The Xiaomi 13 is a remarkable Android flagship that merits a far larger market because to its incredibly bright display, outstanding performance, and stylish (if uninspired) straight-edged design.
Design
With the Xiaomi 13, Xiaomi has chosen a design that is distinctly reminiscent to the iPhone 14, which is not necessarily a bad thing (if you’re an iPhone enthusiast, that is).
The phone weighs 185g and measures 71.5 x 152.8 x 8mm. Its glossy, straight-edged aluminum body is more conservative than boundary-pushing, but it feels fantastic in the hand and, at least to me, strikes a rare balance between being big enough to look impressive and being comfortable to use. In terms of size, the Xiaomi 13 is around millimeters in between the Samsung Galaxy S23 and Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus (and so the S22 and S22 Plus).
The Xiaomi 13 is offered in three standard colors abroad: Flora Green, White, and Black. The company has also manufactured limited edition versions in more striking red, green, yellow, and blue finishes in China, in addition to a gray and light blue version. However, as previously stated, the phone is only offered in black in the UK.
All of the models have glass backs, with the exception of the light blue model with vegan leather, which is noticeably heavier than the others (weighing 189g instead of 185g). I think the visible splits between the back camera sensors (more on these later) are a really beautiful touch, and my Flora Green model looks fantastic.
The good news is that the Xiaomi 13 doesn’t seem like a device that would shatter into a million pieces if you drop it. The glass rear of the phone may look a bit shiny to some. Customers in the UK who are unable to purchase the leather-clad version of the phone may become frustrated since, well, it is an absolute fingerprint magnet.
The Xiaomi 13 also has an IP68 rating for water and dust protection, which is something we’ve come to expect from phones in this price bracket. It can be challenging to test this kind of stuff, but I had no issues using the phone while it was lightly misted with shower water.
Display
The 6.36-inch OLED screen of the Xiaomi 13 is slightly larger than that of its predecessor, but it shares the same 1080 x 2400 resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, and support for various HDR standards as the Xiaomi 12.
The device has a flat screen with a punch-hole camera at the top, just like the 12, and the bezels are relatively thin as well.
During my encounter with the Xiaomi 13, I discovered that it was incredibly bright and snappy, and that its 120Hz refresh rate made motion—whether playing games or browsing social media—smooth.
The Xiaomi 13’s display can be seen clearly indoors or in direct sunshine thanks to its max brightness of 1,900 nits (however, since I’m in London, most of my testing was done in overcast conditions *sigh*). Additionally, this is a major improvement over the 1,100nit display of its predecessor.
Cameras
A 50MP f/1.8 primary camera with OIS, a 10MP f/2.0 telephoto camera with 3.2x optical zoom and OIS, and a 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide sensor make up the Xiaomi 13’s Leica-branded triple rear camera configuration.
The primary distinction between the Xiaomi 13 and its predecessor, which stumbled along with a lackluster 5MP “telemacro” sensor, is the latter camera. An ALD lens coating, which lowers reflection and enhances image clarity, is another benefit of Xiaomi’s collaboration with Leica. Taken together, these features make the phone’s camera system appear far more intelligent than the Xiaomi 12.
Performance and audio
In 2023, Qualcomm’s top mobile SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, is included in the Xiaomi 13. Practically speaking, the Xiaomi 13 still has the quickest silicon available (the Xiaomi 13 Pro also utilizes the same processor), even though it lacks the customized chipset seen in Samsung’s Galaxy S23 range. The phone’s Geekbench 6 results were nearly the same as those of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus, indicating that there is not much of a difference between the two processors.
FIFA Mobile, my go-to benchmark test for mobile gaming, has run as smoothly as possible on a mobile device, and the Xiaomi 13 has felt suitably speedy during my time with it, as stated in the display section of this review. Neither gaming nor general browsing has caused the phone to noticeably heat up.
Since the Xiaomi 13 is a 5G phone, you can connect to the faster mobile network if it is available where you live. However, like all phones, the speed of your phone will depend more on your location and network than on the phone itself. Another remarkable new networking technology is WiFi 7, which can support up to 3.6Gbps if you can connect to a network that supports it.
Additionally, I was pleasantly delighted by the Xiaomi 13’s audio capabilities. Even while the phone’s Dolby Atmos-tuned dual speakers don’t produce a real spatial audio experience, they are incredibly loud and bass-rich, even though I’m not one to play music or videos loudly.
Software
Anyone who has ever used a Xiaomi phone will recognize the MIUI 14 interface, which runs on Android 13.
Since I personally find Xiaomi’s three-button navigation at the bottom of the screen to be bothersome, I quickly switched my smartphone to gesture-based navigation, which did, in fact, make using the device much more like using an iPhone.
There are advantages to MIUI over the default Android experience. The Xiaomi 13‘s floating apps and colorful wallpaper selection are fantastic, and the left/right division of the top-screen menus (one for fast settings, one for alerts) reduces clutter (yes, this is very iPhone-like; can you tell I use an iPhone every day?).
Additionally, Xiaomi’s signature charging and notification graphics are still excellent, and I like the sidebar options that are available when watching videos (see below).
There are just a few pre-installed apps, some of which are obnoxious (like Booking.com) and others of which are helpful (like YouTube). However, downloading your preferred apps from the Google Play store is as simple and quick as you might anticipate, and the third-party bloatware can be removed.
During my testing of the Xiaomi 13, I didn’t see any significant bugs, however a few apps (such as FIFA Mobile and Geekbench 6) did briefly freeze when I chose actions that needed an internet connection (but not connected to the internet).
Battery life
With the same battery technology as its predecessor, the Xiaomi 12, the Xiaomi 13 boasts a 4,500mAh battery that supports 67W wired charging, 50W wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging. Most users will find this to be fast enough. In our tests, the Xiaomi 13 charged to 41% in 15 minutes, 78% in 30 minutes, and 100% in 46 minutes using the phone’s 67W charger, which is thankfully included in the box (well done, Xiaomi!).
The phone happily survived a whole day of rather heavy use with the majority of its bells and whistles turned on, including a 120Hz refresh rate, auto brightness, multiple open apps, etc. I would estimate that you will likely get two days out of the Xiaomi 13 if you only send a few messages a day and scan a little bit. This is comparable to what you might anticipate from the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and iPhone 14 under comparable usage circumstances.
When testing phones, I like to do a little streaming experiment, and the Xiaomi 13 did a fantastic job. The phone’s battery has only depleted 10% after starting YouTube and streaming a full two-hour movie in 1080p at medium brightness. To put it another way, you won’t have to worry about the Xiaomi 13 running out of battery when you watch long films on a long journey or during a commute (although 4K streaming would obviously use more power).