hike over the Xiaomi 12 at launch. Past Xiaomi phones were competitively priced, but the current generation puts it squarely in contention with the OnePlus 11, which has more RAM and larger battery for an additional RM100.

That being said, it is a well-rounded smartphone with a flagship chipset, and Xiaomi phones tend to come down in price. The company has also pledged to provide three generations of Android system updates, along with five years of security patch updates for the Xiaomi 13, which is a boon to customers who are concerned with long term software support.

Overall, it is a solid phone with great user experience and performance, if you can overlook the pricing.

For more information of the Xiaomi 13, please visit the official product page here.

You can also purchase the Xiaomi 13 at official Shopee and Lazada stores.

Written By

Part-time gamer, writer, & full time weird coffee person.

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