Xiaomi has finally announced its next flagship phone range in the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro.
The original December 1 Xiaomi 13 launch had been postponed, seemingly out of respect for the recently deceased former Chinese president Jiang Zemin. Now Xiaomi has finally revealed all.
We say revealed all, but in truth there was very little of left to unveiled. The company has steadily released specs and even images of its new phones in recent weeks, and we’ve also received a number of leaks.
The Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro offer no surprises, then, but they’re still two of the first proper flagship phones of 2023.
They don’t look much alike, with the Xiaomi 13 supplyng a distinctly iPhone 14-esque flat-edged design, and the Xiaomi 13 Pro sticking with the traditional curved edges of the Xiaomi 12 Pro. The Xiaomi 13 comes in White, Black, Flora Green and Mountain Blue, while the Xiaomi 13 Pro comes in Ceramic White, Ceramic Black, Flora Green (Ceramic) and Mountain Blue.
As that suggests, there’s a different finish to the rear panels of the two phones. The Xiaomi 13, while the Xiaomi 13 Pro goes with a ceramic body.
The Xiaomi 13 is the more compact phone of the two, with a flat 6.36-inch FHD+ AMOLED display and 1.61mm ultra-thin bezels. The Xiaomi 13 Pro goes with a larger 6.73-inch QHD+ AMOLED, which is much like the Xiaomi 12 Pro, but with a higher 1900 nits peak brightness. Both screens can hit 120Hz, but only the Pro model uses LTPO for greater efficiency.
Both phones come equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processors, which will be the go to flagship chip for much of 2023.
The Xiaomi 13 Pro packs a 4,820mAh battery, while the Xiaomi 13 has a slightly smaller 4,500mAh cell. Xiaomi also claims that Xiaomi 13 Pro features its new Surge charging chip, which allows its battery to last longer.
You can expect 120W wired and 50W wireless charging with the Xiaomi 13 Pro, while the Xiaomi 13 gets 67W wired and 50W wireless.
Xiaomi has equipped the 13 Pro with a triple 50MP camera system, this time bolstered by Leica professional optics. As revealed in the lead-up to launch, the Pro’s main camera is backed by a huge 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor, as well as eight aspherical lenses. There’s also a 50MP 3.2x telephoto and a 50MP ultra-wide.
The Xiaomi 13 also gets a triple camera system and Leica optics, but with a 50MP Sony IMX800 main sensor with seven aspherical lenses. That’s accompanied by a 10MP 3.2x telephoto and a 12MP ultra-wide.
If you want the full lowdown on these specs and how the Xiaomi 13 and the Xiaomi 13 Pro compare to one another, check out our handy guide.
Prices for the Xiaomi 13 Pro start from ¥4999 (about £585) for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while the Xiaomi 13 starts from ¥3999 (about £470). Don’t expect those rough price translations to hold true come the global launch, though.
Both phones go on sale in China from tomorrow, December 14, and we’re expecting a separate global rollout early next year. The Xiaomi 12 launched over here in April.
What we didn’t see here was the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, which will presumably be announced separately in the New Year.
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