Review: Xiaomi 13T Pro

Xiaomi has put some features that make its devices compelling into a relatively affordable package called the 13T Pro. This smartphone, ahead of the next flagship generation, packs an excellent Leica-branded camera, a large display, and beefy specs. Sensible compromises keep the price down while still delivering a taste of Xiaomi’s top-tier tech.

Xiaomi’s 13 Ultra is pricey, and the company’s svelte Mix Fold 3 is only officially available in China, but the 13T Pro comes with Google services out of the box and is available in the UK and across Europe. Sadly, it won’t be coming to the US. The model I tested has 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage and costs £700 or €800. It’s not cheap, but you get a lot of phone for your money.

Nothing about the Xiaomi 13T Pro’s design jumps out. It’s large but relatively light and easy to handle. The reflective glass back of my black review unit was instantly covered in smudges. The large beveled camera module is hard to miss, though it remains black on every model, so it stands out even more against the green or Xiaomi’s faux leather finish in blue. The 13T Pro lacks the class of the 13 Ultra and is, dare I say it, a little dull.

While the back curves into the frame, the impressive screen is flat. This 6.67-inch AMOLED has a 2,712 x 1,220-pixel resolution and boasts an adaptive refresh rate, topping out at a silky smooth 144 Hz. Xiaomi claims peak brightness of 2,600 nits for HDR highlights, and there is Dolby Vision support. Whether reading, gaming, or watching videos, I found the screen sharp, legible, and bright enough to see outdoors. The 13T Pro is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and comes with a screen protector installed. It scores an IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating, so there’s no need to worry about the elements.

The in-display fingerprint sensor is responsive and zippy to unlock. Stereo speakers, at the top and bottom of the frame, produce decent sound, as long as you don’t accidentally cover them with your fingers (I had to adjust my grip).

Photograph: Xiaomi

The triple-lens camera might be the best thing about the Xiaomi 13T Pro. It comprises a 50-megapixel main shooter with optical image stabilization, a 50-MP telephoto lens capable of 2X optical zoom, and a fixed-focus 12-MP ultrawide. As with Xiaomi’s flagships, the camera is tuned by Leica, and you can pick modes: Authentic for natural colors or Vibrant if you prefer that saturated pop.

It is easy to point and shoot and get something you’ll like in most scenarios, whether you’re indoors, in low light outdoors, or shooting on an overcast or sunny day. I put it through its paces at Disneyland Paris and got some pleasing shots of our vacation. I prefer Leica’s Authentic style, as it nails colors, and I was impressed by the nighttime and indoor performance.

Focus on a subject in the foreground, and you can get a nice natural bokeh effect. I don’t think it’s worth bothering with the portrait mode. The depth of field with the main lens is decent, and the 2X zoom is handy. It lacks a dedicated macro mode, but you can get pretty close to subjects and focus with the main camera, so I rarely miss it. The camera app is accessible but has a pro mode for folks who like to tinker.

The camera can sometimes over-brighten, but this issue is much more pronounced with the disappointing 20-MP front-facing camera. Too much movement in any low-light scenario, particularly when using night mode, results in blurring, but again, this problem is much worse with the front-facing camera. Over half the selfies I shot were unusably bad (blurry, noisy, or both). The ultrawide lens also fails to match the quality of the main or telephoto lenses, though it is passable for the odd photo if you need to cram a lot in.

You can shoot video at up to 8K (this is the only difference between the camera in the Pro and the regular 13T). I found that 4K at up to 60 frames per second was plenty detailed, and you can shoot in 1080p at up to 240 fps. I was pleased with the footage I captured, and the Steady Pro mode lives up to its name, delivering good stabilization. There is also motion tracking support that works fairly well.

Photograph: Xiaomi

You may be wondering what Xiaomi shaved off to reduce the price here. Aside from the uninspired design, there is no wireless charging, but that’s the only missing feature I can point to. The 5,000-mAh battery is ample and got me through busy days on vacation with a lot of navigation and camera use. I did miss wireless charging, but if you plug the 13T Pro into the 120-watt charger in the box, you can fully charge it from dead in under half an hour.

The MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ processor may not reach the highs of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 on paper, but it’s not far behind, and there’s no hint of lag or stutter. Long gaming sessions with Mini Metro and Asphalt 9: Legends presented no problem, and the 13T Pro always kept its cool. The 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage are generous. A cheaper model with 256 GB of storage costs £650, though it may be sold out, or you can jump up to 16 GB and 1 TB for £800.

Connectivity is excellent, with Bluetooth 5.4, 5G, and NFC (and future-facing support for Wi-Fi 7). I don’t love Xiaomi’s messy MIUI software interface layered over Android, but it can be tweaked and poked into submission. It’s not much work to configure or install an alternative launcher. The 13T Pro comes with Google services, but there is some bloatware to ditch. Xiaomi has promised four Android platform updates and five years of security patches.

At £700, the model I tested competes with phones like the Pixel 8, which has much better software but worse hardware, and the OnePlus 11, which has a similarly impressive spec sheet. It fails to thrill, but the Xiaomi 13T Pro is a solid proposition for the price. It nails the essentials with a great screen and camera and doesn’t scrimp in any major respect. The selfie camera is the only thing I dislike.