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Long-term Assessment of Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G: A decent handset that could've had a more competitive price
While there's nothing particularly bad with this mobile, other superior options exist at the same cost, primarily from the same parent organization.
Advantages: High-quality construction and design, rated IP54 for dust and splash resistance, sharp and vivid AMOLED screen with Dolby Vision, respectable processing capabilities, capable primary camera, reliable battery life, and 67W rapid charging.
Downsides: MIUI is nearly impossible to use. The macro camera is subpar, with focusing problems when used up close. The pricing could be more aggressive.
Score: 3.5 out of 5 Cost: From Rs 25,999 up to Rs 29,999
Xiaomi has been in India for ten years, and their Note series phones continue to be some of the most sought-after smartphones in the nation. They initially launched as budget-friendly phones that provided excellent value for money and have since evolved into a more upscale category with the introduction of advanced features. The recently released Redmi Note 13 series is likely their most expensive yet.
Currently, the series comprises of three models – the Note 13, Note 13 Pro, and Note 13 Pro+, each succeeding model offering more advanced processing capabilities, features, and a higher price tag. Today, we’re examining the Note 13 Pro, which seems to strike a balance between its counterparts. The smartphone market in India, especially in the 25K to 30K range, is fiercely competitive with an array of top-notch choices. So, the question remains – can the Redmi Note 13 Pro establish its own unique position? Let's dive in and see.
The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G's design isn't particularly distinctive, but it's still visually appealing. We reviewed the Aurora Purple model, which has a soothing aesthetic due to its pastel colors. Although the frame is made of plastic, the construction and final touches are impressive, particularly the frosted glass rear. Although there's no claim of scratch resistance, our unit hasn't experienced any scratches over the last month. Naturally, we take great care in handling our devices.
The rear of the phone doesn't collect fingerprints or smudges, and neither does its frame. The phone has a smooth exterior with no rough edges, making it comfortable to hold due to its balanced weight. Weighing around 187 grams, the phone is reasonably thin at 8 mm thick. The screen's borders are impressively narrow, which is a nice feature for mid-tier phones. The volume controls and the power button can be found on the right side of the phone, whereas the left side is totally free of any features.
The lower border features a SIM tray, a speaker, and a USB-C port for charging. The second speaker is positioned on the upper border, accompanied by a 3.5 mm jack for headphones and an infrared blaster. The device also includes an in-display fingerprint scanner that functions efficiently, but it would have been more accessible if it was placed an inch higher on the screen. The locations of the volume control and power button are satisfactory.
The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G's screen is one of its standout features. The phone comes with a 6.67-inch AMOLED display that boasts a resolution surpassing Full HD, specifically 2712 x 1220 pixels. It also offers a 120 Hz variable refresh rate, which varies from 30 Hz to 120 Hz based on the content on the screen, and a maximum brightness of 1800 nits. Unlike many other phones, it features a 12-bit display supporting nearly 68 billion color shades. However, there's currently limited content that can fully utilize this feature.
The display of the Note 13 Pro is compatible with Dolby Vision, enhancing the vibrancy and contrast of videos in that HDR format. A layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus shields the screen from potential damage like scratches or cracks. The display's clarity and color fidelity are outstanding in Standard mode, and the Vivid mode is also quite impressive. The Saturated mode, while making colors more striking, doesn't necessarily provide accurate representation. Additionally, there are options for manually calibrating the screen, allowing adjustments to color temperature, hue, saturation, contrast, and gamma.
The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G's hardware and performance score a 3.5 out of 5. There are certainly areas where Xiaomi could have improved. The device is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor, and comes with either 8GB or 12GB LPDDR4X RAM. Storage options include either 128GB or 256GB UFS 2.2. However, there's no option for memory card expansion. Although it's unreasonable to expect UFS 4.0 storage in this category, Xiaomi could have considered using the faster UFS 3.1 storage instead of the UFS 2.2.
Returning to the SoC subject, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 operates well for regular chores but falls behind the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2, which we'll discuss further. It handles daily activities like social media, photography, browsing, video streaming, and app switching without any hitch. It is also capable of running most recent games, although you might have to decrease the graphic settings considerably for smooth gameplay.
The phone manages to stay cool and doesn't overheat, even after being used non-stop, and its performance doesn't significantly drop when under heavy use, which is impressive. However, this Qualcomm chip is not particularly powerful and doesn't really feel like a fresh Snapdragon 7 tier processor. To better understand this, let's compare some common benchmark scores with those of the Poco F5, which uses a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 processor.
The Note 13 Pro received scores of 1027 and 2945 for single and multi-core tests in Geekbench 6. This is compared to the Poco F5 which scored 1133 and 4346 respectively. When tested with PCMark Work 3.0 benchmark, the Note 13 Pro achieved a score of 11,633, whereas the Poco scored 13,419. The most significant performance gap was seen in gaming benchmarks, where the F5's scores were roughly 2.5 times higher than the Redmi's. In the 3D Mark Wild Life benchmark, the two phones scored 7396 and 3024 with an average fps of 44.3 and 18.1 respectively.
Interestingly, the 3D Mark ratings for the Poco F5 are nearly equivalent to those of the OnePlus Nord 3, which uses a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor. This is another well-liked and stronger phone that can be obtained for less than 30K. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 isn't bad for a phone priced under 25K, but it seems somewhat inadequate for a device costing less than 30K. Apart from that, everything else seems to be in order with hardly any issues to grumble about.
The speakers give off a resonant and impactful sound, with satisfactory stereo divergence. The call reception and quality proved satisfactory when tested on this 5G-compatible device. Options for wireless connection consist of Bluetooth 5.2 and dual-band WiFi, compatible with a/b/g/n/ac protocols. However, wired data transfer is only possible through USB 2.0 via the USB-C outlet.
The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G operates on Android 13 and MIUI 14. As someone who has prior experience with MIUI, I had a certain set of expectations. The user interface isn't overly complicated, even for someone transitioning from a different Android device. However, the overall experience is marred by an overload of pre-installed bloatware. To make matters worse, the continuous stream of unneeded notifications further disrupts the user experience.
We comprehend that this is a strategy to maintain cost control, but it's high time that Xiaomi either cease this practice or at least control it. Currently, once a phone is operational, the flood of notifications can be daunting, severely diminishing the overall user experience. I like to label these types of user interfaces as clutter-ware. It's also worth noting that this negatively affects the phone's battery life.
Indeed, a number of these pre-installed applications can be removed (though not all) and various alerts can be turned off if you take the time to do it. However, this may be an unwanted chore for a typical user who might not be aware of its possibility. It is hoped that HyperOS will rectify this issue; it's always good to remain optimistic. The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G is predicted to receive an update to Android 14, accompanied by HyperOS, in the near future.
Rating of the camera performance of Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G is 3.5 out of 5. The smartphone features three rear cameras, including a 200MP primary camera equipped with optical image stabilization (OIS), an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP macro camera. The manufacturer hasn't provided details about the sensors used in these cameras. As you might anticipate, the primary camera is responsible for the majority of the photo processing, while the other two cameras play supporting roles, particularly the macro camera.
The 8MP ultra-wide camera, which has a 118-degree field of view, performs quite well under good light conditions. The photos taken have satisfactory detail, making them ideal for sharing on social media, provided you aren't too focused on scrutinizing every pixel. Interestingly, the dynamic range occasionally outperforms the primary camera when there's ample lighting, as evident from the waterfront images that were captured. You can find the link to see these original, unedited photos at the end of this section.
Steer clear of utilizing the ultra-wide camera in dim lighting and instead, use the main camera. The primary camera, which is a 200MP unit, performs 16:1 pixel binning and captures images at 12.5MP. It generally produces impressive outcomes, including excellent color accuracy, dynamic range, and detail in adequately lit situations. There's also an option to capture images at 200MP, which is useful if you plan to crop parts of the image later on.
This phone doesn't come with a telephoto camera, however, it does provide options for 2X and 4X zoom within the camera application. This is a digital zoom that cleverly utilizes the available 200 megapixels. Photos taken at 2X and 4X zoom are quite satisfactory and display considerable detail, but they don't maintain full quality as the manufacturer suggests. They are still perfectly functional up to 4X in well-lit conditions and up to 2X in poor lighting. Anything beyond these limits starts to become blurry and grainy.
The primary camera performs exceptionally well in dim lighting conditions when Night mode is activated. Interestingly, colors appear to be more precise when Night mode is not in use, though the image clarity diminishes. With Night mode on, the resulting photos are impressively crisp with barely any noise and a substantial amount of detail. Some color tones may slightly change, but not so much that the image appears vastly altered. However, considering that this phone is priced under 30K, its performance is quite satisfactory.
Pictures of people generally turn out well with good differentiation, but the results can vary with other subjects. There are also slight difficulties with focusing when taking a shot from a distance of roughly 20 to 30 cm from an item; the outcome isn't always consistent, as evidenced by the sample photos. This isn't exactly referred to as macro photography, for which there is a specific 2MP camera, but it's not particularly impressive either, like most 2MP macro cameras. The photos taken usually appear quite lackluster.
The front camera of the Redmi Note 13 Pro, with its 16MP, performs adequately when taking selfies, although it's not particularly impressive. It has the ability to record video in 1080p resolution at either 30 or 60 frames per second. The phone's rear cameras can record video in 4K resolution at 30 frames per second and in 1080p resolution at up to 60 frames per second, with gyro EIS support. The device also allows for the capture of slow-motion videos in Full HD at 120 frames per second and in 720p resolution at a maximum of 240 frames per second. The 1080p and 4K video footage captured appears clean with satisfactory stabilization.
Click this link to view high-resolution photo examples taken with the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G:
The battery life of the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G is quite impressive, especially after removing some unnecessary preloaded applications and turning off needless alerts. The device boasts a 5100 mAh battery that can sustain around one and a half days of average use. Redmi includes a 67W speedy charger with the phone, which is advertised to fully charge the device in 44 minutes. However, during our evaluation, it required 52 minutes to boost the battery from zero to full capacity using the provided charger. While not the quickest, this is still a satisfactory result.
The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G is available for purchase at Rs 25,999 for the model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, Rs 27,999 for the version with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, and Rs 29,999 for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage variant. After evaluating its specifications and operation, we believe Xiaomi could have been more aggressive with its pricing since the Redmi Note series is typically competitively priced. The device is by no means inferior, boasting a wide range of features and a decent performance. The issue lies in the fierce competition within this market segment.
Let's explore the other choices within this price range, starting with Poco's own competition. The Poco F5 5G, 256GB model, which boasts a stronger SoC, can be bought for less than 30K. The Poco X6 Pro 5G, equipped with a stronger Dimensity D8300 Ultra SoC, is also priced below 30K; in fact, its 512GB model is available for Rs 27,999. We must also consider the Poco X6 5G's 256GB model, which is equipped with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chip and priced as low as 21K. If you're looking for options outside of Xiaomi, particularly for a smoother UI, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G is available at Rs 28,999.
The MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chip in this phone is significantly stronger, but you only get 128GB of storage within this price range. It's also worth mentioning that every Poco phone we've discussed comes with a 64MP primary camera with OIS. Meanwhile, the Nord 3 features a 50MP camera with OIS, and the Redmi Note 3 5G boasts a 200MP main camera with OIS. The rest of the features are quite similar across the board. If you're willing to sacrifice some megapixels, the Poco phones might be a better deal, unless you find the 256GB version of the Redmi Note 13 Pro for less than 25K.
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