After being postponed, the presentation of the Xiaomi 3 and 13 Pro will finally be held on December 11. The opportunity to finally discover the new smartphones, which should be equipped with the famous Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and an impressive photo module.
The top-of-the-range smartphones Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro – an Ultra model is also planned – are definitely desired! While the presentation conference was originally scheduled to take place on 1er December 2022, the national mourning for China’s former president Jiang Zemin has forced the automaker to postpone the event to a date so far unknown. Finally, the brand has just announced on the social network Weibo that it will take place this Sunday, December 11 at 12 p.m. (French time). The conference should last more than two hours, or even three, because Xiaomi is used to making the “suspense” last and to present many products in parallel – we expect in particular the new connected watch Xiaomi Watch S2, the Xiaomi wireless earphones Buds 4, the very first Xiaomi mini PCs (see our article), and, of course, the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro. And to keep its fans waiting, the manufacturer has already officially unveiled certain characteristics of its next smartphones, as well as many visuals, which, with the various leaks, allows us to have a first glimpse of what awaits us – but no news from 13 X at the moment.
Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro: very high-end smartphones
The new official images of the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro unveiled by the Chinese manufacturer give a first glimpse of the appearance of the new smartphones, whether in terms of colors, materials, screens and borders. Thus, the Xiaomi 13 is currently visible in two colors, white (White Edition) and blue (Faraway Mountain Blue). The first seems to have a glass back, quite classic therefore, but the second one is in leather – a bit like film cameras. For its part, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is displayed in green (Wilderness Green) with a “nano-microcrystalline ceramic” coating, as announced by the CEO of the brand, Lei Jun. Both will be equipped with an OLED screen – 6.36 inches for the Xiaomi 13 and 6.73 inches for the 13 Pro – with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and much thinner borders, as can be seen on the Pictures. The classic model will have a flat screen with 1.61 millimeter borders – making it the thinnest on the market, ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S22 – and the Pro model with curved screen edges surrounded by metal. Finally, Xiaomi revealed that the smartphones would be IP68 certified for water and dust resistance – so they can be completely submerged for extended periods – which is expected of any high-end smartphone – it wasn’t. however not the case of the Xiaomi 12.
Following Qualcomm’s event in November, we already know that Xiaomi’s new series will be powered by the brand new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 engraved in 4nm. The SoC incorporates an eight-core processor, consisting of a high-performance core clocked at 3.19 GHz, four secondary cores at 2.8 GHz and three efficient cores at 2.0 GHz. Qualcomm announces performance up by 35% and better energy efficiency by 40%. The chip should therefore not heat up as much as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It also announces an increase of 25% for the graphics part compared to its predecessor. The Xiaomi 13 will be among the first smartphones to ship it – just after the Vivo X90 Pro+. Enough to be enthusiastic about the performance of the Xiaomi, especially since the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is presented by its manufacturer as capable of “revolutionize high-end smartphones for extraordinary experiences“. The phones should therefore perform all tasks, even the heaviest ones, without flinching, whether it be video processing or gaming. Finally, Xiaomi’s new smartphones should logically carry MIUI 14, the new version of its overlay for Android 13, which must also be presented during the conference.
Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro: more impressive photo modules than ever
The photo part of the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro was particularly highlighted by the manufacturer. Indeed, the smartphones will be stamped Leica, the German partner of the manufacturer for a few months, and supported by the IMX989 from Sony on the Pro and Ultra smartphones. They will both adopt a P-shaped module with a square design and three sensors. According to the latest information, the Xiaomi 13 will have a triple camera, with a very high quality 50 megapixel main sensor – a format that allows you to benefit from larger photosensitive elements, and therefore recover more light –, an ultra wide of 12 megapixels and one of 10 megapixels. As for the photo block of the 13 Pro, which also seems a little thicker than that of the classic model, it will be composed of a one-inch type sensor – the same as that of the 12S Ultra, which was reserved for the Chinese market – of 50 megapixels, and two other cameras for the ultra wide-angle and the telephoto lens of 50 megapixels each. Finally, in the center of the screen, there will be a 32-megapixel sensor for selfies. Truly impressive setups!
But if the two smartphones promise to be faster and more powerful than ever, Xiaomi has promised not to make any concessions on their autonomy. So, the Xiaomi 13 will pack a 4,500mAh battery with 67W fast charging, while the Pro model will pack a 4,820mAh battery with 120W fast charging and 50W wireless charging. even if the batteries are not that big, the new phones from Xiaomi should have excellent autonomy according to the statements of the firm. Indeed, the new SoC will be much more energy efficient, with Qualcomm citing power reductions of 40-45%. Xiaomi even promises that the Xiaomi 13 will offer better autonomy than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the benchmark in the field! The bet is launched!
Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro: release date and price
The launch of the new high-end smartphones in China has unfortunately been delayed by current events. They should therefore be released either directly on December 11, at the time of the conference, or in the weeks that follow. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra should arrive a little later, probably at the beginning of 2023, since two very important mobile conferences will be held during this period. As usual, we will have to wait a bit to see the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro arrive in France, probably in February at the MWC 2023 show to be held in Barcelona on February 27 – as a reminder, the Xiaomi 12 was released in March 2021. And unlike the Xiaomi 12 Ultra, which was only available in China, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has already confirmed that the Xiaomi 13 Ultra will be available in France in 2023!
If we still do not know the amounts for new smartphones, we must still expect them to be much higher than for previous ranges, given inflation – the latest high-end models from other manufacturers, like the iPhone 14, are more expensive than usual. In France, the Xiaomi 12 cost between €869 and €1,099 when they were released. Hoping that the first model does not immediately exceed the symbolic bar of 1,000 € too…
