Xiaomi 13

Now, we here at Gamereactor haven't yet adopted MrMobile's view that traditional flagships in the smartphone market are now so unimaginative that it's hard to find the angle for exciting coverage. After all, phones are commodities, and they're expensive commodities too, so giving the consumer a bang for their buck is, in part, never boring.

But we say "partly" here for a reason, because development has stagnated to such an extent that it's hard to find anything to really get excited about. Take the Xiaomi 13 as an example - pretty much everything here is exactly as it should be. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is blazing fast, as is the UFS 4.0 slot and 8GB of RAM. The gorgeous 6.36-inch AMOLED 120Hz Dolby Vision display, which peaks at over 1900 NITS, is absolutely brilliant, and we've got IP68 certification, wireless charging, 67-watt wired charging and much, much more. Even the camera has been worked out via a collaboration with Leica, and can compete quite directly with Samsung and Apple in both post-processing and real optics. It's all here.

It has to be at a starting price of £849, which then places it on the same notch of the price ladder as a Galaxy S23, an iPhone 14 and a OnePlus 11. Xiaomi may have deliberately chosen to rub shoulders with the remaining flagships because they know they can, and there is not really a missing feature to point to here. Xiaomi 13 has rightfully earned its place, no doubt about it.

It should perhaps be said here that the Xiaomi 13 is positioned, like so many other smartphones, in the middle, with a rather wild Lite version for almost no money, and a significantly more expensive Pro version. It might lead to a lack of real identity, or presence, which is why we begin with the slightly exhausted admission that the smartphone market is not quite as exciting to cover anymore as it used to be.

But that doesn't mean the Xiaomi 13 isn't gorgeous, because it is. It's all glass wrapped in Corning Gorilla Glass 5, and even though the Chinese manufacturer really hasn't taken any chances on the design front, it's also hard to put your finger on a real misstep. In fact, it is extremely nice just to hold in your hand.

As I said, the basics are under control. The AMOLED display is 2400x1080 with Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and thanks to the brightness that can easily reach 1900 NITS, everything is razor sharp and clear in all lighting conditions. Dolby Atmos speakers and a touch sampling rate of 240Hz make it extremely responsive when you want to play... yes, Merge Mansion.

The camera has been significantly improved at Xiaomi over the last few years. The central wide-lens is 50 megapixels, and uses a Sony IMX800 sensor in partnership with Leica. There's optical stabilisation, of course, but it's probably through post-processing that you'll see the biggest results. There's nice soft bokeh, solid performance even in low light and good colour chemistry across a range of different scenarios, and it's generally a camera that's pretty easy to love and use.

It's perhaps a shame that the telephoto lens is "only" 10 megapixels, and that there's only 3.2x optical zoom - 5x would have been better for its competitiveness, but it all works as it should, and the ultra-wide lens hits that 120 degree FOV that's so absolutely necessary.

If there's one place worth highlighting as a key point of contention, it's software, because it's one of the few areas where there can still be quite a lot of difference between Android manufacturers. The phone runs MIUI 14 based on Android 13, and while there's not much extra here, some of the system shortcuts are taken directly from iOS rather than stock Android, and there are also Xiaomi versions of dedicated apps like Calculator, Calendar - that sort of thing.

It's possible to install Niagra, Nova or Hyperion, and the hardware itself is quite excellent, so it's enough... well, enough for a rock-solid recommendation of the Xiaomi 13 on an informed basis, but at the same time, there isn't really a singular new, innovative feature that makes it... exciting.