The Xiaomi 13 Professional has a little bit of an id disaster. For all the brand new improvements you’ll discover in there, it seems a little bit dated.
I imply I might go on and on in regards to the 1-inch digital camera sensor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, and the large, stunning LTPO OLED show. However this generic curved combo of glass and steel has been with us for years — particularly so while you see how good the usual Xiaomi 13 (opens in new tab) is trying.
So, I suppose the query is easy. Does this provide sufficient below the hood and in use to be price each that step up in price, and the step again in aesthetics over the usual 13?
Xiaomi 13 Professional worth and configurations
Now we have simply obtained U.Okay. pricing in time for penning this evaluation! The Xiaomi 13 Professional is available in one configuration (12GB RAM + 256GB storage) for £1,099. This places it within the higher echelon of flagship smartphones — matching the worth of the iPhone 14 Professional.
Nonetheless, it’s cheaper than the £1,399 asking worth of the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. So whilst you’re seeing some extremely premium specs within the 13 Professional, you’re not essentially paying extremely premium costs for them.
Xiaomi 13 Professional design
I’ll begin this by saying there’s nothing overtly flawed with the Xiaomi 13 Professional’s design. The curvature of the glass and aluminum bumper makes it match within the hand properly. And outdoors of some frustrations like the dearth of a headphone jack and the curved edges of the show, it’s smooth, but in addition a little bit too acquainted.
In a world the place the design language has moved onto utilitarian aesthetics — daring, flattened bumpers and flat shows, I hate to say that the 13 Professional simply seems a bit mundane. Holding this cellphone instantly took me again to my OnePlus 7T Professional, which was a stunner on the time, however Xiaomi actually wanted to carry this cellphone into 2023 with a refresh.
Breaking down the specifics, at 6.4 x 2.9 x 0.3 inches and a weight of seven.4 ounces, these are acquainted dimensions to those that held a Xiaomi 12 Professional (6.4 x 2.94 x 0.32 inches, 7.4 ounces). And whereas the iPhone 14 Professional is smaller and lighter (5.81 x 2.81 x 0.31 inches, 7.3 ounces), the 13 Professional does lower a similar-yet-lighter profile to the Galaxy S23 Extremely (6.4 x 3.1 x 0.35 inches, 8.3 ounces).
So you’ll be able to inform it feels premium in its building, however how drop lifeless beautiful the Xiaomi 13 is, I really feel like this can be a missed alternative to actually intercourse up this chassis.
Xiaomi 13 Professional show
Flip it on and the 6.73-inch LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) OLED show involves life. This panel packs a 3200 x 1440-pixel decision with a 120Hz refresh charge (and a 480Hz contact sampling charge), with the extra advantages of a (claimed) whopping 1,900-nit peak brightness, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, HDR 10+ help, TrueColor calibration and a DisplayMate A+ grade.
The tip result’s a mouthwateringly vivid, color-accurate display screen that may be a pleasure to observe and do issues on. Watching the Physician Unusual within the Multiverse of Insanity trailer actually exhibits off the depth of the HDR impact and its distinction ratio, as spells glow off the display screen with luminosity and each scene has a formidable depth to it.
And the numbers very a lot again this up, with a formidable 78.6% DCI-P3 shade gamut protection. Although it’s price saying whereas this falls wanting the Galaxy S23 Extremely (78.8%) and the iPhone 14 Professional (84.8%), there’s a vivid mode on the Xiaomi which boosts this quantity all the way in which as much as 1113.3%.
Not solely that, however it appears to spice up the accuracy too, going from the unique mode’s 0.21 to an ideal 0 in vivid — higher than the S23 Extremely (0.3) and the iPhone 14 Professional (0.25). Whereas vivid could also be an over-explosion of shade in lots of conditions, it’s good to have this selection to actually increase the vividity past something you’ve seen earlier than.
When it comes to brightness, Xiaomi appears to be fairly bang on with its claims, as this achieved a peak brightness of 1,127 nits, which beats the S23 extremely (1,020 nits) and the iPhone (990 nits).
Xiaomi 13 Professional audio
The dearth of a headphone jack is disappointing, however not shocking. However what is definitely shocking is the stereo audio system haven’t been tuned by Harman Kardon this time round. So, the plain query is will we see a drop in high quality? The reply, thankfully, is not any.
Very similar to the 12 Professional earlier than it, this partnership makes for a robust sound output. 4 Yr Robust’s “Get out of my head” as soon as once more sounds superior, with delicate particulars within the quiet elements being highlighted properly, whereas dealing with the onslaught of the beating loud refrain sections with out distortion.
Xiaomi 13 Professional efficiency
The Xiaomi 13 Professional is packing some critical energy with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and as much as 12GB of RAM. When put to the check in Geekbench 5, the Xiaomi 12 hit a multi-core rating of a mightily spectacular 4,934. After all, the A16 Bionic of the iPhone 14 Professional smokes it (5,469), however the 13 Procomes impressively near the far costlier Galaxy S23 Extremely (5,081).
As for graphics, Xiaomi’s powerhouse held its personal in 3DMark’s WildLife Excessive check with a median body charge of 17.73 frames per second at a full 4K rendering decision — falling simply behind the iPhone 13 (20.2 FPS), and the Galaxy S23 (22.78 FPS).
After all, these numbers solely inform half the story. In real-world use, I didn’t come throughout a single second of stuttering, irrespective of what number of CPU-intensive processes I threw at it. Video games like Fortnite and Name Of Responsibility: Cellular look and carry out nice right here, whereas multitasking between stated video games, Adobe’s Photoshop cellular, TikTok and extra didn’t gradual issues down in any respect.
One factor I got here throughout whereas stress testing the graphics with Wild Life Excessive Limitless is a few troubling overheating. Not like the Xiaomi 12, it didn’t trigger me to bail out mid-test, however you’ll be able to inform that the thermal administration will not be fairly there.
Xiaomi 13 Professional battery life & charging
Taking a leap up from the 4,600mAh cell of the Xiaomi 12 Professional, the 13 Professional rocks a 4,820mAh cell. Whereas this can be a step in the suitable course, I used to be a little bit bit involved on the barely lowered capability in comparison with the traces of the Galaxy S23 Extremely — given the ability hungry specs this sports activities.
Nonetheless, my fears have been very a lot unfounded. In our battery rundown check with default adaptive refresh charge turned on, the 13 Professional lasts 12 hours and 25 minutes, which pips the S23 Extremely to the put up (12:22), however falls behind the iPhone 14 Professional Max (14:42). I’d evaluate it to the smaller iPhone 14 Professional (10:41), however this isn’t actually a good struggle.
In a typical day of utilization (together with just a few hours of internet shopping, listening to podcasts and Spotify all day, loads of social media use, pictures, gaming, and watching YouTube movies within the night), I used to be left with roughly 25-30% of battery within the night earlier than I went to mattress. I’m unsure what optimization magic Xiaomi has carried out, however it’s actually spectacular.
Oh, and the 67W wired charging or 50W wi-fi turbo charging help means you’ll be able to juice this again as much as full in fast time. On wired charging, I managed to get again to 100% in simply 26 minutes and 49 seconds!
Xiaomi 13 Professional cameras
With the assistance of a 1-inch sensor on the 50.3MP major digital camera — paired with an f/1.9 aperture, a dual-pixel laser-based autofocus, and Leica lenses, Xiaomi’s legendarily combined bag of a digital camera has had a renaissance within the 13 Professional.
Photographs from this shooter present loads of element and both a balanced shade science within the Leica Genuine mode or a punchy vividness in Leica Vibrant mode. You’ll be exhausting pressed to supply any dangerous outcomes from this larger sensor, even in low gentle situations.
In the meantime, the ultrawide has had an improve too — bumping as much as a 50MP 115-degree snapper with f/2.2 aperture. That leap intimately and enchancment within the functionality of taking gentle makes this a extremely enjoyable lens to make use of, as particulars are crisp with no identifiable mushiness across the edges that we noticed in final yr’s cellphone.
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Rounding out the triple risk on the again is a 50MP telephoto with 3.2x optical zoom and an f/2.0 aperture. You may as well zoom as much as 30x digitally, however the finish outcomes can look a little bit mushy with this extra cropping. Nonetheless, for those who hold it below 10x, you’ll do tremendous with image high quality.
As for these feeling selfie snap blissful, that 32MP front-facing shooter produces pictures with loads of element and wonderful shade replica — even at night time, so you may get these good membership pictures with ease.
On the videography aspect, the aptitude of capturing as much as 8K video is good to have (however significantly, who shoots in 8K on their cellphone?), together with a slew of inventive options together with macro video, audio zoom, object monitoring, and optical picture stabilization for a shake-free image high quality.
Evaluating it to the competitors is the place issues get attention-grabbing, although. You possibly can both flip on vibrant and seize Samsung’s hyperreal shade science, or you’ll be able to stay genuine with colder tones similar to the iPhone 14 Professional. You get the most effective of each worlds, and the 13 Professional can greater than grasp with this competitors.
Xiaomi 13 Professional MIUI
Xiaomi’s MIUI on prime of Android 13 feels a little bit cleaner this time when in comparison with final yr’s 12 Professional, however the firm actually does want to relax out with the pre-loaded apps. We nonetheless have the wallpaper carousel that’s equal elements StumbleUpon and a lock display screen, alongside 18 apps.
After all, there are some neat user-friendly options too, such because the management center-esque swipe down, with a safety scan and talent to clear the RAM cache. Plus, the house display screen customization suite is impressively complete.
And never solely that, however Xiaomi is committing to a few main Android updates and 4 years of safety updates. That gives respectable longevity, however is one yr lower than the Galaxy S23 Extremely and falls wanting the roughly over six years of iOS help you’ll discover for the iPhone 14 Professional.
Backside Line
For all intents and functions, the Xiaomi 13 Professional is a good cellphone — packing a beautiful display screen, stellar digital camera system, beasty battery life, and lightning fast internals.
However this basic curved sandwich design of glass and steel is starting to really feel actually dated now. Alongside the smooth, utilitarian stylings of the Xiaomi 13, the distinction is night time and day. And MIUI 14 continues the problematic pattern of bloatware.
Plus, for all of the love I’ve for that 1-inch sensor, the distinction in picture high quality between this and the usual 13 is barely noticeable. The Professional is nice, however I do know which of Xiaomi’s new flagships I’d purchase.
