Xiaomi 13 Extremely First Impressions: Extra digicam than cellphone?

First Impressions

The Xiaomi 13 Extremely is the definition of a distinct segment cellphone, however after utilizing it for just some days it’s additionally clear it’s filled with innovation and if all the pieces works in addition to Xiaomi is touting it should, then there’s each likelihood this could possibly be the most effective Android cellphone of the 12 months.

Introduction

Following on from the excellent 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 in the back of the Xiaomi 13 Extremely and the cellphone’s proposition is instantly apparent. A large digicam bulge indicators this as a lot of a digicam as a cellphone.

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

I’ve spent 48 hours with the Xiaomi 13 Extremely to this point and listed below are my preliminary ideas on one of the specced-out smartphones I’ve ever had the pleasure of utilizing.

(Editor’s Be aware: There’s at present no US, European or UK pricing or availability confirmed for the Xiaomi 13 Extremely and this hands-on was performed with a Chinese language mannequin working Chinese language software program. For reference, the bottom mannequin works out at roughly £700/$869 – although anticipate this to be a lot increased if a wider launch is confirmed)

Digicam

• 4 rear 50MP cameras
• Essential 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 not less than, staggering. 

There’s nothing in the marketplace that may compete with it for pure tech and it’s a reasonably large trace about the place smartphone cameras are heading. In some ways, the Xiaomi 13 Extremely is extra digicam than cellphone.

Similarly to the Xiaomi 12S Extremely, the 13 Extremely is designed to actually seem like a digicam. There’s been no try to cover the completely gigantic module on the again, fairly the other actually, as Xiaomi has proudly used it as the principle, eye-catching design ingredient on the cellphone.

The round housing holds 4 distinct cameras, 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 ultra-wide and a principal digicam with an aperture that may shift between f/1.9 and f/4.0.

That principal digicam is the star of the present due to its big 1-inch sensor (the identical one discovered within the Xiaomi 13 Professional – a cellphone we all know takes superb 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 vast sensor, whereas the narrower f/4.0 reduces the background blur, protecting extra of the body in focus.

Contained in the digicam app, there’s a fast toggle for switching between the apertures – and in case you have a look at the digicam on the again you possibly can see the lens bodily opening and shutting – or you possibly can set it to auto mode.

I’ve to this point discovered the auto-switching doesn’t work too properly, hardly ever truly doing something, and I’ve most popular to manually alter it relying on what I’m taking pictures. The picture under is an efficient instance of what the variations between the 2 settings are, with the background far blurrier at f/1.9 than at f/4.

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 function that didn’t reappear on the S10 – but it surely feels much more helpful now with the change to bigger sensors. These giant sensors can typically render extra of the picture out of focus than earlier than, so including in that f/4 choice helps alleviate this problem.

I’ve solely been taking pictures with the Xiaomi 13 Extremely for a few days and haven’t examined it in sufficient various situations to actually decide its efficiency but – that’ll are available in my full evaluate. However early impressions are robust – particularly in daylight – and the multi-aperture works properly, making an apparent distinction in sure situations. It’s additionally nice having top-quality sensors behind all of the focal lengths.

Early impressions of the 32MP selfie are much less robust, although. Photographs right here lack color, element and pure tones, as an alternative trying fairly odd. This has been a theme of a variety 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 may 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.

The ultimate piece of the digicam bundle comes from the Leica partnership. I’ve written about this in-depth in my Xiaomi 13 evaluate, however briefly it provides quite a few color profiles to the digicam app. Leica Genuine and Leica Vibrant are the duo of decisions, with the previous reducing the saturation for a extra pure look and the latter slightly extra consistent with the punchier colors discovered on iPhones and Samsung telephones. 

Display and Design

• Silicone leather-based again out there in three colors
• Adaptive 120Hz OLED with Dolby Imaginative and prescient assist
• A peak brightness (reported) of 2600 nits

I’m certain it’ll divide opinion tremendously, however I’ve been immediately 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 principally fake leather-based, or vegan leather-based. It’s a extremely textured protecting, giving added grip and making certain no fingerprints or smudges will seem.

Surrounding the textured end are metallic sides and whereas the silicone leather-based doesn’t stream into the perimeters in a easy method, I truly 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 photos), black and white – and so they all function the identical end.

The perimeters are flat, giving your fingers extra room to comfortably sit when holding the cellphone horizontally and taking photos, whereas there’s a noticeable hump sitting under the massive 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.

Nonetheless, having such a big digicam module does include some downsides. For one, discovering a cushty place to relaxation your fingers under it’s, to place it mildly, difficult. It’s onerous to keep away from smudging the digicam together with your fingers and it’s slightly onerous to carry. Possibly I’ll get used to it and work out of a cushty place, however to this point it doesn’t really feel very pure. It additionally doesn’t lay flat on a desk, always wobbling about.

It’s a heavy cellphone at 227g and it does really feel weighty, although reassuringly so. It’s completed splendidly properly too, with exact cutouts and an actual high-end really feel. 

Whereas the digicam is the main focus, the fundamentals haven’t been forgotten about. The cellphone packs an IP68 ranking and Gorilla Glass Victus protecting 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 circumstances and toting the power to dynamically decrease the refresh charge to 1Hz to save lots of energy.

It’s a cracking OLED display, actually excelling in displaying HDR (I used a demo reel on YouTube for this, because the Netflix app hasn’t been up to date to assist HDR but) content material.

Efficiency

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset
• As much as 1TB storage and 16GB RAM
• MIUI 14 software program

Like 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. It’s a quick, succesful chip and this – after simply a few days of use – is, predictably, a really quick cellphone.

I’ll go deeper into each efficiency and battery benchmarks within the full evaluate, however preliminary testing exhibits this to be just about on par with Xiaomi 13 Professional – which doesn’t come as a lot of a shock.

Alongside the chipset, there’s 12 or 16GB of LPDDR5X reminiscence and 256GB/512GB/1TB storage, though no microSD expandability. The battery dimension sits at 5000mAh.

Wired and wi-fi charging are each supported, with 90w being the quickest pace out there. That’s marginally slower than the 13 Professional, although nonetheless very speedy. Xiaomi claims a full 0-100% cost takes 35 minutes when utilizing the included charging.

One significantly neat battery function is a Hibernation mode, which places the cellphone into a really restricted state if you hit 1%. As soon as this mode kicks in, the cellphone ought to final for an additional hour (or 12 minutes in case you’re on a name).

The mannequin supplied by Xiaomi may be very a lot the Chinese language version of the cellphone, and there’s no affirmation but whether or not or not there can be a world version. Meaning there’s no Google Play (or Google companies) by default and there are a lot of components of the software program which can be caught in Chinese language regardless of the language of the cellphone is about to. This gained’t be the case when (and if) world variations develop into out there.

Early Verdict

There’s at present no UK, European or US pricing or availability for the Xiaomi 13 Extremely but and judging by the Chinese language value it’s going to value a far whack greater than the £1099 Xiaomi 13 Professional. If it was to reach within the UK, there’s each likelihood this could possibly be priced between £1300-1400 – however that’s pure guesswork at this stage.

The 13 Extremely does lots although and the digicam {hardware} is a number of the best I’ve seen on any cellphone so far. The massive sensor, variable aperture, duo of telephoto sensors and 4 50-megapixel sensors make for a tempting bundle, particularly if you need extra inventive management over your snaps than you get from an iPhone 14 or Galaxy S23.

That is the definition of a distinct segment cellphone, however after utilizing it just some days it’s additionally clear it’s filled with innovation and if all the pieces works in addition to Xiaomi is touting it should, then there’s each likelihood this could possibly be the most effective Android cellphone of the 12 months.