Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro launch with co-engineered legendary Leica cameras
Xiaomi today has put forth their first flagship contenders of the year in the Xiaomi 13 series. The new series will consist of the dual flagship Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro; and a much more downscaled Xiaomi 13 Lite.
The key focus undoubtedly falls on the groundbreaking cameras co-engineered with Leica which graces both the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro.
This serves to be the global debut of a Leica-enhanced Xiaomi smartphone since the announcement of their partnership mid last year. An emphasis has to be put on ‘global debut’, since the Xiaomi 12S Ultra did receive the Leica treatment but was exclusively sold within China markets only.
Following what must have been a successful collaboration, it seems Xiaomi and Leica are now emboldened to release the Xiaomi 13 to worldwide shores.
Here, we’ll give a quick breakdown of what you’ll get with the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro, and its pricing details.
Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro: Overview
The Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro will have the Leica brand stamped proudly across their camera modules, and for good reason too.
Leica is a central piece in the Xiaomi 13 series’ photography prowess not just through their iconic lenses, but also with technology. Both dual flagships will utilize Leica true colour imaging which is said to bring out the true-to-life tones unique to Leica cameras.
You will have the option of two Leica-inspired photographic styles: Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant. The former is modeled after Leica’s legendary look, built to mimic the lifelike contrast and shadow through finely-tuned colour calibration. The latter on the other hand fuses the vibrant colour processing technology of Xiaomi.
Xiaomi also adds 4 Leica filters for post-editing: Leica Vivid, Leica Natural, Leica BW Nat, and Leica BW HC.
Other innovations brought to the table is the HyperOIS, claimed by Xiaomi to be their next gen image stabilization technology.
Flagship phones require flagship processors, so it’s only right that the dual flagships utilize Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. As a brief comparison, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will boost CPU performance by up to 37%, and GPU performance by up to 42% from the previous generation. To support this, both phones will have LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.0 storage.
All this is protected with industry-leading IP68 dust- and waterproof rating.
So that’s what’s consistent in both phones. Now lets look into what’s different between the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro.
Xiaomi 13 Pro
The Xiaomi 13 Pro comes in two colour choices, Ceramic Black and Ceramic White. The back of the phone is built with bio-ceramic material, making it durable and scratch-resistant.
The marquee feature is a 50MP 1-inch main camera designed with a 23mm (f/1.9) equivalent focal length. This is packed with Leica professional optical lens which offers quality enhancing innovations, including an ALD ultra-low reflectance technology that will reduce the harsh glare from reflections. You will get Xiaomi’s next-gen HyperOIS here.
Leica spills its magic onto the 50MP telephoto via its 75mm (f/2.0) floating telephoto lens. The Floating telephoto lens is helped by Focal Shift Technology which will auto adjust the lens based on distance. Through this, you’ll have versatility in macro shots as close as 10cm and storytelling portraiture iconic to Leica at 50cm.
Adding to the lineup is a Leica 50MP ultra-wide camera with a 115 degree FOV.
For the display, the Xiaomi 13 Pro impresses with a 6.73-inch WQHD+ display with an E6 AMOLED panel and 1,900nits peak brightness. You’ll also have adaptive 1Hz to 120Hz refresh rate which can be customized manually if preferred.
Battery wise, the Xiaomi 13 Pro packs a 4,820mAh battery with 120W HyperCharge and 50W wireless turbo charging.
Xiaomi 13
As for the Xiaomi 13, you’ll have three colour choices: Flora Green, White, and Black.
Similar to the Xiaomi 13 Pro, the Xiaomi 13 will have a triple-lens system. Its main camera is a wide-angle 23mm (f/1.8) lens with Leica professional optical lens. Although the Xiaomi 13 gets a fair share of Leica’s technology, it will miss out on the 1-inch ultra-large sensor. The good news is that you’ll still have the benefit of HyperOIS.
Xiaomi also brings Leica professional photography to the Xiaomi 13 thanks to its 10MP telephoto camera with 75mm equivalent focal length. This is modeled after the famous Leica Noctilux-M 75 to give users superior portrait mobile photography. On top of that, you’ll also have the versatility of a master-lens system which will give you portraits as if taken on a real Leica camera.
The final camera makeup is a 12MP Leica ultra-wide with a 120 degree FOV.
As the display, the Xiaomi 13 will have the 6.36-inch E6 AMOLED panel seen on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, as well as a 1,900nits peak brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate
The Xiaomi 13 keeps a slightly smaller 4,500mAh battery and a slightly less speedier 67W fast charging. Wireless charging is kept at 50W.
Pricing
You can pre-order the Xiaomi 13 Series for now until 7th March. The Xiaomi 13 (12+256GB) will be priced at RM3,499, while the Xiaomi 13 Pro (12+256GB) will be priced at RM4,599. You can purchase them on Xiaomi’s official Shopee and Lazada stores.
