Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro Review

Xiaomi's recent struggles in India hasn't affected it's knack for delivering high quality budget and mid-range smartphones. The Chinese firm's latest mid-range smartphone, the Redmi Note 13 Pro (starting at Rs 25,999), boasts a slim figure, bright display and a dependable camera system.

Design & display

Surprisingly light for a smartphone with a large 6.7-inch display, the Redmi Note 13 Pro offers a comfortable, light (187g), flat-edged design that's easy to hold. The only design let down is the black coloured variant’s glossy finish. In comparison, the lighter color options come in a matte finish and resist smudges much better.

The 6.67-inch AMOLED screen offers up to 120Hz refresh rate and delivers sharp and bright visuals, while the impressive 1800 nit peak brightness ensures excellent outdoor readability.

Whether you're gaming or watching YouTube videos, the near bezel-less display with a 94% screen-to-body ratio makes for a truly immersive experience. Also, you can customize the display to your liking with color enhancements and the option to switch between warm and cool tones.

Software

The Redmi Note 13 Pro comes pre-loaded with Android 13 based MIUI 14 interface. However, Xiaomi has started rolling out the new Android 14 based HyperOS update.

Xiaomi phones have one of the best looking custom UIs available in the Android segment. Their UI offers plenty of customization options. You can choose to have an app drawer, hide it completely, or switch to a Lite mode with larger icons and menus. This "Lite mode" is especially helpful for older users. It existed before, but now you don't have to restart the phone to use it.

Performance

Redmi Note 13 Pro runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 system-on-chip (SoC) and is available in three storage variants 128, 256 and 512GB with up to 12GB RAM.

It is a fairly powerful hardware and capable of handling most every day as well as some demanding tasks like video editing and gaming without breaking sweat. In some heavy games like eFootball 24 we did notice significant frame drops when playing matches in day mode. Clearly this is not going to be my top choice for gaming even in the mid segment.

If you want a better gaming experience, you can go for the Nothing Phone 2a or Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus.

Nothing Phone 2a runs on MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Pro, which offers a tad better CPU and GPU performance than the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, according to multiple benchmarks results. Meanwhile, Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus runs on MediaTek’s Dimensity 7200 Ultra which is a lot faster and can handle games much better.

Camera

The Xiaomi phone's triple camera system includes a 200MP sensor, 8MP ultra wide sensor and 2MP macro sensor. The 200MP camera is not the default camera and to use it you have to select the 200MP mode for the camera app. In the 8MP camera you get up to 4x optical zoom, which is impressive but if you switch to the 200MP camera you only get 2x optical zoom. You can record 4K videos in 30fps.

The 200MP camera can capture a lot of detail in both indoor and outdoor shots and has a decent dynamic range too. Colours also look rich and realistic without feeling oversaturated at any point.

Video quality is average and even in well lit outdoor conditions video looks a bit grainy and washed out. Colors look realistic and skin tones quite natural.

The 16MP selfie camera reproduces colours well in selfies. Detail reproduction is good too but mostly in well light and outdoor conditions. Indoors selfies look a bit blurry.

Verdict

The Redmi Note 13 Pro is a strong contender in the mid-range smartphone market, offering a slim design, a large display, a dependable camera, and the ability to handle modest gaming. Its main competitor is the Nothing Phone 2a, which boasts slightly better hardware, an equally competent camera system, and a design that truly stands out in any segment.

That said, Nothing is a relatively new brand and lacks the distribution network of Xiaomi. While the Nothing Phone 2a is listed on Croma online stores, I couldn't find it in any of their physical stores in Gurgaon. Additionally, Nothing doesn't have as extensive a network of service centers as Xiaomi, which could lead to a challenging after-sales experience, especially for those residing outside major cities.

Image credit: Abhijit Ahaskar