Xiaomi 13 Extremely Evaluation

Verdict

A world launch for the Xiaomi 13 Extremely can’t come quickly sufficient. This can be a implausible system that lives as much as its lofty title.

Introduction

Following on from the excellent Xiaomi 13 and the even higher Xiaomi 13 Professional, the 13 Extremely is the true flagship within the model’s 2023 vary.

Take one look behind the Xiaomi 13 Extremely and the telephone’s proposition is straight away apparent. A large digicam bulge indicators this as a lot of a digicam as a telephone.

The Xiaomi 13 Professional is already among the best digicam telephones round, so this Extremely wants to essentially do one thing particular to set itself aside.

After spending an prolonged interval with the system, I feel it’s secure to say it lives as much as its personal hype.

(Editor’s Observe: There’s presently no US, European or UK pricing or availability confirmed for the Xiaomi 13 Extremely and this evaluation was performed with a Chinese language mannequin operating Chinese language software program. For reference, the bottom mannequin works out at roughly £700/$869 – although count on this to be a lot larger if a wider launch is confirmed. Whereas it’s excellent, this telephone isn’t designed for markets just like the UK and the USA and there are some points that wouldn’t be there if this was a world model. Simply preserve this in thoughts if you happen to’re planning on importing the Xiaomi 13 Extremely.)

Display screen and Design

• Silicone leather-based again accessible in three colors
• Adaptive 120Hz OLED with Dolby Imaginative and prescient help
• A peak brightness (reported) of 2600 nits

I’m positive it’ll divide opinion significantly, however I’ve been charmed by the design of the Xiaomi 13 Extremely. 

The again is roofed in what Xiaomi calls an ‘antibacterial nanotech silicone leather-based’ – however to you and me that’s principally fake leather-based, or vegan leather-based. It’s a textured protecting, giving added grip and making certain no fingerprints or smudges will seem.

Surrounding the textured end are flat steel sides and whereas the silicone leather-based doesn’t circulate into the perimeters in a clean method, I truly just like the distinct two-tone end Xiaomi has gone for. Three colors can be found – inexperienced (the model you possibly can see in these pictures), black and white – and so they all function the identical end.

The edges of the telephone are flat, giving your fingers extra room to comfortably sit when holding the telephone horizontally and taking footage, whereas there’s a noticeable hump sitting under the large digicam system. Some will hate how massive and apparent the digicam is right here, however I prefer it and it helps the Extremely stand out in a sea of pretty boring Android smartphones.

Nonetheless, having such a big digicam module does include some downsides. For one, discovering a snug place to relaxation your fingers under it’s, to place it mildly, tough. It’s onerous to keep away from smudging the digicam together with your fingers and it’ll a bit of onerous to carry. Even after almost a month of utilizing this telephone, it doesn’t really feel very pure. It additionally doesn’t lay flat on a desk, continually wobbling about. 

It’s a heavy telephone at 227g and it does really feel weighty, although reassuringly so. It’s completed splendidly effectively too, with exact cutouts and an actual high-end really feel. 

Whereas the digicam is the main focus, the fundamentals haven’t been forgotten about. The telephone packs an IP68 ranking and Gorilla Glass Victus protecting the entrance show. The 6.73-inch show is way the identical because the one on the Xiaomi 13 Professional, peaking at 2600 nits of brightness in particular use instances and toting the flexibility to dynamically decrease the refresh price to 1Hz to save lots of energy.

It’s a cracking display screen, actually excelling in displaying HDR content material due to the excessive ranges of brightness and Dolby Imaginative and prescient help on Netflix.

Digital camera

• 4 rear 50MP cameras
• Primary digicam can alternate between f/1.9 and f/4.0
• 120mm telephoto digicam, 75mm telephoto and 12mm ultra-wide

The digicam array Xiaomi has used right here is, on paper a minimum of, spectacular. 

There’s nothing available on the market that may compete with it for pure tech and it’s a fairly large trace about the place smartphone cameras are heading. In some ways, the Xiaomi 13 Extremely is extra digicam than telephone.

In a similar way to the Xiaomi 12S Extremely, the 13 Extremely is designed to essentially seem like a digicam. There’s been no try to cover the completely gigantic module on the again, fairly the alternative in truth, as Xiaomi has proudly used it as the primary, eye-catching design ingredient on the telephone.

The round housing holds 4 distinct cameras and heavy Leica (Xiaomi’s think about companion) branding with every of them utilizing 50-megapixel sensors. There are two telephoto cameras, one with a 75mm zoom and one other with a 120mm zoom, plus a 122-degree subject of view extremely vast and a important digicam with an aperture that may shift between f/1.9 and f/4.0.

That important digicam is the star of the present due to its big 1-inch sensor (the identical one discovered within the Xiaomi 13 Professional – a telephone we all know takes wonderful images) however the differentiator right here is that variable aperture. The broader f/1.9 aperture is nice for getting that shallow depth of subject impact and permitting extra mild into that massive sensor, whereas the narrower f/4.0 reduces the background blur, retaining extra of the body in focus. 

After I first began reviewing the telephone, there was a fast toggle for switching between the apertures on the forefront contained in the digicam app, nevertheless a subsequent replace, annoyingly, buried this deeper contained in the settings. I’d assume this modification is to push extra into utilizing the auto mode, which mechanically alters the aperture with none fiddling required.

I’ve usually discovered the auto-switching doesn’t work too effectively, not often truly doing something, and I’ve most well-liked to manually alter it relying on what I’m capturing. The picture under is an effective instance of what the variations between the 2 settings are, with the background far blurrier at f/1.9 than at f/4. Change to f/4 when capturing landscapes or photographs with a number of folks and there isn’t any blurring on the sides that’s turn out to be so widespread with smartphone images.

Variable aperture on smartphones isn’t new – Samsung used it in 2018 with the Galaxy S9 and it was a little bit of a dud function that didn’t reappear on the S10 – however it feels way more helpful now with the swap to bigger sensors. These massive sensors can typically render extra of the picture out of focus than earlier than, so including in that f/4 choice helps alleviate this difficulty.

Total, the photographs taken with the Xiaomi 13 Extremely are spectacular and at instances gorgeous. The element is powerful, the colors delicate and sensible (Leica is almost certainly to thank for this) and because of the prime quality sensors used all through, there isn’t an enormous dip in high quality whichever focal size is chosen.

My largest takeaway after capturing with this telephone for the previous month is that the photographs look extra like these shot with a mirrorless digicam somewhat than a telephone, even a wonderful one just like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. This may be each a constructive and a adverse, although.

As an example, if you happen to like tweaking and tinkering with photographs after they’ve been taken, the large sensor opens up myriad potentialities. There’s far more knowledge to play with and the outcomes from this telephone solely get higher if you happen to’re prepared to place a bit of extra effort in. This does imply that on some events, pictures straight out of the telephone can look a tad flat, particularly if you happen to’re utilizing the Leica Genuine preset.

Flip it over to Leica Vibrant and there’s actually extra pop and saturation in greens and reds, although to not the extent of a flagship Samsung or iPhone. I truly favor the extra sensible strategy, nevertheless I can perceive why some discover it rather less visually interesting.

The large sensor is implausible at capturing a pure bokeh impact, pulling out element from a foreground object and giving a silky blur to the background. Telephones just like the iPhone 14 Professional can do that effectively, however the Xiaomi 13 Extremely tops it with some gorgeous outcomes. Simply take a look at how pure the background within the shot of the flower under appears – there’s barely any want for a devoted portrait mode right here.

Xiaomi’s resolution to make use of high quality sensors behind every totally different lens pays off, making certain whether or not you’re zooming or going ultra-wide the picture stays sturdy and detailed.

The three.2x and 5x telephoto produce good photographs too and it’s sensible of Xiaomi to not hassle with these frankly ridiculous 100x zoom choices seen elsewhere. Having the ability to punch in 3x or 5x, and retain big quantities of element, is a a lot better choice.

The large sensor helps seize loads of mild in darker conditions too. Plenty of element was retained within the pictures taken on the Beyonce live performance under, with a pleasant combine of colors saved too.

It may be fairly gradual to shoot when it’s actually darkish, however the outcomes are principally excellent.

Impressions of the 32MP selfie are much less sturdy, although. Photos right here lack color, element and pure tones, as a substitute wanting fairly odd. This has been a theme of loads of earlier Xiaomi telephones, even high-end ones.

Switching over to video and there’s a lot to fiddle with. 10-bit LOG video recording is supported, and you’ll shoot 8K throughout all 4 of the rear cameras in cinematic 24fps. HDR recording is supported in Dolby Imaginative and prescient as much as 4K at 60fps.

Video recording is excellent, with a high-quality really feel and loads of element. Nonetheless, an actual difficulty I’ve confronted is that the microphone is totally horrible, rendering a lot of the movies ineffective if there’s even the slightest trace of background wind. This can be a actual disgrace, and makes this telephone actually onerous to suggest for these eager to seize video.

Efficiency

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset
• As much as 1TB storage and 16GB RAM
• MIUI 14 software program

Like nearly all of the high-end Android telephones we’ve reviewed to date this yr, the Xiaomi 13 Extremely is powered by Qualcomm’s 8 Gen 2 chipset. 

Alongside the chipset, there’s 12 or 16GB of LPDDR5X reminiscence (this may be upped by one other 3GB with the reminiscence extension function) and 256GB/512GB/1TB storage, though there is no such thing as a microSD expandability.

It’s a quick, succesful set of internals and that is, predictably, a really quick telephone. Each in real-world, day-to-day use and in our ordinary set of benchmark checks the Xiaomi 13 Extremely performs effectively – retaining its personal with different high-end Android gadgets. You may see the way it compares within the benchmark desk under.

The mannequin supplied by Xiaomi for this evaluation is the Chinese language version of the telephone, and there’s no affirmation but whether or not or not there shall be a world version. Meaning there’s no Google Play (or Google providers) by default and there are numerous components of the software program which might be caught in Chinese language regardless of the language of the telephone is about to. This gained’t be the case when (and if) international variations turn out to be accessible.

Utilizing a telephone operating software program like this isn’t for everybody – and I actually wouldn’t need to stay with it long-term. There are simply too many points to make it well worth the problem and despite the fact that the display screen and digicam are glorious, I don’t suppose I can suggest anybody import this telephone until they’re actually prepared to place up with a janky software program expertise.

A few of the points embody apps, notably WhatsApp, not alerting me to new messages for hours at a time, sure Chinese language components of the software program being unable to be switched to English and fixed notifications from apps I’ve by no means used. Xiaomi MIUI can be stuffed with bloat, together with horrible additions like widgets you seemingly should pay for. Loads of these points shall be fastened if we get a European launch, nevertheless MIUI does stay one in all my least favorite variations of Android.

Battery Life

• 90w wall charger included
• Wired and wi-fi help
• Sizable 5000mAh battery

There’s a giant 5000mAh battery contained in the Xiaomi 13 Extremely and it results in sturdy endurance, particularly for a flagship telephone with such a quick, shiny show. All through my almost two months utilizing the telephone, I normally would finish the day with upwards of 30% left and even on the busiest of days – together with a number of hours testing out the digicam – I not often discovered myself going under 10% or needing to allow a few of the battery saver modes.

Oddly, standby instances had been poor, dropping by as a lot as 15% when the telephone was unplugged in a single day. This offers me the impression the telephone is way from being correctly optimised, and this might be one other difficulty with the software program. Hopefully, this wouldn’t be a difficulty if a world launch was to come back.

Wired and wi-fi charging are each supported on the Xiaomi 13 Extremely, with 90w being the quickest velocity accessible. That’s marginally slower than the Xiaomi 13 Professional, although nonetheless very speedy. 

Xiaomi claims a full 0-100% cost takes 35 minutes when utilizing the included charger and I managed to get barely sooner speeds than that, topping up absolutely in 32 minutes. A 15-minute cost can take the telephone from 0-50%.

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