The original December 1 launch of the Xiaomi 13 had been delayed, ostensibly out of respect for the recently deceased former Chinese president Jiang Zemin. Now Xiaomi has finally revealed it all. We say all is revealed, but in truth, there is very little left to reveal. The company has been steadily releasing specs and even images of its new phones for the past few weeks, while 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 sporting a clear iPhone 14-style flat-edge 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. The Xiaomi 13 is the more compact phone of the two, with a 6.36-inch FHD+ AMOLED flat screen and ultra-thin 1.61mm bezels. The Xiaomi 13 Pro is paired with a larger 6.73-inch QHD+ AMOLED, which is very similar to the Xiaomi 12 Pro, but with a higher peak brightness of 1,900 nits. Both screens can hit 120Hz, but only the Pro model uses LTPO for higher performance. Both phones are equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processors, which will be the main chip for much of 2023. The Xiaomi 13 Pro has a 4,820 mAh battery, while the Xiaomi 13 has a slightly smaller 4,500 mAh cell. Xiaomi also claims that the Xiaomi 13 Pro features the new Surge charging chip, which allows its battery to last longer. You can expect 120W wired charging 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 50-megapixel camera system, this time enhanced by professional Leica optics. As revealed in the previous version, the Pro’s main camera is supported by a massive 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor, as well as eight aspherical lenses. There’s also a 50-megapixel 3.2x telephoto lens and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide. The Xiaomi 13 also has a triple camera system and Leica optics, but with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX800 main sensor with seven aspherical lenses. It comes with a 3.2x 10-megapixel telephoto lens and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide angle. If you want the full lowdown on these specs and how the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro compare, check out our handy guide. Prices for the Xiaomi 13 Pro start at ¥4,999 (around £585) for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while the Xiaomi 13 starts at ¥3,999 (around £470). However, don’t expect these rough price translations to apply after the global launch. Both phones will launch in China tomorrow, December 14, and we expect a separate global launch early next year. Xiaomi 12 was launched here in April 2022. What we didn’t see here was the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, which will probably be announced separately in the new year.
