Xiaomi 13 Pro: Shots fired for the best Android phone position

The Xiaomi 13 Pro is the latest addition to the Chinese company’s line of smartphones and hopes to turn heads. The phone will bring a lot to the table with its sleek design and powerful specs, such as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. There’s also the Leica professional optical lens with a 1-inch sensor on the rear and a Li-Po 4820 mAh battery that charges at a ridiculously fast rate of 120W with wired charging and 50W with wireless charging.

UAE pricing and availability

The Xiaomi 13 Pro will be available in the UAE and Saudi Arabia starting March 8 through the usual retail channels and online sellers like Amazon. The Xiaomi 13 Pro will be in just two storage configurations in the UAE which are 256GB and 512GB storage. Both of these come equipped with 12GB RAM and are priced at AED 3,899 and 4,099, respectively.

Compared to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which is what this phone is set to compete with, Xiaomi is offering you similar specs at a much lower price starting price.

As for the colours, the Xiaomi 13 Pro will ship in two colours which are Ceramic White and Ceramic Black.

Specs you should know

	Xiaomi 13 Pro	Xiaomi 12 Pro
Design	Size: 162.9 x 74.6 x 8.7 mm Weight: 210 g Colours: White, Black, Green, Blue IP 68 dust/water resistant	Size: 163.6 x 74.6 x 8.2 mm Weight: 205 g Colours: Gray, Blue, Purple, Green
Screen	6.73 inches LPTO OLED Display 120Hz refresh rate FHD+ 1440 x 3200 resolution	6.73 inches LPTO AMOLED Display 120 Hz refresh rate FHD+ 1440 x 3200 resolution
Performance	CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 RAM: 12GB LPDDR5 Storage: 256GB, 512GB Cellular: 5G, Dual SIM	CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 RAM: 8GB / 12GB LPDDR5 Storage: 128GB, 256GB Cellular: 5G, Dual SIM
Camera	Rear Camera: 50 MP, f/1.9, 23mm Ultrawide: 50 MP, f/2.2, 14mm Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.0, 75mm Selfie: 32 MP wide	Rear Camera: 50 MP, f/1.9, 24mm Ultrawide: 50 MP, f/2.2 Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.0, 48mm Selfie: 32 MP, wide
Battery	Li-Po 4820 mAh Fast charging: 120W wired Fast charging: 50W wireless 10W reverse wireless charging	Li-Po 4600 mAh Fast charging: 120W wired Fast charging: 50W wireless 10W reverse wireless charging

Design and display

The Xiaomi 13 Pro has an elegant and modern look with a slim profile and smooth curves. This smartphone features an aluminium frame with Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and ceramic on the back, making it arguably chic and durable- however, very fingerprint friendly.

Xiaomi 13 Pro has a 6.73-inch LTPO OLED display with an 89.6% screen-to-body ratio and 522 PPI (Pixel Per Inch) density. It supports Dolby Vision and HDR 10+ playback to provide deep contrasts. 

Additionally, the screen delivers up to 1900 nits of peak brightness which is the highest we’ve seen on an Android phone and just below the iPhone 14 Pro Max, so you should be able to see what’s on it even in the brightest Dubai sun. Maximum refresh rate is 120Hz refresh rate to ensure smooth scrolling, navigation, and gaming.

Features and performance

The Xiaomi 13 Pro is equipped with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, ensuring that users can take advantage of the latest in cutting-edge mobile technology. The device will be available with 12GB of RAM and 256 or 512GB of onboard storage, providing plenty of space to keep all your apps, games, and media.

There’s an optical fingerprint scanner under the screen to safely and quickly unlock the phone. The phone also comes with stereo speakers. There’s also support for Android’s digital car key feature, but it’s not something I’ve personally tested. It’s also the first phone we’ve received with Wi-Fi 7 support using Qualcomm’s FastConnectTM 7800 Mobile Connectivity System. I don’t have any Wi-Fi 7 routers to test this with, but it’s good to future-proof.

The Xiaomi 13 Pro runs on the latest version of Android 13 (with MIUI 14), and Xiaomi promises three Android system updates as well as five years of security patch updates which is excellent. You also get six months of free trial for Google One and YouTube Premium, adding to the value the phone provides.

Cameras

The most exciting feature of the Xiaomi 13 Pro is the camera setup which is powered by the 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor- first seen on last year’s Xiaomi 12S Ultra. On top of that, Xiaomi has worked with Leica for the three lenses, which are a  50.3 MP, f/1.9 wide lens, 50 MP, f/2.2 ultra-wide angle lens, and a 50 MP, f/2.0 telephoto lens covering focal lengths from 14mm to 75mm. We look forward to comparing this to the 200MP camera on the Samsung S23 Ultra.

The Xiaomi 13 Pro takes advantage of the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor for features such as AI-enhanced photography and intelligent power management. In addition, features like AI Scene Detection and AI portrait mode back up the camera setup by brightening shadows, blurring out backgrounds for DSLR-like photographs, and pumping up colours in a way regular cameras don’t. These should give you plenty of options when taking photos or videos, allowing you to get a great shot.

On the front side, the Xiaomi 13 Pro features a 32 MP wide lens for the selfie camera, allowing you to take selfies and group shots. There are also features like panorama photo shooting and HDR capabilities for more detailed results.

Battery & Charging

The Xiaomi 13 Pro is equipped with a 4820mAh Li-Po battery that supports 120W wired fast charging, which Xiaomi claims can juice up your device to 100% in just 19 minutes. Additionally, the Xiaomi 13 Pro supports 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless charging, so you can use your device to charge other compatible devices. Best of all, the 120W charger is included in the box.

The long battery with super speedy charging should allow you to use the phone without much downtime, but we can only say that once we have tested the phone. Stay tuned.

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