Xiaomi’s 2022 ends on a high note – last week’s poll shows that the new 13-series flagships are well-liked and each has its fans. The Xiaomi 13 Pro shines with its 1” sensor, something that was only available on special phones like the 12S Ultra before. The Ultra never got a wide release, but the 13 Pro is going global.
Details on that are scarce at the moment, and some people are worried about the price – we don’t know the exact number yet, but based on the 12 series, these will be out of reach for some. For those who can afford them, however, the Xiaomi 13 duo are serious contenders.
With other excellent flagships already official (or soon to be), people are eager to see detailed reviews of how the new cameras perform. There were also questions about battery life, as the 12 series lacked endurance. The new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 promises much higher efficiency, so that may turn out to be a non-issue.
As for the Xiaomi 13 vs. 13 Pro, some liked the smaller vanilla model for its size and for its flat screen. They would have preferred a 1″ sensor to match the Pro. Something that both models got knocked for is the continued use of USB 2.0 ports, which lack wired video output.
Others like the large screen of the Xiaomi 13 Pro and of course the more advanced camera setup – not only the IMX989 sensor in the main module, but also the 50MP sensor in the telephoto module and the 50MP sensor in the ultra-wide.
As a core part of the Xiaomi experience, MIUI was often mentioned in the comments – it’s a “love it or hate it” kind of deal, and users’ feelings towards the OS skin strongly influence their decision whether to buy the Xiaomi 13- the phones.
The comments also revealed the strongest rivals from the Xiaomi 13 duo – vivo’s X90 phones. The X90 Pro+ also has a 1” sensor and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and will go up against the 13 Pro. The vanilla Xiaomi 13 has the vivo X90 as its opponent, although the X90 is larger and uses a different chip, the Dimensity 9200, so there is less overlap between the two.
Xiaomi has not announced when the 13 series will launch internationally. The first order of business seems to be a global launch of the Redmi Note 12 series on January 5, so the market expansion of the flagships will likely come some time after that.
We had to wait until March for the Xiaomi 12 series to become available outside of China, so brace yourselves. There is also the open question of the even more powerful Xiaomi 13 Ultra, which may have gimbal stabilization. It’s just a rumor for now.
