Xiaomi 13 Extremely Overview: Extra Digicam Than Cellphone

Verdict

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

Introduction

Following on from the superb 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 instantly apparent. An enormous digicam bulge indicators this as a lot of a digicam as a telephone.

The Xiaomi 13 Professional is already top-of-the-line digicam telephones round, so this Extremely wants to actually do one thing particular to set itself aside.

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

(Editor’s Be aware: There’s at present no US, European or UK pricing or availability confirmed for the Xiaomi 13 Extremely and this overview was carried out with a Chinese language mannequin operating Chinese language software program. For reference, the bottom mannequin works out at roughly £700/$869 – although anticipate this to be a lot larger if a wider launch is confirmed. Whereas it’s superb, 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 worldwide model. Simply maintain this in thoughts in the event you’re planning on importing the Xiaomi 13 Extremely.)

Display 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 certain it’ll divide opinion tremendously, 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 mainly fake leather-based, or vegan leather-based. It’s a textured masking, giving added grip and guaranteeing no fingerprints or smudges will seem.

Surrounding the textured end are flat steel sides and whereas the silicone leather-based doesn’t stream into the perimeters in a clean method, I really 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 – they usually all characteristic 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 beneath the large digicam system. Some will hate how huge 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.

Nevertheless, having such a big digicam module does include some downsides. For one, discovering a cushty place to relaxation your fingers beneath it’s, to place it mildly, difficult. It’s arduous to keep away from smudging the digicam along with your fingers and it’ll a bit arduous to carry. Even after practically a month of utilizing this telephone, it doesn’t really feel very pure. It additionally doesn’t lay flat on a desk, continuously 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 target, the fundamentals haven’t been forgotten about. The telephone packs an IP68 score and Gorilla Glass Victus masking the entrance show. The 6.73-inch show is far 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 fee to 1Hz to save lots of energy.

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

Digicam

• 4 rear 50MP cameras
• Important 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 at the very least, spectacular. 

There’s nothing in the marketplace 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 actually appear 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 aspect on the telephone.

The round housing holds 4 distinct cameras and heavy Leica (Xiaomi’s think about associate) 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 discipline of view extremely huge and a essential digicam with an aperture that may shift between f/1.9 and f/4.0.

That essential digicam is the star of the present because of its enormous 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 discipline impact and permitting extra gentle into that massive sensor, whereas the narrower f/4.0 reduces the background blur, conserving extra of the body in focus. 

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

I’ve typically discovered the auto-switching doesn’t work too effectively, not often really doing something, and I’ve most popular to manually alter it relying on what I’m taking pictures. The picture beneath 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. Swap to f/4 when taking pictures landscapes or pictures with a number of folks and there isn’t any blurring on the sides that’s turn into 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 characteristic that didn’t reappear on the S10 – however it feels much more helpful now with the change to bigger sensors. These giant sensors can usually render extra of the picture out of focus than earlier than, so including in that f/4 choice helps alleviate this problem.

General, the photographs taken with the Xiaomi 13 Extremely are spectacular and at occasions gorgeous. The element is powerful, the colors delicate and life like (Leica is most probably 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 greatest takeaway after taking pictures with this telephone for the previous month is that the photographs look extra like these shot with a mirrorless digicam relatively than a telephone, even a superb one just like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. This may be each a constructive and a adverse, although.

As an example, in the event you like tweaking and tinkering with pictures after they’ve been taken, the large sensor opens up myriad prospects. There’s way more information to play with and the outcomes from this telephone solely get higher in the event you’re prepared to place a bit extra effort in. This does imply that on some events, pictures straight out of the telephone can look a tad flat, particularly in the event you’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 really favor the extra life like strategy, nonetheless I can perceive why some discover it rather less visually interesting.

The large sensor is improbable 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 beneath appears – there’s barely any want for a devoted portrait mode right here.

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

The three.2x and 5x telephoto produce good pictures 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 enormous quantities of element, is a a lot better choice.

The large sensor helps seize loads of gentle in darker conditions too. A lot of element was retained within the pictures taken on the Beyonce live performance beneath, with a pleasant combine of colors stored too.

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

Impressions of the 32MP selfie are much less sturdy, although. Photos right here lack color, element and pure tones, as an alternative trying fairly odd. This has been a theme of a number 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 superb, with a high-quality really feel and loads of element. Nevertheless, an actual problem I’ve confronted is that the microphone is completely horrible, rendering many 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 arduous to advocate 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 this point this 12 months, 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 characteristic) and 256GB/512GB/1TB storage, though there isn’t 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 exams the Xiaomi 13 Extremely performs effectively – conserving its personal with different high-end Android units. You possibly can see the way it compares within the benchmark desk beneath.

The mannequin offered by Xiaomi for this overview is the Chinese language version of the telephone, and there’s no affirmation but whether or not or not there will probably be a worldwide version. Which means there’s no Google Play (or Google companies) by default and there are numerous components of the software program which can be caught in Chinese language regardless of the language of the telephone is ready to. This gained’t be the case when (and if) international variations turn into accessible.

Utilizing a telephone operating software program like this isn’t for everybody – and I actually wouldn’t wish to stay with it long-term. There are simply too many points to make it well worth the problem and regardless that the display and digicam are wonderful, I don’t assume I can advocate anybody import this telephone except they’re actually prepared to place up with a janky software program expertise.

A number of the points embrace 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 filled with bloat, together with horrible additions like widgets you seemingly need to pay for. Numerous these points will probably be fastened if we get a European launch, nonetheless 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, vibrant show. All through my practically two months utilizing the telephone, I often 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 beneath 10% or needing to allow a number of the battery saver modes.

Oddly, standby occasions 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 much from being correctly optimised, and this might be one other problem with the software program. Hopefully, this wouldn’t be a difficulty if a worldwide launch was to return.

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 quicker speeds than that, topping up absolutely in 32 minutes. A 15-minute cost can take the telephone from 0-50%.

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