Xiaomi 13T and Xiaomi 13T PRO Review - Why Pay More?

Hello everybody. Today we want to tell you about two phones from the "heavenly sky", namely Xiaomi 13T and Xiaomi 13T PRO, which many called a new masterpiece that leaves no chance to its direct competitors.

But is it so? What does a modern smartphone need to have in order to meet this trend? A powerful processor? Lots of memory? High-quality devices for creating incredible photos? Cool display? Is it possible to have a cool and extraordinary appearance?

Probably, each of us will find a category that will be a priority for him, because the concept of "masterpiece" is quite subjective. It is quite difficult to please everyone. It is difficult but not impossible. But did Xiaomi succeed? I suggest to find out together.

Xiaomi 13T and Xiaomi 13T PRO - masterpieces or another pacifier?

Specifications

The box and its contents

Design

Displays

Processor

Operating System

Autonomy and charging

Cameras

Price and conclusion

Video review



Specifications



The box and its contents

The manufacturer positions Xiaomi 13T and Xiaomi 13T Pro smartphones as affordable flagships. But there is nothing supernatural in the set that could surprise us. The only thing that pleases me is the fact that there was no disappointment.

The supply set for two of our guests is the same and includes: a silicone transparent cover; clip for removing the SIM card tray; USB Type-C cable, charger, user manual and warranty card.

Of course, I would like to see something that others do not have. For example, an unusual cover design (at least its different color). But there is nothing that could cause a "Wow" effect.

The phones come with everything you need, and you won't need to run to the store for, say, a new charger like you do when unboxing some other phones, like the Pixel 8 Pro. The quality of all accessories is at a high level, and the cover, despite its standard and simplicity, will definitely come in handy at first.

Phones come with everything you need for comfortable use out of the box.

Design

From flagship smartphones, you expect not only a powerful processor or cameras, but also an appearance that will stand out from the rest.

Let's start with colors. Both smartphones were released in three color variants – black, green and lilac-blue (In the original, their names are Black, Meadow Green, Alpine Blue).

The gadgets in black and green colors have a glossy glass back panel. As for the last option, there is already a slight surprise here, because it is endowed with a panel made of tactilely pleasant vegan leather.

There is a slight negative here, because the back panel "collects" fingerprints very well. This is especially true for the black version. Zeleny is not so thorough in this "collecting", but he also likes to do it. And here covers come to the rescue, which allow you to forget about this problem.

But not only colors can boast of our today's test subjects in this nomination.



The camera block of smartphones is the same and looks beautiful and natural. The island with the lenses protrudes a few millimeters, nothing will help here, not even the case from the kit. But the manufacturer assures that the glass of the sensors is reliably protected, and in order to break it or otherwise damage it, you need to try hard.

As for ergonomics, both smartphones are quite comfortable. It's about average in size, not the smallest smartphone we've seen, but not the biggest either. In today's world, smartphones with a screen diagonal of 6.67 inches are already considered average.



And here is the first difference, despite the same dimensions of 162.2x75.7x8.49 mm, the weight of the two brothers is slightly different - 13T weighs 197 grams, and 13T Pro - 206 grams. However, this difference in weight is not felt when you hold the phone in your hand.

It is quite comfortable to control each of the smartphones even with one hand.

The placement of the buttons on both phones is identical. On the right is the power button and the volume control rocker.

The speaker and microphone are on top, and the USB Type-C port and a tray for two SIM cards are on the bottom. It should be said right away about the lack of a slot for a microSD card and a 3.5 mm audio jack, but today this is more the norm than the exception, because the built-in memory is mostly enough, and wireless headphones have practically supplanted their wired predecessors.

The fingerprint scanner is built into the screen and works quickly. We did not notice any crashes during the tests.

But the main advantage of the case of both gadgets is IP68 moisture protection. That is, any of our guests today will be a great diving companion. This feature was demonstrated at the presentation of smartphones.



Nice stylish look and comfortable in the hand. He seems to have everything to make an incredible first impression.

Displays

Both of our smartphones received the same AMOLED displays with a diagonal of 6.67 inches and a resolution of 1220×2712 pixels. The aspect ratio is 20:9 and the screen-to-body ratio is 87.5%, which means that the frames of our smartphones are not too flagship.

Other features that qualitatively distinguish our guests from competitors include: adaptive refresh rate from 30 Hz to 144 Hz (useful quality for smartphone game lovers);

The peak brightness of 2600 nits gives it points even against the background of more expensive models, because not all of them can boast of this;

Also, it should be noted that none of the devices have problems with PWM.

Other advantages of these smartphones include: extended dynamic range HDR10+ and Dolby Vision technology, as well as the ability to display 68.7 billion colors, support for DCI-P3, Always-On Display and DC Dimming.



And what about protecting these quality screens? They are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 shock-resistant glass and polymer film, which save them from scratches and other damages.

The displays of our guests today are unequivocally TOP. Many qualities of these screens are undoubtedly better than competitors, the rest are on par with them.

Processor

But in this section, we will separate the brothers for the first time, since the developers have endowed them with different processors. So the Xiaomi 13T has a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 Ultra chip.

And the Xiaomi 13T Pro has a more modern MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ chip. But this is not the only difference regarding the "stuffing". There are a few more differences, in particular, the Xiaomi 13T Pro has, in addition to a better processor, better cores and a newer graphics processor.

But do such differences affect the speed of smartphones?

After conducting various tests, we can conclude that both gadgets worked stably and smoothly, did not slow down and did not heat up. In part, this is the merit of a new high-quality cooling system, because both smartphones received a stainless steel plate with an evaporation chamber with an area of 5000 mm².

According to the developers, this is the largest and most efficient heat removal system in the entire history of the company. That is, flagships should not overheat now.

When working with demanding games with maximum settings, the temperature of the devices did not rise above +47℃.

Also, there is no complaint about the memory. Although here again our brothers were divided, the Xiaomi 13T has two memory options: 256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, while the Pro version has three of them: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM. By the way, it should also be noted that our gadgets received RAM — LPDDR5X, and high-speed storage — standard UFS 3.1/4.0.

Processors and memory characteristics here deserve only the highest rating, and compared to competitors, they definitely win.

Operating System

Both smartphones run on Android 13 with MIUI 14 skin. Everything is smooth, beautiful and convenient. And there is also a nice bonus: Xiaomi promises 4 updates for the OS and up to 5 years of regular security patch updates. So, gadgets will be relevant until 2027.

Both smartphones received an IR port for controlling household appliances, a GPS module (dual-frequency, works with L1 and L5 bands), 5 geo-positioning systems, NFC for convenient payment, Wi-Fi 6 and 7 (in Xiaomi 13T Pro), Bluetooth 5.4, stereo speakers with Hi-Res Audio, Dolby Atmos and LDAC certification.

Their operating system is standard without "highlights" and any proprietary features that would distinguish them from their predecessors.

Autonomy and charging

Now you won't surprise anyone with smartphones that reliably last a day or longer with active use. But the Xiaomi flagships 13T and 13T Pro also have their arguments here compared to competitors. In particular, despite the fact that both smartphones have, at first glance, a completely standard battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh.



Its uniqueness among competitors is provided by two special chips (the company already used them in the 12T series): Surge G1 manages power, and Surge P1 is responsible for fast charging. Also, the functions of these chips include protection of the battery from premature wear.

Here we smoothly approach the next difference between smartphones. This difference concerns the charging speed.

Xiaomi 13T supports 67W fast charging. And to replenish the battery from 0 to 100%, it will take no more than 42 minutes. And if you need to quickly charge your smartphone, 15 minutes will be enough: during this time you will be able to charge your phone by 60%.

Xiaomi 13T Pro can boast of fast charging with a power of 120 W. Which is more than enough, as a full charge cycle of the smartphone battery takes only 19 minutes. This is one of the fastest options on the market at the moment.

Both smartphones are equipped with a fast charging function, which undoubtedly gives them advantages. And the long battery life only confirms the positive assessment in this nomination.

Cameras

Cameras from Leica are the main and unexpected feature of Xiaomi 13T and Xiaomi 13T Pro smartphones. The decision to use German optics and filters is a rather non-standard approach, previously something similar was done only for super-flagships.



Visually, the camera units of both smartphones look the same, like Siamese twins. But can they really show off the functionality and quality of real camera phones? If you look at the technical indicators of the cameras, yes. But what do we have in practice?

Both 50-megapixel smartphone cameras are not only equipped with Leica lenses, but also boast excellent data, from aperture and sensor size to optical stabilization, zoom and autofocus.

In the standard mode, smartphones shoot with a resolution of 12 MP, but in the settings there is a separate shooting mode of 50 MP. And if you have a question: “Why did the company go back to 50 MP, compared to the Xiaomi 12T Pro, which had a record 200 MP? ". It's just that the number of pixels is not so important, the size of the sensor is more important.

In the case of the Xiaomi 13T and Xiaomi 13T Pro smartphones, the pixels capture more light. Smartphone cameras combine several pixels into one, that is, 12.5 MP is obtained from 50 MP. And even without additional settings, the photos turn out to be high-quality and detailed.



Xiaomi 13 was chosen as the rival. Since there is no particular difference between the cameras of our guests today, we chose Xiaomi 13T as the representative of this duo. And the photos taken in normal mode show an unequivocal advantage of the "T" version

And in general, the cameras of the Xiaomi 13T and 13T Pro smartphones coped with their task perfectly: both day and night photos turned out great. Both photo zoom and stabilization work "excellently". So no chance was left for the competitor.

But this is not the end. Specialists from Leica generously pumped gadgets with Vibrant and Authentic profiles. The first makes the photos saturated and bright, and the second reproduces the original Leica style with a noticeable division of light and shadow. And, of course, there is a sea of filters. And they are very good.

Someone will be surprised that the flagships of the end of 2023 have a selfie camera of only 20 MP with an aperture of ƒ/2.2. The front cameras of Xiaomi 13T and 13T Pro support HDR and night mode, selfies are quite detailed, with good exposure and background blur. But here the Xiaomi 13 wins, thanks to better detailing and a wider angle.

But in terms of video recording, everything is at a decent level. The Xiaomi 13T shoots video in 4K resolution at 30 frames per second, while the Xiaomi 13T Pro impresses with 8K resolution at 24 frames per second, and also supports 10-bit recording.

As for video quality, the Xiaomi 13T has a complete advantage here as well.

So, as we can see, everything is fine with the cameras of our smartphones. For today and for this money, this is one of the best options.

Price and conclusion

If we consider the younger of the brothers (Xiaomi 13T), then the cost of such a pleasure is from 479 dollars, but if you have an extra 200 dollars, then in this case you can think about an improved version with a "Pro" insert, the price of which starts at 645 dollars



Both flagships are high-quality, modern. They both have everything you need for comfortable use and a stylish look.

The difference between these two devices is small, but still there. And this difference lies in: charging speed, processor power, amount of memory and the ability of the Pro version to film in 8K.



Video review