better than iPhone 14 and Galaxy S23?
Equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snadragon chip and impressive Leica photo modules, the new Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro smartphones promise a lot. What will 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 – are certainly desired! If the latest flagships of the Chinese manufacturer will be presented first on 1eh December 2022, the national mourning for former Chinese president Jiang Zemin forced Xiaomi to postpone the event on December 11 – an event where it 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 foldable smartphone, the new Xiaomi Sound Pro connected speaker and the new MIUI 14 interface. The Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro has finally revealed themselves in depth – but no news yet on the 13 X. No real surprise, given all the information that has been formalized and leaked, but the two devices have presented themselves as serious reference and trying 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, even in terms of colors, materials, screen and borders, but both rely on a simple, refined and elegant appearance. So, the Xiaomi 13 comes in four colors, white (White Edition), black, green (Wilderness Green) and blue (Faraway Mountain Blue) – but editions with luxurious colors are also planned. The first three have a glass back, which is pretty classic, but the blue coating is made of faux leather – a bit like film cameras – which the manufacturer calls “nano tech skin” and is very smudge-resistant. Its thickness is 7.98mm and its weight is 189g. For its part, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is also shown 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.
The
The
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 thinner bezels as seen in the pictures. The classic model has a flat screen with a definition of 1080 x 2400 pixels for a ratio of 20:9; with sides of 1.61 millimeters to 1.81 millimeters – making them the thinnest on the market, ahead of those on the Samsung Galaxy S22 and Phone 14, which measure 2.4 mm – and the Pro model of curved screen sides 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 a long time – which is expected of any high-end smartphone – but this is not the case. Xiaomi 12s.
The new Xiaomi series is powered by the all-new 4nm-engraved Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The SoC includes an eight-core processor, consisting of a high-performance core clocked at 3.19 GHz, four which is a second core at 2.8 GHz and three efficient cores at 2.0 GHz. Qualcomm announced performance of 35% and better energy efficiency of 40%. Therefore, the chip should not heat up as much as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, but still a little. In the game, at 60 FPS, smartphones will reach 43.1°C, which is still hot, because the battery starts to degrade above 40°C. It also announced an increase of 25% for the graphics component compared to its predecessor. The Xiaomi 13 is among the first smartphones to ship this – just after the Vivo X90 Pro+. It is enough to be enthusiastic about Xiaomi’s performance, especially since the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has been presented by its manufacturer as capable “revolutionize high-end smartphones for extraordinary experiences“. So the phones must do all the tasks, even the heaviest, without moving, be it video processing or gaming. Finally, the new Xiaomi smartphones ship with MIUI 14, the new version of its overlay for Android 13, which offers a serious performance boost as well as some exciting new features on the home screen. Both models are sold in the same configurations: 8GB RAM and 128GB 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 has been particularly highlighted by the manufacturer. In fact, the smartphones are stamped Leica, the manufacturer’s German partner for several months – and allow the smartphones to take advantage of its lenses and its Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant photo modes – and are supported by the IMX989 by Sony on Pro and Ultra smartphones. 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 collect more light -, an ultra wide 12 megapixels and one 10 megapixels. As for the photo block of the 13 Pro, which also seems to be a little thicker than the classic model, it consists of a one-inch type sensor – similar to that of the 12S Ultra, destined for the Chinese market. – of 50 megapixels, and two more 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. Really awesome 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 before, Xiaomi promises not to make any concessions on their autonomy. So, the Xiaomi 13 has a 4,500mAh battery with 67W fast charging and 50W wireless charging, while the Pro model has 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 good autonomy according to the company’s statements. In fact, the new SoC is 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 new high-end smartphones is unfortunately delayed by current events, they will be available from December 11. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra should arrive later, probably at the beginning of 2023, because two very important mobile conferences will be held during this period. As usual, we have to wait a little to see the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro arrive in France, probably in February at the MWC 2023 show that will 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 is 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, such as the iPhone 14, are more expensive than usual – prices have been revised upwards. As a reminder, in France, the Xiaomi 12 will cost between €869 and €1,099 when they are 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 Xiaomi 13 Pro prices, 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 rise too much in France, and the first model does not immediately exceed the symbolic bar of 1,000 €. ..
