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Performances
Long-term Assessment of Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G: A decent phone that could have had a more competitive pricing
The phone doesn't have any major issues, however, there are superior options in the market at the same cost, and majority are from the same parent organization.
Advantages: High-quality construction and design. It has an IP54 rating for dust and splash protection. It boasts a bright and clear AMOLED screen with Dolby Vision. It has adequate processing capabilities. The primary camera performs well. It has a reliable battery life and supports 67W rapid charging.
Downsides: MIUI is nearly impossible to use. The macro camera is subpar and has focusing problems when used up close. The pricing could also be more competitive.
Score: 3.5 out of 5 Cost: From Rs 25,999 up to Rs 29,999
Xiaomi has been in India for around ten years now, and their Note series phones continue to be some of the most sought-after smartphones in the nation. Initially, they were well-regarded as cost-effective phones offering excellent worth for their price and have gradually transitioned into a more upscale segment in recent years by incorporating more high-end features. The newest addition, the Redmi Note 13 series, is likely their most expensive yet.
Currently, there are three phones in the series – Note 13, Note 13 Pro, and Note 13 Pro+. They vary in terms of processing power, features and cost, respectively. Today, we're examining the Note 13 Pro, which seems to strike a balance between the other two models. The smartphone market in India ranging from 25K to 30K is extremely competitive with a multitude of top-notch choices. Is it possible for the Redmi Note 13 Pro to establish its own distinctive space? Let's see.
The design of the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G isn't particularly distinctive, but it has a pleasing aesthetic. We reviewed the Aurora Purple model, which features soft, pastel colors that are visually appealing. Even though the frame is made of plastic, the overall quality of construction and finish is commendable, particularly the frosted glass back. Even though there's no specified scratch resistance, we've yet to see any scratches appear after a month of use. Needless to say, we take good care of our devices.
The rear and frame of the phone don't collect fingerprints or smears. The device has a smooth finish with no harsh edges and feels comfortable to hold due to its balanced weight. Weighing roughly 187 grams, the phone maintains a sleek profile with its 8 mm thickness. The screen borders are notably slim, a nice feature for mid-tier phones. The right side of the phone houses the volume and power buttons, while the left side is entirely empty.
The base edge features a SIM slot, a speaker, and a USB-C port for charging. The top edge houses the other speaker, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and an infrared blaster. The phone includes a built-in fingerprint scanner on the display, which functions effectively, although its position could have been slightly higher to enhance ease of accessibility. The locations of the volume control and power button are well situated.
The screen on the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G is one of its standout features. The phone sports a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with a resolution exceeding Full HD, at 2712 x 1220 pixels. It offers a varying refresh rate of 120 Hz, which adjusts from 30 Hz to 120 Hz based on what is being shown on the screen, and it can reach a maximum brightness of 1800 nits. This phone stands out from the crowd with a 12-bit display that can support nearly 68 billion color shades. Although this is an impressive feature, there isn't much content currently available that can fully utilize it.
The display of the Note 13 Pro adheres to Dolby Vision standards, enhancing the vibrancy and contrast of videos in that HDR format. A Corning Gorilla Glass Victus coating safeguards the screen from potential scratches and fractures. In Standard mode, the clarity and color depiction are top-notch, and the Vivid mode is also quite impressive. There's a Saturated mode that offers more intense colors, although it's not perfectly precise. The device also provides options for manual screen tuning, including changes in color temperature, hue, saturation, contrast, and gamma.
Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G: Hardware and Performance (3.5/5) – This is a sector where Xiaomi could have pushed the envelope a little more, but let's first take a look at what they're offering. The Redmi Note 13 Pro runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor, coupled with either 8GB or 12GB LPDDR4X RAM. You have the choice of either 128GB or 256GB UFS 2.2 storage, but there's no slot for a memory card to increase this. It's clear we wouldn't expect UFS 4.0 storage at this price point, but the company could have chosen the more speedy UFS 3.1 storage over 2.2.
Returning to the SoC, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 demonstrates adequate performance in everyday activities, but it is noticeably less robust than its similarly named counterpart, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chip, which we'll discuss further in this section. The performance is perfectly suitable for routine tasks such as using social media, photography, browsing, viewing videos, or transitioning between various apps. It is also capable of running most of the newer games, however, it is necessary to significantly reduce the visual settings to achieve an acceptable frame rate.
The phone maintains a decent temperature even after prolonged usage and doesn't experience significant performance drops when under heavy use, which is commendable. However, this Qualcomm chip doesn't have an impressive processing power and doesn't seem to match the capabilities of a new Snapdragon 7 series processor. To better comprehend this, let's assess some commonly used benchmark scores and compare them to those of the Poco F5, which utilizes a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2.
The Note 13 Pro scored 1027 and 2945 in single and multi-core tests in Geekbench 6. In contrast, the Poco F5 scored 1133 and 4346 in the same tests. In the PCMark Work 3.0 benchmark test, the Note 13 Pro achieved 11,633, whereas the Poco F5 scored 13,419. The most significant performance difference was observed in the gaming benchmarks, where the F5's scores were nearly 2.5 times higher than the Redmi's. In the 3D Mark Wild Life benchmark test, both phones scored 7396 and 3024 with an average fps of 44.3 and 18.1 respectively.
Interestingly, the Poco F5's 3D Mark scores are nearly equivalent to those of the OnePlus Nord 3, which uses a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chip; this is another widely-used and more potent phone that costs less than 30K. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 isn't a poor choice for a phone costing less than 25K, but it seems a bit lacking for a device priced under 30K. Apart from that, everything else is generally satisfactory with minimal to zero grounds for criticism.
The speakers deliver powerful, crisp sound with good stereo distinction. During the trial phase, the call quality and reception on this 5G-compatible device were satisfactory. It provides wireless connection options like Bluetooth 5.2 and dual-band WiFi that supports a/b/g/n/ac standards. However, for wired data transfer, it only supports USB 2.0 via the USB-C port.
The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G operates on Android 13 and uses the MIUI 14 interface. As a previous user of a MIUI device, I had a clear understanding of what to anticipate. The user interface isn't overly complex to navigate, even for those transitioning from a non-Xiaomi Android device. However, the overall experience is marred by excessive pre-installed apps, making it feel crowded. In addition, the incessant and irrelevant notifications are disruptive and hinder productivity.
We recognize that it's a strategy to maintain a certain price point, but it's high time that Xiaomi either stops this practice or at least curbs it. Presently, once the phone is activated, the flood of notifications and alerts can become too much, severely hampering the user experience. I tend to label such user interfaces as clutter-ware. Moreover, it's worth noting that this negatively affects the device's battery life.
Indeed, numerous pre-installed applications can be removed (though not all), and several alerts can be turned off, if you put in the effort. However, this could be an unwelcome task that a typical user might not be interested in doing or may not be aware that it's possible. We can only hope that HyperOS will resolve this issue. It is anticipated that the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G will soon receive an update to Android 14 with HyperOS.
The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G's camera quality is rated at 3.5 out of 5. This smartphone features a triple camera setup on the rear, including a 200MP main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP macro lens. The manufacturer hasn't provided specific details about the sensors used in these cameras. However, it's clear that the primary camera is responsible for the bulk of the imaging work, while the other two cameras primarily serve as supporting features, particularly the macro lens.
The 8MP ultra-wide camera with a 118-degree field of view performs quite satisfactorily under well-lit conditions. The pictures taken offer a fair amount of detail, provided you don't scrutinize them too closely and plan to utilize them on social platforms. Interestingly, the dynamic range occasionally appeared superior to the primary camera under ample light, as evidenced by the waterfront pictures. You can find the link to the untouched camera samples at the end of this section.
Steer clear of utilizing the ultra-wide camera in dim lighting, instead, opt for the primary camera under such circumstances. As for the primary camera, it's equipped with a 200MP unit that performs 16:1 pixel binning, producing 12.5MP photos. Generally, the outcomes are impressive, exhibiting accurate color reproduction, a wide dynamic range, and detailed imagery in adequate lighting. Moreover, there's an option to capture images at a 200MP resolution, providing the flexibility to crop sections of them later if desired.
This phone doesn't feature a telephoto camera, however, it does provide 2X and 4X zoom options within the camera application, cleverly utilizing the available 200 megapixels. The photos taken at 2X and 4X zoom are generally of high quality, displaying plenty of detail, although they are not completely lossless as advertised by the manufacturer. Nevertheless, they are entirely functional up to 4X zoom in well-lit conditions and up to 2X in dim lighting. Anything beyond these limits tends to result in blurry and grainy images.
The primary camera performs exceptionally well in low-light conditions when Night mode is activated. Interestingly enough, the colors seem to be much more precise when Night mode is turned off, though the detail is considerably less. With Night mode on, the images taken are remarkably clear with little noise and a fair amount of detail. Some color hues may appear slightly altered, but not so much that they look extremely different. Considering that this phone is priced under 30K, its performance is certainly commendable.
The portrait images are generally successful when it comes to human subjects, showing a good contrast, but the results can be inconsistent with different subjects. There are also occasional problems with focusing when the camera is around 20 to 30 cm away from an item; this can be observed in the example photos. This is not exactly close-up photography, for which there is a separate 2MP camera, but it's not particularly impressive, much like most 2MP macro cameras. The images taken often appear lackluster.
The front camera of the 16MP performs satisfactorily for selfies, but it's not extraordinary. It has the capability to record videos at a 1080p resolution at either 30 or 60 frames per second. The back cameras of the Redmi Note 13 Pro have the ability to record videos at a maximum of 4K resolution at 30 frames per second and at 1080p at a maximum of 60 frames per second, with gyro EIS support. The device allows you to take 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 videos that are recorded appear clean with satisfactory stabilization.
Access uncompressed photo samples taken with the Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G here:
The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G's battery life is satisfactory, especially after removing a few pre-installed applications and turning off unnecessary notifications. The device features a 5100 mAh battery with a lifespan of roughly a day and a half with moderate usage. The manufacturer includes a 67W rapid charger, which is estimated to fully charge the phone in 44 minutes. In our testing, it required 52 minutes to charge completely from 0% using the provided charger, which, although not the quickest, is entirely acceptable.
The Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G comes with different price tags depending on the variant: Rs 25,999 for the 8GB RAM/128GB storage model, Rs 27,999 for the 8GB RAM/256GB model, and Rs 29,999 for the 12GB RAM/256GB model. After assessing its specifications and capabilities, we believe Xiaomi could have set the price slightly lower, given that the Redmi Note is traditionally known for its competitive pricing. Despite this, the phone is not a disappointment, offering a range of features and a satisfactory performance level. However, it faces strong competition in its market segment.
We should consider the other choices within this price range, beginning with Poco's own rival models. The Poco F5 5G's 256GB version with a stronger SoC can be acquired for less than 30K. The Poco X6 Pro 5G, which also boasts a superior Dimensity D8300 Ultra SoC, is available for significantly under 30K, with its 512GB model priced at Rs 27,999. Moreover, the Poco X6 5G's 256GB version, equipped with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor, can be bought for as low as 21K. If you're seeking alternatives outside of Xiaomi, particularly for a more streamlined user interface, the OnePlus Nord 3 5G is available at Rs 28,999.
The MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chip that it accommodates is significantly more potent, yet the budget only allows for 128GB of storage. It's important to point out that all the Poco phones we've discussed come with a 64MP primary camera with OIS, the Nord 3 has a 50MP camera with OIS, and the Redmi Note 3 5G is equipped with a 200MP main camera with OIS. The remaining features are similarly matched. If you're willing to compromise on the extra megapixels, the Poco phones offer a better deal, unless you find the Redmi Note 13 Pro's 256GB model for less than 25K.
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