Xiaomi 13 Ultra review

For a time, we didn’t want to get our hopes up that there would be another worldwide Xiaomi Ultra because the 2021 model could have easily stayed a unique item to look back on with nostalgia. Then, at one point, we were told that there would not only not be a global one, but also that there would not be any at all. Nevertheless, everything turned out well in the end, and the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is now available—one for China and one for the rest of the world.

Having said that, we must nonetheless mention that Xiaomi sent us a model of the phone with software tailored for China. Therefore, even though a global variant should theoretically be accessible at some point, we haven’t yet used or seen it. But that’s mostly irrelevant for the purposes of this review.

This is partially due to the fact that the 13 Ultra’s most significant features transcend regional software differences. We’re referring to the unique quad-camera configuration on the phone’s back. When the 50MP 1-inch primary unit, which is unquestionably the star of the show, is accompanied by two telephoto lenses and an ultrawide lens, each of which has a 50MP sensor of its own, you know it’s something remarkable. With both anticipation and trepidation, we look forward to beginning this camera segment. But everything happened in due course.

That Leica-co-engineered camera system is attached to a smartphone, and it’s a real high-end one at that. Finding something to criticise on the next pages will be difficult given the newest Snapdragon, a cutting-edge high-res, high-refresh-rate OLED display, dust and water resistance, and quick charging. When we first saw the design in the photographs, we assumed it would seem like that, but after holding the phone in our hands, we have come to like its appearance as well.

Before we begin, here is a brief review of the key crucial specifications.

Unboxing of Xiaomi 13 Ultra

The presentation of the 13 Ultra is identical to that of any recent Xiaomi Pro or Ultra. Its only distinguishing feature from the less expensive models in the lineup is its color—black—and the red Leica dot is the only other bright spot on the cardboard.

The phone, a 90W power converter, and a USB-A to USB-C connector are all included within. A black snap-on case is also supplied, albeit it falls short of the Ultra itself in terms of quality. Nevertheless, this shouldn’t impair the case’s functionality.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra Professional Camera Bundle, which costs CNY 1000 (€130) separately in China, is absent from the standard retail package. The kit comes with a nicer phone cover, a separate right-hand grip, a filter adapter ring that enables you to screw on 67mm lens filters that are standard, a lens cap (or, in this case, a cap for the entire camera system), and a lanyard.

With everything in place, the Ultra looks even less like a phone and more like a tiny camera. The two-stage shutter release button and zoom rocker on the hand grip also cause the Ultra to function like a compact camera. We were unable to use this collection of accessories, which is a shame.

Design

A smartphone’s rear end can never seem discrete when cutting-edge camera gear is installed, and prior Xiaomi Ultras have been anything but covert. However, they have always had ownership of it and found a unique way to make the large camera assemblies appealing.

When we first saw the 13 Ultra’s graphics, though, we weren’t so sure. Its camera bump is a camera bump, after all!

However, things aren’t nearly as bad as they appear. Not awful at all, really. If anything, the ramp-like structure that rises to the massive circular camera assembly facilitates a more seamless transition from smartphone thickness to camera thickness.

Our callipers read 9.3mm whereas the specifications read 9.1mm (measured at the thin end, obviously). On the other hand, the thickness at the Leica end is 15.2mm, so a camera sticking out over 6mm would have been quite an eyesore and maybe compromised handling (and out-of-pocket pulling). The ramp is therefore much needed.

The cameras are arranged in a group under a 55mm-diameter glass circle that was jointly designed with German optics experts. It is positioned a little lower on the rear of the phone and is a few millimetres larger than that of the 12S Ultra.

Since there is now one more camera, and the Leica logo is now located in the centre, things inside have been rearranged. The ultrawide camera had previously entered.

The new ultrawide is closer to the edge of the phone because of its placement in the upper right corner of the cluster. When taking pictures in landscape mode while holding the phone in both hands, we encountered multiple instances where fingers would block the corner of the frame. It’s important to watch out for it.

Our test device is painted in the Olive Green Hero hue, which is unlike any other colour scheme but also subtle rather than overt. The ring that encircles the camera housing and has a brass-like appearance could have been green as well, but it might work just as well to provide colour as it is. There are also two additional body colour choices, and you really can’t go wrong with Black and White. The ring always stays the same colour.

Unusually, the aluminium frame curls inward to meet the back panel where it doesn’t extend all the way to the side borders. I guess more luxury means more exposed metal?

From hue to colorway, the frame is color-matched to the back panel and given a satin finish. For those who value attention to detail, the symmetrical placement of the strips that divide it and allow it to function as antennas is a great touch.

Those same people might not be pleased to learn that the speaker ‘grilles’ in the frame are made up of four circular openings rather than the cool wavy design of the 13 Pro or the 11 Ultra. However, the 12S Ultra already gave up that for the more serious appearance of identical circles; the difference is that there are now fewer of them than on the previous generation.

There are two mic pinholes and an infrared emitter on top in addition to the speaker ports. On the bottom, there is a second set of speaker holes, a microphone, and a SIM card slot (dual nano, no microSD). The card tray’s gasket alludes to water resistance, and the spec sheet’s official IP68 grade backs it up.

Physical controls for the 13 Ultra are located on the right, with the volume rocker located above and the power button in the centre. They are all metal, as expected, and have a very satisfying clicking action.

The fingerprint reader under the display functions as a kind of “physical” control. The optical sensor is positioned at the ideal height, not too low nor too high, and it performs with the consistency and speed you would anticipate at this distance.

It’s true that we haven’t yet reached the handset’s display side, but that’s only because everything else has such unique character. This is not to imply that we don’t adore the 6.73-inch OLED screen on the Ultra; on the contrary.

A luxury look and feel that is deserving of, well, whatever price Xiaomi comes up with, is delivered by minimal bezels all around and the slightest of curves that the Gorilla Glass Victus makes towards the sides.

The Ultra’s weight, or rather, the sensation of solidity you get when holding it, contributes in part to the classy impression it gives off. It’s not the heaviest of its contemporaries, weighing in at 227g, a few grammes less than the Galaxy S23 Ultra (234g) or the iPhone 14 Pro Max (240g). Both the Find X6 Pro and the vivo X90 Pros are a little bit lighter.

Since it is a full-size smartphone, you should probably look elsewhere if you’re looking for a compact solution. However, 1-inch main units with quad-cam setups haven’t been known to fit in particularly portable phones.

In conclusion, despite our initial scepticism, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra charmed us over with its design. It feels expensive, handles nicely, and has a handsome appearance in person.

DISPLAY

A fantastic 6.73-inch OLED display is included with the Xiaomi 13 Ultra. There’s really nothing lacking on this one with a 1,440×3,200px resolution, a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 1920Hz PWM dimming, and support for Dolby Vision.

The 13 Ultra’s brightness rating in adaptive brightness mode was little over 1,200nits, which is somewhat less than the Find X6 Pro’s and a few dozen less than the Galaxy S23’s, but let’s be honest, 1207nits isn’t going to be a problem for most people. Although the iPhone can certainly be brighter, one has to wonder how much is appropriate and how much is excessive.

The Xiaomi fits into the so-called “regular” category because it has about 500 nits of available brightness on the slider when the sun isn’t directly shining on its ambient light sensor. Some phones, including the iPhone, the Find, the Galaxy, and even the Magic, let you manually access about 800 nits. Again, it’s difficult to criticise the Xiaomi for lacking brightness with its 500/1200 performance; it’s only that some of its competitors truly outperform it.

Color Accuracy

The Xiaomi colour settings menu is there on the 13 Ultra, but with a twist. In place of the customary Vivid, the Original colour mode is now PRO and is the default. Of course, the latter is also available, as is Saturated mode, as well as three other options in the Advanced settings submenu.

We won’t be shocked if this arrangement is only present in the Chinese software version and the international 13 Pro ends up with a “non-PRO” Original colour setting and Vivid as the default, just as it did with the China-only 12S Ultra.

Although it is not a wide-gamut mode, Original colour PRO mode produces acceptable results for sRGB test swatches with the typical bluish whites and greys. However, if you switched to the Warm temperature preset, you’d get a nearly flawless sRGB rendition; our average dE2000 value was 0.6 (!).

Similar issues existed with Vivid mode (targeting DCI-P3) in its default configuration, and the Warm temp preset only partially corrected them. We achieved an average dE2000 of under 2.0 by selecting a custom colour wheel point that was located high in the yellows, which is also remarkable. We wished Xiaomi had tuned the screen at the factor that accurately.

The designated sRGB and P3 modes in the Advanced settings menu did not provide us with appropriate readings for the corresponding colour swatches, as we have previously discovered.

Refresh rate

Similar to other recent Xiaomis with 1440p screens, the 13 Ultra gives you the option of setting the display resolution to 1080p or the higher native resolution. The lower resolution is thought to be less demanding on the battery and in graphics-intensive tasks. There is a toggle that allows the phone to automatically transition to 1080p when it thinks it’s acceptable when in 1440p mode.

There are two refresh modes: Default (automatic switching behaviour) and Custom (select between 120Hz or 60Hz refresh ceilings), and the display offers refresh rates of up to 120Hz.

The adjustable refresh rate performs as predicted, dropping to 1Hz when the screen displays static content and becoming extremely dynamic in games or browsers (constantly varying between 10Hz and 120Hz with no defined steps). Aside from 1Hz for static images, there were only a few situations where we observed it switching to fixed refresh rates: 24Hz for 24 frames per second videos, 30Hz for 30 frames per second clips, and 60Hz for HFR videos and apps, which cannot use dynamic refresh rate adjustments.

As we noted, the screen is certainly as dynamic as it can be these days. The always-on display uses 30Hz, and occasionally, we observed static content display at 10Hz.

However, there is a twist. The screen brightness affects the minimum refresh rate. The refresh rate will be retained at its maximum (60Hz or 120Hz, depending on the situation) if the brightness is less than about 100 nits, and it will only fall below these maximums for particular video frames per second (24 or 30 fps).

Positively, the display supports high-frequency 1920Hz PWM dimming, so anyone sensitive to the standard low-frequency PWM brightness control on OLED screens shouldn’t have any issues.

HDR Support

Widevine L1 DRM support is built into the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, and Full HD streaming with HDR10/10+ and Dolby Vision support is accessible across well-known platforms. As the Chinese version, our review unit is unable to access HDR on Netflix. However, if the global 13 Pro is any indication, the global 13 Ultra should eventually be able to.

Battery life of Xiaomi 13 Ultra

The 13 Ultra, like the majority of its rivals, includes an internal 5,000mAh battery. It represents a sort of improvement over the 4,860mAh capacity of the 12S Ultra, which in turn represented a sort of downgrade from the 5,000mAh capacity of the 11 Ultra.

In every one of our tests, the phone produced reasonable results and shown an overall improvement over the previous version.

While the 19:13h we obtained while looping videos is on par with the Find X6 Pro and better than the vivo X90 Pro, it is not quite as good as the Galaxy. The 15:29h web browsing result is slightly below the class average.

The voice call longevity, at 36:31h, was a few hours less than the Galaxy’s but still superior to most.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra received an overall Endurance rating of 108h.

Charging speed

The 13 Ultra is capable of charging at up to 90W and supports Qualcomm QuickCharge 4.0 and USB PowerDelivery 3.0. The charger that comes with the device also states that. The power metre topped out during our tests at about 77W, so we’d think that’s close enough.

Xiaomi claims that the 13 Ultra should charge from empty to full in 35 minutes, however we found that it took 40. It’s possible that Xiaomi reached their claim with the phone off while we tested with it on. At the halfway point, we were looking at 91%.

In any event, when it comes to quick charging in the high-end category, the results are what you might call average. Big-name Chinese rivals are faster, as is Xiaomi’s own 13 Pro, while Galaxy and iPhone models are slower – nothing particularly groundbreaking here.

Although there is no listing for the 13 Ultra on the WPC website (not that those are particularly informative), it supports wireless charging both inside and outside. We haven’t been able to test Xiaomi’s claim that the phone can be wirelessly charged at up to 50W and should reach 100% in 49 minutes.

If a wearable or TWS headphone case supports standard Qi wireless charging, the phone is specced to be able to output up to 10W in the opposite direction.

Speakers

A stereo speaker arrangement is used by the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, with one driver firing sound out the bottom and another at the top sending sound both forward through the earpiece and out through a grille on the top plate. Although there is no longer any Harman/Kardon branding, Dolby Atmos is still supported.

Channels are switched to fit the landscape orientation, with the top speaker receiving the left channel in vertical mode. You receive good audio separation from the two speakers, as well as a guarantee that you won’t miss anything if you totally cover one with your hands. Each speaker outputs its own channel as well as a muffled version of the opposite channel.

The 13 Ultra tested “Very Good” for loudness, which puts it about on level with all of the high-end rivals. It has a very similar sound to the 12S Ultra, which is not necessarily a bad thing because it results in a balanced output with satisfying vocals, a solid low-end wallop, and well-defined treble. One of the best speaker experiences is available here.

Remember that Dolby Atmos is activated by default in that situation. Its low-frequency responsiveness is considerably diminished when it is turned off.

Software

With an Android 13 core at its core, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra runs MIUI 14. The Ultra is receiving the usual flagship treatment as that is the most recent feature available on a Xiaomi phone. There aren’t many surprises either because it’s a software suite we had used on the 13 Pro.

Since our review unit is the Chinese version, it is using localised software, which means some features are different from what the global branch is receiving. As we did with the 12S Ultra last year, we would typically review the phone’s software in its current state if it were to be released exclusively in China.

However, in this case, we’re in a little bit of a pickle because we already know that the 13 Ultra will eventually be released globally with globally compatible software. In order to give you a better idea of what to expect, we would like to divert your attention to the 13 Pro’s evaluation rather than discussing the user interface of our review unit.

Additionally, we recently created a dedicated, in-depth MIUI 14 on Android 13 walkthrough. It’s going to be more educational than focusing solely on our 13 Ultra because it not only shows off Xiaomi’s most recent software but also describes some of the differences between the Chinese and international versions.

Performance

Nobody is surprised that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 high-end chipset for 2023 powers the Xiaomi 13 Ultra. The 13 Pro, Galaxy S23 Ultra, Find X6 Pro, OnePlus 11, and many more devices all use the same SoC.

The SD 8 Gen 2 boasts an octa-core processor with one prime core, four performance ones (further divided into 2+2), and three cores for less demanding tasks, making it a 1+2+2+3 arrangement. You’ve probably already read this before – in the reviews up top, no less. For completeness, you could also use 1×3.2GHz Cortex-X3 together with 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A715 and 2×2.8GHz Cortex-A710 and 3×2.0GHz Cortex-A510 CPU cores.

The Gen 2 chipset delivers 35% more performance and 40% better efficiency in the CPU domain than the Gen 1 chipset, as well as 25% and 45% more performance and efficiency improvements in the GPU (Adreno 740) area. Additionally, it supports LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0, two newer, faster memory technologies.That’s lovely and all, but since the majority of today’s top-tier devices have the same chip inside, such distinctions aren’t all that significant given you’re probably comparing the newest phones to their similarly newest rivals.

There are three different memory options for the Xiaomi 13 Ultra: 12GB/256GB, 16GB/512GB (the model we reviewed), and 16GB/1TB.

The 13 Ultra is a high performer under single-core and multi-core loads as we begin our typical benchmarking procedure with GeekBench. Even though the differences aren’t significant, it’s good to see your phone near the top of the rankings.

Even in such a competitive field, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra manages to either be on top or right up there with the best. As we move into the graphics benchmarks, not much really changes.

With all of the benchmarks scoring so highly, you could assume that the 13 Ultra is suitable for a short burst of speed but not for sustained loads. In fact, it demonstrated outstanding stability during both the 20-minute Wild Life stress test and the 1-hour CPU throttling test in 3D Mark.

The Loop LiquidCool technology, also known as Mi IceLoop, is what Xiaomi refers to as the “first landing of an aerospace-grade large toroidal cooling system on a smartphone.” It has a slit in the centre that divides the return channel with the condensed liquid from the channel with the hot vapour exiting from the SoC, maximising heat evacuation. According to their findings, it is three times as effective as conventional vapour chambers.

We’ll just note that during these torture tests, the phone does have a tendency to become noticeably hotter on the outside. In reality, that means that heat is being dispersed away from the sources of it, and that is what matters most. There’s that. It doesn’t get so hot that you can’t hold it.

Camera Hardware and app

Camera Setup

In many ways, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is the most complete imaging capture hardware on a smartphone thanks to its unique quad-camera arrangement. The Ultra sports a 1-inch camera sensor, which is popular this year, but adds a unique touch by having a variable aperture. Even if this phone or that phone may have a larger imager on one camera or another, the Xiaomi’s combination of extreme ultrawide and two telephoto lenses is difficult to surpass. The other three cameras on its back all share the same sensor.

The primary camera’s hardware isn’t special; it shares a Sony IMX989 sensor with the vivo X90 Pro (and Pro+), Oppo Find X6 Pro, and even Xiaomi’s own 13 Pro. It is a Quad Bayer architecture with a nominal resolution of 50MP, 1.6m individual pixels, and a 4-to-1 binning ratio that yields 12.5MP images (or 3.2m pixel pitch).

What’s in front of that sensor is where the 13 Ultra stands out. With this main camera, Xiaomi has introduced a dual-aperture diaphragm that gives you the option of using either the 13 Pro’s default f/1.9 aperture or a stopped-down f/4.0 mode. In situations when the wide open setting would typically result in an extremely shallow depth of field, this provides you control over the depth of field and should enable you to catch crisper subjects at closer ranges.

The installation of the diaphragm mechanism had no impact on the 8-element lens’ stabilisation.

Each of the remaining three cameras uses a Sony IMX858. This one features a 1/2.51″ optical format and claims to be a 50MP Quad Bayer camera with 0.7-mm-wide individual pixels. We believe that this hardware consistency is a solid formula for consistency in image attributes; we’ll see.

The specified coverage of the ultrawide camera’s lens is 122 degrees, which is extremely wide and equates to about a 12mm equivalent focal length on a full-frame camera. Since the 12S Ultra and 11 Ultra also featured incredibly wide ultrawide cameras, it appears that this is how Xiaomi prefers to operate.

Since we brought up earlier Ultras, it’s important to note that the vivo X90 Pro+ (available in China only) has the same size sensor as those earlier Ultras (1/2.0″, 48MP). Although it can’t cover quite as wide a frame as the Xiaomi, the current Oppo Find X6 Pro (also available in China only) has an even bigger sensor on its ultrawide camera, at 1/1.56″. The vivo X90 Pro (non-Plus, global) features a smaller sensor, measuring 1/2.93″, while the ultrawide camera on the Galaxy S23 Ultra utilises a similar-sized sensor (but one that is different in theory).

The two telephoto lenses will now be discussed. The smaller one has an f/1.8 aperture and an equivalent focal length of 75mm (3.2x zoom compared to the main camera’s 23mm). The longer one has a 120mm equivalent (5x zoom) and f/3.0 periscope lens. These two both have optical stabilisation.

Comparisons against rivals can become very lengthy, so we’ll only focus on the Find X6 Pro’s 3x zoom. On the one hand, its larger sensor (1.56″) gives it an advantage, but on the other hand, its darker lens (f/2.6) and shorter reach (65mm) may somewhat offset that. The Find also cannot compete with the Xiaomi’s 5x telephoto lens.

We’re not so sure about the selfie game on the 13 Ultra. The front-facing camera’s 32MP sensor has been available for a while, but the way it’s been used is lacking. For example, there is no 8MP setting, so you can only take 32MP photographs. Additionally, it lacks autofocus and a 4K video recording option. Not quite appropriate for a headline product.

Camera App

The camera software on the 13 Ultra differs slightly from that on earlier Xiaomis we’ve seen, including the Chinese 12S Ultra from last year and the global 13 Pro from a few months ago, at least on this Chinese version of the phone. Of course, there isn’t much of a difference, and fundamental operations (changing modes, adjusting the zoom level) are simple.

On the far end of the viewfinder, there are two toggles: one for the flash mode and one for the Vibrant or Authentic Leica option. There is something resembling a status bar nearby, where indicators for additional settings (like Auto HDR) show up when they are turned on and are off by tapping on the indicator.

You can either drag down from anywhere in the viewfinder or hit the tiny arrow button to re-enable the feature. The contextual settings menu that appears depends on the mode you’re in; for example, the aspect ratio, the Timed burst (also known as the intervalometer, which is neat), the macro mode (auto, off, on), and the crucial aperture setting (f/1.9, f/4.0, but also auto) are all available in Photo mode.

You can change exposure settings (white balance, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and exposure correction) in the fully featured Pro mode. Naturally, manual focus is also an option here. Zebras, a live histogram, and focus peaking are just a few of the tools that are accessible.

The Fastshot mode is a special function made possible by the variable aperture and the increased depth of focus it produces. It is founded on the idea of hyperfocal distance photography, according to which there is a range of distances at which objects will be acceptably sharply focused. When you double-press the volume down button to start the camera, you can set the focus at three specified distances (0.6 m, 1.2 m, and 5 m) and be ready to shoot a picture in 0.8 seconds.

Daylight Photos

It doesn’t really mean much to say that the main camera on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra takes beautiful pictures, does it? However, we must begin somewhere.

We receive bright colour reproduction, as is typical of Xiaomi pictures, when using the Leica bright option on the 13 Ultra. By no means would we describe the colours as being overly saturated; rather, it is a well-considered and mature technique that yields expressive results. Additionally, we found no problems with the auto white balance. The dynamic range is likewise superb, as expected.

The 13 Ultra renders detail quite well, and it has a natural appearance about it. Images taken outside are completely noise-free, and even situations inside that are only somewhat well-lit are immaculate.

There is also the Leica Authentic mode, which, let’s just say, isn’t for everyone because it demands a certain attitude to appreciate its effects. It is, in some ways, a more muted and unprocessed representation of reality than you might expect. For instance, colours lack some of their pop, and detail appears much more naturally created than the already subtly fake Vibrant style.

However, there are also stylistic decisions that we may not always agree with. In a way, these choices represent an overly processed version of the world we live in. Due to technological restrictions or aesthetic fads, it’s possible that this dark, gloomy style was popular in the past, but we don’t much like it now.

Additionally, we can’t quite agree with the constant vignetting. Just because we weren’t able to create lenses without light loss at the edges in the past doesn’t mean we should replicate what is essentially an optical design flaw today through processing. It also makes more sense to fix the light fall-off in software even if existing lenses do have some light loss at the corners. Do not misunderstand; it is acceptable to add a splash of vignetting for artistic reasons, to create a mood, or to draw attention to the centre. But it doesn’t have to be a’mode’ in the viewfinder. End of rant.

Changing the subject to something more upbeat, the 13 Ultra’s main camera does boast a feature that the other 1-inchers lack: a variable aperture. Your ability to change the aperture from f/1.9 to f/4.0 gives you more control over what and how much of the scene is in focus.

Shallow depth of field typically leaves us all speechless (that’s how ‘Portrait mode’ came to be in the first place), but it can cause problems when you’re faced with a nearby subject that has any depth rather than being in a flat plane head-on. You may ensure that, for instance, more petals or nearly the entire Vespa will be in sharp focus by switching to f/4.0.

However, the majority of the time, you want to focus on your subject and ignore the background, and the f/1.9 aperture will enable you to do just that. And as long as there is blur, we’ll still be suckers for out-of-focus areas.

Another benefit of adjusting the aperture is the potential for crisper images when closing down a lens rather than leaving it open wide. Without getting into too much detail, we’ll just state that, aside from the impacts that the depth of field accounts for, we did not see a discernible difference in clarity between images produced at f/1.9 and those taken at f/4.0.

Let’s take a closer look at the photographs taken with the primary camera’s 50MP resolution as a stepping stone to the 13 Ultra’s zooming skills. These do provide an increase in fine detail, which is easier to see in man-made patterns (such as the pillow in the eighth sample below) and generally at closer ranges than in random detail, such as foliage at a distance. In general, we wouldn’t say the 50MP option is really useful, but if you like to crop images after the fact, it will be very helpful to you.

The 2x setting on the zoom selection essentially uses a 12.5MP centre crop from the 50MP mode to produce its results. Xiaomi didn’t have to include a 2x mode because it has a 3.2x dedicated camera, but since they can get such high-quality results, they might as well.

Now for the first of the two zoom cameras. The 3.2x zoom images are also quite good; they are crisp and effectively capture fine detail. The telephoto shots are not nearly as spotless as the main camera, but we are beginning to notice some grain in areas of uniform colour. This grain is quite fine and is in no way distracting. The zoom shots have the same degree of harmonious pop in their colours and excellent contrast.

The Xiaomi maintains its superior performance even at longer telephoto distances. The superior colour matching between the cameras is still there in this. Excellent microcontrast and excellent sharpness result in well-defined detail. Similar to the 3.2x module, noise is present, but only if you seek for it.

When we abruptly switch from the 120mm comparable telephoto to the wider 12mm ultrawide, we’re also not dissatisfied. Dynamic range is also superb, and consistency in colour science is still astounding. Despite an increase in roughness, images are consistently sharp and have good detail.

portrait mode

The Portrait mode on the 13 Ultra features a wider range of choices and sub-modes than the 12S Ultra’s.

The 3.2x telephoto camera is used to its full potential in the default mode. It provides a comfortable shooting distance in addition to very good image quality.

The “Documentary” mode, which uses the primary camera but crops the image to fit a 35mm lens, is another option. Although its icon suggests otherwise (just as the 35mm mode on the 12S Ultra was implemented), it actually takes colour pictures. Since the primary camera has already proven useful for cropping, it is not surprising that these are of high quality

The Swirly Bokeh mode is next; it uses the same main camera as the previous one but has been reduced to a 50mm equivalent focal length. The vignetting effectively draws attention to your subject, and the image quality is great (barring weak illumination).

In the Portrait Portrait mode, using the 3.2x zoom camera with a 75mm equivalent focal length, the light fall-off is also visible. The zoom level is the same as in the Default mode, but in addition to the vignetting, there is a heavier default background blur.

The last setting on this list is the Soft Focus mode, which is sourced from the 3.2x zoom but upscaled to a somewhat longer focal length equivalent (90mm) and given a distinctive effect of digital vaseline on the lens. Go for it if that’s your thing.

There can’t possibly be any more modes, right? But they do. The contextual settings menu (the arrow at the far end of the viewfinder) is where you can access the “Full Body mode,” which gives you the native field of view of the primary camera (that of a 23mm lens). It’s used when you want to show your subject’s surrounds in context but the surroundings aren’t perfectly sharp and don’t need to be in focus.

Selfie Camera

The 13 Ultra’s selfies can be taken at two different magnifications: 0.8x, which preserves the camera’s original field of vision, and 1x, which zooms in and upscales. Although the sensor is a Quad Bayer type, there is no way to change the output resolution from 32MP to a 4-to-1 binned 8MP mode. They certainly don’t take up the space of a 32MP image, but they do have no useful purpose.

The Ultra can always have 32MP on the tin, with an option for 8MP if you want all the image quality condensed in a smaller size. They would make excellent 8MP images, but we appreciate how difficult it would be to market those.

All things considered, colours and dynamic range are quite good. The final scene with the backlighting may have been little overexposed, and with the HDR in full effect, it does appear somewhat washed out.

Speaking of backlit settings and HDR, selfie Portrait mode doesn’t work well with either of them. By the way, there is no method to make portrait selfies appear at the normal 0.8x magnification instead of the zoomed-in 1x magnification.

Low-light photos

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra typically does some sort of automatic Night mode processing when it considers it required. It’s a toggle that you can turn off in the options if you’d rather have complete control over the procedure, but the outcomes you’d receive if there was no computational wizardry will probably make you think twice about doing that.

Main Camera

The main camera images taken at night with the 13 Ultra are excellent, starting with full Auto operation (Photo mode, Auto Night mode enabled). Exposures are evenly distributed, producing outstanding development at both tone extremes without giving the impression of being overly brightened.

No significant white balance errors exist, and colours remain accurate and saturated. In contrast to the wider strokes of excessive sharpening that may be seen on certain other phones, detail is still displayed organically.

We’re not always sure if the dedicated Night mode’s little improvements are due to the new setting or are just shot to shot variations dependent on how steady your hands were when you took that particular frame. However, we could persuade ourselves that there is more aggressive highlight retention occurring and that there is a slight improvement in shadow definition, at least in some scenes.

Additionally, some scenes might simply be too well lit for any Auto Night mode to activate, so forcing it will produce a different image than the one from full Auto – like the pair of samples of the fire hydrant.

Overall though, it comes down to picking at straws, and the full Auto is just fine – being properly amazing, of course.

Keep in mind that when we say “full Auto,” we mean leaving the Photo mode Auto Night mode toggle on. If you turn it off, dynamic range will suffer; in contrasty images, you’ll see blown-out light sources and complete darkness.

As we move up the zoom range, the 2x level lacks a dedicated Night mode, but the Auto NM does seem to be working when you’re in Photo mode because it produces highlights and shadows that are better developed than they would be if you turned it off. Even though a 1:1 examination shows pixel-level detail isn’t quite up to the high standard of the 1x shots, the results are still very good overall.

3.2x telephoto Camera

Even though there are some minor changes between full Auto and Night mode and sharp shadows and highlights without any Night mode action, the camera still performs admirably in terms of exposure and dynamic range at the 3.2x zoom level. Both the detail and noise levels are excellent.

This zoom level makes us more conscious of the Ultra’s propensity to overexpose images with a certain kind of illumination, as seen in the first scene below, which is noticeably warmer and more yellowish in reality than it seems in the 3.2x zoom camera’s depiction. It was partially visible in the primary camera and became more obvious at 2x, but it is very clear here. Aside from that anomaly, we have no cause for complaint.

5X telephoto Camera

Again, it’s not in every scenario, but we did manage to capture an additional instance of the loss of color/warmth with the 5x telephoto camera in addition to the cathedral from the first scene. Other scenes did have appropriately saturated and accurate colours, so it appears that only specific combinations of subject and light can deceive the Ultra’s algorithms.

The relatively significant astigmatism of this camera, which causes light streaks to spill from what should be point light sources shining into the sensor, is another drawback in low light. These seem impossible to avoid.

Even though the images are a little bit weaker than ideal, the 5x telephoto lens still manages to capture good detail.

Ultra-wide Camera

We don’t having as many issues with the ultrawide because it performs well. We’re getting excellent dynamic range, which is made even more stunning by the camera’s wide field of view, which invariably results in a single frame with all kinds of extreme shadows and highlights. Additionally, it produced accurate results in all scenes and was more dependable in terms of white balance than the telephoto lenses.

We’re also pleased to note that, despite using a smaller sensor for its ultrawide than the 12S Ultra (and 11 Ultra), the 13 Ultra maintains the same level of clarity in low-light shots, which is excellent. Nevertheless, we can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Xiaomi had re-used the larger sensor (or a different, newer sensor that was as large).

Video recording

All four rear cameras on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra can capture video at a resolution of up to 8K24. Additionally, all four rear cameras support 4K resolution at 24, 30, and 60 frames per second. The 2x zoom level is also included. The selfie camera, on the other hand, has a resolution limit of 1080p at both 30 and 60 frames per second.

All camera settings, including 8K, include an always-on stabilisation.

So that we don’t have to say the same thing a dozen times, let’s get a few things out of the way first. The 30fps and 24fps settings deliver identical quality regardless of the zoom level you’re using, but 60fps footage is just a little bit softer. Given that bit rate doesn’t really change with frame rate, 60 frames per second (fps) gets the same 50Mbps (on a tripod) or 61-63Mbps (handheld) as both 30 frames per second and 24 frames per second (for 4K resolution and the h.264 codec). The 60fps modes could have used a few more Mbps from Xiaomi.

In contrast, 8K24 maintains a 105Mbps average (again using the h.265 codec).

Audio is always captured at 320kbps in stereo.

Therefore, 4K main camera footage is excellent. Despite the clouds not making things easy for the Ultra, the exposure is perfect and the dynamic range is good and wide with well-developed shadows and highlights. Additionally, we’re seeing the same vibrant colour output as in still photos. Additionally, there is no noise and excellent detail.

Our Verdict

This smartphone, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, is quite capable. It has a superior display. Outstanding battery life and quick charging. Obviously a powerful chipset. Also excellent speakers. All in a stylish, water-repellent body. But all of the aforementioned would be expected; in our opinion, they are not selling points at this level.

The big draw here is the camera system, and the impressive spec sheet translates into overall real-world performance that is nearly unmatched. Perhaps it makes a few mistakes that can be used by one phone or another to win a single category, such as the mediocre selfies, the dark nighttime videos, or the loss of sharpness when shooting at 60 frames per second. However, there isn’t a cameraphone set as comprehensive as the Xiaomi 13 Ultra.

When will the updated global version be available?

pro’s & Con’s