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UPDATE: 2023/04/18 14:00 EST BY ARYAN SURENDRANATH

Xiaomi 13 Ultra: 1-inch sensor with variable aperture and more

The article has been updated with information about the Xiaomi 13 Ultra.

After launching the Xiaomi 13 series in China, the mobile manufacturer unveiled the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro for the global markets at MWC 2023. And in April 2023, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra joined the lineup. Equipped with high-end specs such as the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, Leica camera tuning, and up to 120W fast charging, the Xiaomi 13 series goes against the likes of the iPhone 14 lineup and the recently launched Samsung Galaxy S23 flagship series, giving them a toe to toe fight.

For those looking for an Android device with flagship-grade specs and a not-so-high price tag, the Xiaomi 13 series is full of great options. Here's everything you need to know about the 2023 flagship phones from Xiaomi.

Price and Availability

Xiaomi 13 Colors
Xiaomi 13

Due to the staggered launch, the Xiaomi 13 series has had varying launch and availability dates. Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro have been available for purchase through official channels since March 8, 2023. The Xiaomi 13 is available in Black, White, and Flora Green colorways, with prices starting at €999 in Europe and £849 in the UK. Meanwhile, the Xiaomi 13 Pro comes in Ceramic Black and Ceramic White color options and has a starting price of €1,299 in Europe and £1,099 in the UK. For buyers in India, the Xiaomi 13 Pro will INR 79,999.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is currently available for pre-orders in China — starting at MB 5,999 for the 12GB + 256GB variant —with news about international availability set to arrive at a later date.

Specifications

Category

Xiaomi 13 Ultra

Xiaomi 13 Pro

Xiaomi 13

Build

  • Gorilla Glass Victus front
  • Antibacterial nanotech silicone leather back
  • Metal frame
  • Gorilla Glass Victus front
  • Ceramic or Silicone Polymer back
  • Metal frame
  • Glass front
  • Glass or Silicone Polymer back
  • Metal frame

Display

6.73-inch, LTPO OLED

6.73-inch, LTPO OLED

6.36-inch, OLED

Display Features

  • 1440 x 3200-pixel resolution
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • HDR10+
  • 2600 nits peak brightness
  • 1920Hz PWM dimming
  • 1440 x 3200-pixel resolution
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • HDR10+
  • 1900 nits peak brightness
  • 89.6% screen-to-body ratio
  • 1080 x 2400-pixel resolution
  • 120Hz refresh rate
  • HDR10+
  • 1900 nits peak brightness
  • 89.4% screen-to-body ratio

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Memory & Storage

  • Memory: Up to 16GB of RAM
  • Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
  • No SD Card Slot
  • Memory: Up to 12GB of RAM
  • Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
  • No SD Card Slot
  • Memory: Up to 12GB of RAM
  • Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
  • No SD Card Slot

Rear Cameras

  • Wide: 50 MP, f/1.9 or f4.0 (variable aperture), OIS, 1-inch sensor
  • Ultra-wide: 50 MP, f/1.8, 122-degree FoV, Autofocus, 5cm macro photography
  • Telephoto: 50 MP, f/1.8, PDAF, OIS, 3.2x optical zoom
  • Telephoto: 50 MP, f/3.0, OIS, 5x optical zoom
  • Leica optimizations
  • Wide: 50 MP, f/1.9, OIS, Dual Pixel PDAF, Laser AF
  • Ultra-wide: 50 MP, f/2.2, 115-degree FoV
  • Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.0, PDAF, OIS, 3.2x optical zoom
  • Leica optimizations
  • Wide: 50 MP, f/1.8, OIS, HDR, PDAF
  • Ultra-wide: 12 MP, f/2.2, 120-degree FoV
  • Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.0, PDAF, OIS, 3.2x optical zoom
  • Leica optimizations

Front Camera

32 MP, HDR

32 MP, HDR

32 MP, f/2.0

Security

Face Unlock, Under-Display Fingerprint Scanner, PIN, Pattern, Password

Face Unlock, Under-Display Fingerprint Scanner, PIN, Pattern, Password

Face Unlock, Under-Display Fingerprint Scanner, PIN, Pattern, Password

Connectivity

5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

Ports

USB-C (3.2), No 3.5mm Headphone Jack

USB-C, No 3.5mm Headphone Jack

USB-C, No 3.5mm Headphone Jack

IP

IP68

IP68

IP68

Battery

5,000 mAh

4,820 mAh

4,500 mAh

Wired Charging

90W

120W

67W

Wireless Charging

50W

50W

50W

Operating System

MIUI 14 (based on Android 13)

MIUI 14 (based on Android 13)

MIUI 14 (based on Android 13)

Colors

Black, White, Olive Green

Black, White

Black, White, Green

Starting Price

  • RMB 5,999 (~€795)
  • RMB 6,499 (~€862)
  • RMB 7,299 (~€967)

€1,299/£1,099

€999/£849

Design

Xiaomi 13 Design 1
Xiaomi 13 Pro

Like every other Android flagship out there, Xiaomi 13 Pro features a curved-edge design. While the smartphone resembles its predecessor — Xiaomi 12 Pro — in some ways, there are a number of noticeable differences. For starters, the Xiaomi 13 Pro features a bigger camera module with Leica branding (more on the Xiaomi 13 Pro's camera down below). Additionally, the device has a ceramic back and is available in three colors: white, black, and green. There is also a fourth blue variant, which comes with a leather back, but it has not been made available in the global markets.

On the other hand, the Xiaomi 13 has a similar appearance to the Pro variant but features a flat-edge design. However, unlike the Xiaomi 13 Pro, you miss out on the ceramic back and instead, you get a glass-sandwich build. Similar to the Pro model, it comes in three glass back colors, namely white, black, and green.

As for the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, the smartphone features a design similar to the Xiaomi 13 Pro on the front, but if you flip around to the back there's quite a lot of difference. The most notable being the larger circular camera array and antibacterial silicone leather finish.

Xiaomi 13 Ultra All Colors
Source: Xiaomi
Xiaomi 13 Ultra

While we'll talk about the display in detail down below, it's worth noting that Xiaomi 13 has the "narrowest chin" of all smartphones, leaving behind Apple, Samsung, and every other smartphone manufacturer. In our opinion, Xiaomi's flat display with slim bezels looks more aesthetically pleasing than the curved-edge design of the costlier Xiaomi 13 Pro.

Finally, it's worth noting that Xiaomi has included an official IP rating for the first time in its latest flagship smartphones. All devices in the Xiaomi 13 series IP68 dust and water-resistant. This means they are highly resistant to dust and can withstand being submerged in water at a depth of up to 1.5 meters for a maximum of 30 minutes. However, only the Pro and Ultra model are equipped with Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus Plus, the standard Xiaomi 13 lacks official Gorilla Glass protection.

Display

Xiaomi 13 Display
Via: Ice universe
Xiaomi 13

Xiaomi 13 Pro's display remains unchanged (more or less) from the Xiaomi 12 Pro. It features a 6.73-inch LTPO OLED display with 1440 x 3200-pixel resolution. In addition, this display features support for up 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG. A major upgrade over the Xiaomi 12 Pro is that the Xiaomi 13 Pro features higher maximum and peak brightness levels. The display can go up to 1200 nits during normal usage, but the peak brightness boost can reach 1,900 nits during HDR video playback. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra also shares a lot of similarities with the 13 Pro, but outdoes it when it comes to peak brightness levels. It is rated for 1,300 nits of typical brightness but HDR content will push it to a peak of 2,600 nits.

The standard Xiaomi 13 features a flat 6.36-inch OLED panel that supports 1080 x 2400-pixel resolution and 120Hz refresh rate (not adaptive). Thankfully, Xiaomi has included support for high-end features such as Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG. It is also worth noting that both Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro feature an ambient color temperature sensor that adjusts the color temperature on the go and works much like Apple's True Tone display technology.

Camera

Xiaomi 13 Ultra Camera
Source: Xiaomi
Xiaomi 13 Ultra

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra comes with a camera system that is bound to attract a lot of attention. Headlining the quad-camera setup on its rear is a 50MP shooter that uses a 1-inch IMX 989 sensor and features variable aperture. Then there are two 50MP telephoto shooters, one with 3.2x optical zoom (75mm focal length) and another 5x optical zoom (120mm focal length). Last is a 50MP ultrawide, with a 122-degree field-of-view.

The Xiaomi 13 Pro also boasts a powerful camera system with a 50MP IMX989 primary camera lens with 1-inch sensor size and 'Hyper' OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle sensor with a 115-degree FoV, and a 50MP telephoto lens with 3.2x optical zoom. In contrast, the standard Xiaomi 13 features a 50MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, and a 10MP telephoto shooter that also supports 3.2x optical zoom. All models feature a 32MP camera on the front.

Xiaomi has worked with Leica to improve both the image processing aspect and the hardware aspect of the Xiaomi 13 devices. While we don't recommend you to judge the camera's performance solely based on the specs, Xiaomi claims that the entire 13 series offers high-quality performance and impressive image quality — and early camera samples suggest the same.

Processor

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Key Visual-Red

As confirmed earlier, all Xiaomi 13 series models are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. Qualcomm recently introduced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and it offers a lot of upgrades over the previous generation Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. The 4nm node process-based chipset offers up to 3.2GHz CPU speeds, hardware-accelerated ray-tracing, Wi-Fi 7, AI improvements, and a lot more.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor is coupled with 8 or 12 GB of RAM and up to 256GB UFS 4.0 storage on the Xiaomi 13 and up to 512GB UFS 4.0 storage on the Xiaomi 13 Pro. There is no MicroSD card slot on either of the phones. It's also worth noting that both Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro run on the company's latest MIUI 14, which is based on Android 13, out of the box.

Battery

Xiaomi 13 Battery
Xiaomi 13

Both the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro offer impressive battery life and fast charging capabilities. The 13 Pro is equipped with a 4,820mAh battery and supports 120W fast wired charging. The standard Xiaomi 13 features a slightly smaller 4,500mAh cell and slightly slower 67W wired charging. Now, despite being the most expensive of the bunch, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra isn't the fastest charging, as it's 5,000 mAh cell only supports 90W fast wired charging. But the wireless charging specs remain uniform across all models as they support 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging.

Overall, the Xiaomi 13 series features phones that seem like excellent Android flagship smartphones. We're currently in the middle of testing the devices and will share our impressions with you once we've had more time with them. In the meantime, tell us about your thoughts on the Xiaomi 13 series with a comment below.