Using the Xiaomi 13 Pro for a week

It's a little strange to always be changing phones. Taking out the SIM card from a phone that has a different form factor, Android interface, or other minor differences might throw you off balance and make you feel as if you're on a boat.

Therefore, I've decided to just use the Xiaomi 13 Pro for a week rather than setting off on a voyage that would take so long that I feel sea sick. Consider this as "Xiaomi 13 Pro first impressions: Extended Edition"—a little something more, but not the Blu-ray steel book boxset containing the whole trilogy.

The Chinese business, which has been having trouble breaking into the UK market and isn't even selling its 13 series in the USA, has a new flagship in the form of the Xiaomi 13 Pro.

If you're not in the USA, the Xiaomi 13 Pro made its debut in China in December of last year and then made its way to Europe and the rest of Asia on March 8. The price of £1,099 is over double the Chinese pricing of ¥4999, or around £600, making this a unique offer. Is it, however, among the top gaming phones?

In contrast to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which begins at £1,249 and can easily compete with the iPhone 14 Pro at £1,049, the iPhone 14 Pro starts at the same price and comes with much less RAM. It matters that Xiaomi is not significantly undercutting its rivals here, if at all.

Now that you know all of that, how does using it feel? Starting with its outside, the Xiaomi 13 Pro is a substantial piece of machinery, consisting of a large slab of flawlessly cut ceramic, aluminum, and glass that is magnetic to fingerprints. Its equally huge camera bump holds the device's main feature, a partnership between Leica and Xiaomi.

In overall, it's quite beautiful. This has a curved edge screen, which I personally don't like, but that's good. This is a huge screen if that's your thing. If you like fine materials, this seems opulent. It seems to be primarily a victory.

The reason I say largely is because it's a little too heavy for my tastes. I get to experiment with a lot of various phones, but the iPhone 13 is my primary phone since I don't believe I could get by with a larger device for daily use. However, this should be suitable for those who like large phones, which seems to be everyone these days.

Furthermore, I do mean it when I say that the camera bump is heavy. Because of the breadth of the camera bump, my controller attachment, which fits an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S22, and almost every other smartphone, does not have a wide enough slot for the Xiaomi 13 Pro. I'm okay with this, but you may not be.

As soon as you flip it, the object on the screen impresses. Beyond a little hole-punch camera, it's an almost bezel-less, edge-to-edge beauty. It's a 120Hz 1440 x 3200 AMOLED with a remarkable pixel density and a brightness peak of 1900 nits. It's quite good.

Combined with adjustable refresh rate software, you may enjoy smooth animations and comfortable reading without having to worry as much about battery life. Furthermore, any concerns about usage time should be minimal since 120W fast charging can fully charge a battery in 19 minutes.

There are three ways to bypass the lock screen: fingerprint, face recognition, or password. If I were you, I wouldn't use the face recognition technology—the OS Miui 14 explicitly warns that trying to set it up would make it less secure—and the fingerprint reader is so quick that it's unquestionably a superior choice.

Xiaomi features the conventional optical fingerprint sensor, in contrast to Samsung's ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, which makes a 3D map of your fingerprint. This illuminates brightly to examine the skin on your finger and ensure that it matches the information that is saved. I never had any problems with it, however callouses, scars, or dampness can cause it to malfunction. It's very quick.

After your phone has been unlocked, let's talk about the worst feature of the Xiaomi 13 Pro—or, for that matter, any Xiaomi, Redmi, or Poco phone—the Miui 14. The primary problem is just general usage, even if the phone comes loaded with pre-installed crap (most of which you can erase, but it still seems a bit trashy to see the Booking.com and QEEQ auto rental applications on initial setup).

Utilizing Miui 14 is strange. Although this phone has enough of power, as we'll discuss in a moment, the user experience is generally subpar and the home screen periodically resets or stutters when swiping. Although it has become better over time, it is still insufficient.

Though I've just had the phone for a week, Android is already enough different from my everyday iPhone. Maybe that's simply a step too far for me, but the Miui 14 is a strange Android. Let's just hope that you, well, you, are able to get beyond that and concentrate on the experience of playing video games.

Though its weight is probably too much for extended gaming sessions, the Xiaomi 13 Pro's size, screen quality, and overall pleasant design make it a great gaming machine.

Next, we have the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside. This is the most recent Snapdragon processor; it's more than sufficient for any game you want, only surpassed by the particular calibration for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which you can learn more about in our talk with the EVP, Head of Mobile R&D, Samsung's Won-Joon Choi interview.

On maximum settings, Call of Duty Mobile, Genshin Impact, and Fortnite all operate at high framerates. The phone was never hot, just slightly warmer than normal (it's typically ice-cold to the touch), and I had no problems. Marvel Snap and other less demanding apps pass by without causing any problems for this stuff in the meantime.

This ability may also result in excellent emulation. After setting up Aether, I played a little in the difficult-to-emulate PS2 game Raw Danger and discovered, to my amazement, that there were no problems. While you shouldn't play Raw Danger on a phone, this may simulate the PS2 if that's what you're looking for.

Therefore, the chipset seems a little excessive for games we can play at the moment, but it prepares you for future releases of more demanding titles. Additionally, it facilitates daily usage when the operating system isn't in the way. I swear, the high refresh rate and this speed make things really snappy.

After a week, what are our thoughts on the Xiaomi 13 Pro? Yes, it's pricey but amazing. It is somewhat less expensive than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which costs the same as the non-Android iPhone 14 Pro but has a little more polish and power overall.

Thus, consider this: what do you want? This is it if it must be Android, it cannot be Samsung, and it must be the newest, almost finest technology available. However, it seems like a niche. Additionally, this phone is unlikely to become widely used in the USA. If you decide to buy it, you won't be let down, but I'm not sure where it fits into the elite segment of the Android market. It's simply positioned strangely.