Equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snadragon chip and impressive Leica photo modules, the new Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro smartphones promise a lot. What to compete with the iPhone 14 and the Samsung Galaxy S23?
The high-end Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro smartphones – an Ultra model is also planned – have definitely been desired! If the latest flagships of the Chinese manufacturer were initially to be presented on 1er December 2022, the national mourning for the former president of China Jiang Zemin forced Xiaomi to postpone the event to December 11 – an event during which it notably presented the new connected watch Xiaomi Watch S2, the wireless earphones Xiaomi Buds 4 , the very first Xiaomi mini PC (see our article), a high-end WiFi-6 router, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 folding smartphone, its new Xiaomi Sound Pro connected speaker and its new MIUI 14 interface. The Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro have finally shown themselves in depth – but no news of the 13 X yet. No real surprise, given all the information that had already been formalized and leaked, but the two devices present themselves as serious references and try to compete with the iPhone 14 and the future Samsung Galaxy S23.
Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro: very high-end smartphones
The Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro are not distinguished by their design, whether in terms of colors, materials, screens and borders, but both rely on a simple, refined and elegant appearance. Thus, the Xiaomi 13 comes in four colors, white (White Edition), black, green (Wilderness Green) and blue (Faraway Mountain Blue) – but editions with flashy colors are also planned. The first three have a glass back, which is quite classic, but the blue coating is made of faux leather – a bit like film cameras – which the manufacturer calls “nano tech skin” and which is very difficult to stain. Its thickness is 7.98mm and its weight is 189g. For its part, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is also displayed in white, black and green with a “nano-microcrystalline ceramic” coating, and in blue, again with a faux leather coating. It measures 8.38 millimeters and weighs 229 grams.
Both are 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, up to 1,900 nits of brightness and much thinner bezels as seen in the photos. The classic model has a flat screen with a definition of 1080 x 2400 pixels for a ratio of 20:9; with edges of 1.61 millimeters to 1.81 millimeters – making them the thinnest on the market, ahead of those of the Samsung Galaxy S22 and Phone 14, which measure 2.4 mm – and the Pro model of edges of curved screen surrounded by metal and a definition in 2K. For both models, Corning Gorilla Glass protects the screen. Finally, the smartphones are IP68 certified for water and dust resistance – so they can be completely submerged for prolonged periods – which is expected of any high-end smartphone – however this was not the case. Xiaomi 12s.
Xiaomi’s new series is powered by the all-new 4nm-engraved Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. 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, but still a little. In-game, at 60 FPS, the smartphones would peak at 43.1°C, which is still hot, given that the battery starts to be damaged above 40°C. It also announces an increase of 25% for the graphics part compared to its predecessor. The Xiaomi 13 are 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 is video processing or gaming. Finally, Xiaomi’s new smartphones ship MIUI 14, the new version of its overlay for Android 13, which offers a serious performance boost as well as some interesting new features for the home screen.Both models are sold in the same configurations: 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, 8/256, 12/256 and 12/512.
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 are stamped Leica, the German partner of the manufacturer for a few months – and which allows smartphones to take advantage of its lenses and its Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant photo modes – and supported by Sony’s IMX989 on smartphones Pro and Ultra. They both adopt a P-shaped module with a square design and three sensors. The Xiaomi 13 has 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 to collect more light –, an ultra wide 12 megapixel and a 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 is 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 is a 32-megapixel sensor for selfies. Truly impressive setups! It remains to be seen how Xiaomi will manage the photo algorithms.
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 packs a 4,500mAh battery with 67W fast charging and 50W wireless charging, while the Pro model packs a 4,820mAh battery with 120W fast charging, wireless charging. 50W wire and 10W reverse charging. However, 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 is 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 on!
Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro: release date and price
If the launch in China of the new high-end smartphones has unfortunately been delayed by current events, they are now available since December 11. 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!
As expected with inflation – the latest high-end models from other manufacturers, like the iPhone 14, are more expensive than usual – prices have been revised upwards. As a reminder, in France, the Xiaomi 12 cost between €869 and €1,099 when they were released. Xiaomi 13 prices are 3,999 yuan (544.96 euros excluding VAT) for the 8 GB + 128 GB configuration; 4,299 yuan (586 euros excluding tax) for the 8 GB + 256 GB configuration; 4,599 yuan (627 euros excluding VAT) for the 12 GB + 256 GB configuration; and 4,999 yuan (681 euros excluding tax) for the 12 + 512 GB configuration. As for the prices of the Xiaomi 13 Pro, they are 4,999 yuan (681 euros excluding tax) for the 8 GB + 128 GB configuration; 5,399 yuan (736 euros excluding VAT) for the 8 GB + 256 GB configuration; 5,799 yuan (790 euros excluding VAT) for the 12 GB + 256 GB configuration; and 6,299 yuan (858 euros excluding VAT) for the 12 + 512 GB configuration. It remains to be hoped that prices do not increase too much in France, and that the first model does not immediately exceed the symbolic bar of 1,000 €. ..
