Xiaomi 13T Pro review: a unique taste of flagship values

Xiaomi 13T Pro: Two-minute review

Given that Xiaomi's T-series phones are normally considered 'mid-range' devices, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Xiaomi 13T Pro's capabilities would be limited, its hardware poor, and its experience lacking, however, this is frankly no longer the case. The 13T Pro will, for many, provide the flagship experience you'd expect from devices sometimes twice the price, but will not only set you back significantly less, it will also, surprisingly, surpass them in many areas of day-to-day use.

Straight away, the visuals of the Xiaomi 13T Pro bear a striking resemblance to more premium competition; featuring a glass or vegan leather rear panel – both of which are more appetizing to look at than most – even if you disregard the enormity of the camera bump also present on the device.

Xiaomi chose to tailor the 13T Pro towards efficiency and performance improvements, and these couldn't have worked much better. The MediaTek Dimensity 9200 Plus ensures the Xiaomi 13T Pro sets the benchmark for what supposedly mid-range phones can achieve when pushed. Providing not only impressively smooth performance during gaming but also minimal battery drain; the performance of the 13T Pro is one of the most notable among phones in this price bracket.

This performance tailoring hasn't left the 13T Pro slacking in other areas, however, as Xiaomi's partnership with Leica proves. The Xiaomi 13T Pro boasts an impressive and authentic camera, featuring great detail and customizability to ensure a reliable experience in day-to-day usage. This does, however, mask some issues surrounding the night and selfie capabilities, which seem to have been somewhat left behind.

Rounding off its performance tailoring nicely is the 13T Pro's almost expected battery superiority; with a 5,000mAh battery, 120W wired fast charging, and numerous battery performance-based improvements over predecessors. Despite these initial wins for the 13T Pro though, it is let down by a surprising lack of wireless charging, even if the immense speeds of its wired charging do a good enough job of making up for this.

If you're able to take the Xiaomi 13T Pro's quirks as exactly that, and instead focus on the impressive performance across the majority of the device, it's easy enough to learn to love this phone and appreciate what can be possible in the mid-range market.

Xiaomi 13T Pro review: Price and availability

• Unavailable in the US
• 256GB variant unavailable in the UK 
• Price impressively undercuts competitors

One of the biggest limitations of the Xiaomi 13T Pro – and the Xiaomi brand as a whole – is the availability of the device. Unfortunately, Xiaomi – alongside most other Chinese brands – is not sold in the US (when it comes to the company's smartphones at least). Alongside this, Xiaomi phones are not sold via any mainstream seller in Australia either (despite numerous attempts), limiting international availability to other countries across APAC, LATAM and EMEA, including the UK. That said, even there the cheaper 256GB + 12GB RAM model remains out of reach.

If you're not in a primary region for the 13T Pro but still curious about pricing, the 512GB model would cost approximately $880 / AU$1,350, based on the UK model's £699 asking price.

Value score: 3.5 / 5

Xiaomi 13T Pro review: Specifications

Xiaomi 13T Pro review: Design

• Comfortable, if slightly long in the hand
• Limited color choices, with one standout
• Large rear camera bump

Standing out from the mid-range crowd comes in no better form than some of the design choices of the Xiaomi 13T Pro. The device opts for a 20:9 aspect ratio, with semi-rounded edges and a curved rear panel, giving the Xiaomi 13T Pro a comfortable, if slightly long, feel in the hand. With the phone using a 6.67-inch display at this ratio, you may find it occasionally problematic to use the phone one-handed if you need to reach the topmost areas of the display, and it may not be as easily pocketed as some other devices. Most noticeably, however, the curved rear panel does a superb job of making the phone look, and feel, thinner than it is, making the phone appear a much closer comparison visually to its more premium rivals.

Coming in three colors, the Xiaomi 13T Pro doesn't offer extensive variety in this department, however, both the black and the green glass paneled options are pleasant to look at and, in the case of the green, a nice switch from traditional colors. The standout option amongst the three available colors, however, is Alpine blue. Coming exclusively in Xiaomi's BioComfort vegan leather, the Alpine Blue variant is a fresh, and fabulous, take on how to make a premium device. The vegan leather not only looks superb on the device, but also provides added comfort over its glass counterparts, as well as significantly reduces the risk of those pesky finger marks, stains, and scratches that are almost inevitable with glass-backed phones.

As with most well-equipped phones in the current market, one of the biggest design talking points of the Xiaomi 13T Pro is the rear camera bump.  The device comes with a triple camera setup made by Leica, and on this occasion, with big camera possibilities comes an even bigger camera bump. Although it's well-designed, and definitely not too big an eyesore, the camera bump does pose the phone some issues if you choose to use it without a case, as given its position on the left-hand side of the rear of the phone, as well as its protrusion from the rest of the device, the phone can become rather wobbly on flat surfaces, although this is fixed if you choose to use the free clear case you receive with the device.

Design score: 4 / 5

Xiaomi 13T Pro review: Display

• 6.67-inch AMOLED panel
• Up to 144Hz refresh rate
• HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support

The display on the Xiaomi 13T Pro is one of its most impressive attributes. The phone uses a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel at up to a 144Hz (with refresh rate intervals at 30, 60, 90, 120 and 144Hz), and supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ standards to create one of the most pleasant and visually appealing displays on a smartphone at this price. The display is capable of reaching a peak brightness of 2,600nits and offers rich color reproduction, meaning it doesn't struggle when it comes to creating superb visuals. That high nit count meant I never struggled with using the device in a full gamut of conditions; the screen even has a sunlight mode to help in especially bright environments. However, in day-to-day use, the visibility and viewing angles available on the phone proved sensational.

The 13T Pro's adaptive refresh rate is enabled by default, but you can also customize this in the settings to lock the screen at 60Hz if this is what you prefer, although I can't imagine many people will want to. When it comes to the capabilities of the adaptive refresh rate, the display copes impressively well with some of the more arduous mobile games currently available.

In testing, we enjoyed high refresh rates and crisp, detailed, and vibrant graphics; making it difficult to not applaud how enjoyable gaming on the Pro is, even without some of the device's additional gaming-oriented options activated. When using the Xiaomi 13T Pro across social media, browsing, and general usage, the phone sits comfortably at between 1Hz and 120Hz, to optimize power consumption, while still providing an impressively smooth experience.

The phone comes with three preloaded color profiles that dictate how visuals appear on-screen: Vivid, Saturated and Original. If you prefer to tinker with more precision though – whether that be for color accuracy or simply personal preference – you can also adjust a number of more advanced settings within the phone's deeper display control menu.

Display score: 4.5 / 5

Xiaomi 13T Pro review: Software

• Upgradeable to Xiaomi's latest HyperOS atop Android 14
• Small but appreciated generational user experience improvements
• Four major Android updates promised from launch

Despite releasing on the company's MIUI 14 atop Android 13, at the time of review, Xiaomi had already upgraded the 13T Pro to its new and improved HyperOS user experience; creating responsive, minimalist environment atop the latest Android 14. Small tweaks across areas such as the main font, app icons and user menus give the Xiaomi 13T Pro a pleasing aesthetic, and improvements in performance over the previous MIUI 14 make sure that you aren't left with intractions that aren't as smooth as the redesign itself.

Personalization is improved but still somewhat fenced-in on the Xiaomi 13T Pro, with improved lock screen options that near-enough mirror the experience on the likes of the iPhone 15. Once past the lock screen, practically all of the visual and interaction tweaks you're likely make will pass through the preinstalled Themes app, which offers an array of different elements to make your device your own; even if the personalization process itself isn't necessarily the best.

One key downside of previous iterations of Xiaomi's user experience has bloatware and the inability to remove many of Xiaomi's own preloaded apps, but with the Xiaomi 13T Pro we see a small but appreciated change to this trend. There are now only eight first-party apps that you are unable to uninstall, which is frankly nothing compared to what we've been inundated with on prior generations.

Like many devices in its weight class, the Xiaomi 13T Pro was promised four major Android updates over the course of its lifespan, which while behind market leaders, should more than long enough based on the average user's upgrade frequency. Add to that improved OS performance and battery management and the Xiaomi 13T Pro is more than likely to last you while remaining a more than capable smartphone at the end of its life.

Software score: 4 / 5

Xiaomi 13T Pro review: Cameras

• Camera system tuned in partnership with Leica
• Triple rear camera and 20MP selfie snapper
• Vast array of more advanced shooting modes

Xiaomi's partnership with Leica on the Xiaomi 13T Pro has resulted in a top-notch camera experience. The 13T Pro runs a triple rear sensor setup, featuring a 50MP main camera, 50MP telephoto camera, and a 12MP ultra-wide camera, whilst the display plays host to a 20MP selfie camera; all in all, a very solid start. The rear cameras can shoot in one of two visual styles, these being 'Leica Authentic' and 'Leica Vibrant,' both of which offer pleasing results under different conditions. Vibrant, as you'd expect, serves up more vivid, contrasting color in scenes, whilst Authentic leverages a more reserved, muted, true-to-life palette, just as we've seen from previous Leica-partnered phones.

Finding a balance between advanced photography controls and satisfying the everyday user is a challenging task, but one which the Xiaomi 13T Pro tackles with aplomb. Yes, there are a large number of menus and options, some of which might never see the light of day under standard usage, but equally, the features you need most are laid out simply and efficiently for quick access in a variety of scenarios. Thanks to both the Pro's large screen and some clever UI placement options, selecting relevant shooting settings is simple enough, even when using the Xiaomi 13T Pro's 'Pro Mode,' which opens up even greater control over conventional photography variables like ISO, exposure and white balance.

Camera samples

The results we saw from the main camera system were impressive, finding a pleasant and effective blend of detail and color accuracy; especially for a device at this price point. The 13T Pro has three optical zoom levels – 0.6x, 1x, and 2x – and was impressive at retaining details and color science consistency throughout. I was positively surprised by the 13T Pro's video shooting from the rear camera, with an impressive level of image stabilization, however, it struggled when trying to zoom during filming, with some notable stuttering and clear color changes when moving from optical to digital zoom ranges; an understandable stumbling block for a phone not necessarily striving to push photographic boundaries. 10-bit LOG video capture is a novel inclusion too, that adds greater post-capture versatility to footage for those looking for an affordable but capable phone for videography.

Other shortcomings noticed during testing included an unnatural level of lighting correction when shooting in dimly lit scenarios, leading to color inaccuracies and limited detail. Detail issues also persisted when using the selfie camera, though this is one area which hasn't received much in the way of generational attention; understandable, if annoying. Overall, however, an the 13T Pro serves up an impressive array of photographic capabilities and provides results that any casual mobile photographer or videographer would no doubt be happy with.

Cameras score: 3.5 / 5

Xiaomi 13T Pro review: Performance

• MediaTek Dimensity 9200 Plus chipset
• Up to 1TB UFS 4.0 storage
• Up to 16GB LPDDR5X RAM

For many, an Android device not running an ever-reliable Qualcomm Snapdragon chip might be a reason to worry, but the Dimensity 9200 Plus SoC powering the Xiaomi 13T Pro does nothing short of an impressive job at letting this phone go toe to toe with even some flagship competition. The intention of the 13T Pro's Plus-branded chip was to improve efficiency and performance over the standard 9200, with a focus on improved gaming performance and battery efficiency in day-to-day use, both of which the Xiaomi 13T Pro appears to excel at with reasonable ease.

While gaming, the phone was not only able to comfortably hold a consistent and high frame rate across the likes of Call of Duty Mobile, Genshin Impact, and Grid Autosport, but it was also able to retain an impressive amount of battery during longer gaming stints both thanks to the hardware – such as the improved Immortalis-G715 GPU – and the integrated performance optimizing software.

During testing, I did note some warmth across the device for the duration of my gaming stint, but nothing that was too uncomfortable or unexpected for the fidelity of games being played, and at no point did thermal throttling impact on competitive performance to any discernible degree.

The Xiaomi 13T Pro also stands as one of the first Xiaomi devices to dip its toe into the waters of AI. With its upgrade to HyperOS adding support for such functionality as an AI eraser tool and background editor – to help add to the already impressive camera capabilities mentioned earlier. What's more, that's only the start, with Xiaomi delivering even more AI enhancement on the Xiaomi 14 series. That said, to what extent of these will reach back to the 13T Pro remains unknown for now.

Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Xiaomi 13T Pro review: Battery

• 5,000mAh battery
• 120W wired charging
• No wireless charging

One of the most impressive areas of the Xiaomi 13T Pro – on paper at least – is its battery and charging capabilities. The phone boasts a large 5,000mAh battery, with rapid 120W wired charging – when using the power adapter provided. Xiaomi's Surge Battery Management system is also onboard to help improve battery safety and elongate the lifespan of the device over prolonged use too.

Whilst I was unable to replicate Xiaomi's charging estimate of only 19 minutes to 100% when using 120W wired charging (paired with 'boost mode') during testing, the phone was still impressively quick to charge to 100% and was comfortably able to give me over 12 hours of active screen time before beginning to creep closer to needing a charge.

Somewhat strangely, the Xiaomi 13T Pro – whilst powerful in its wired charging solutions – lacks any form of wireless charging; which presumably is a side-effect of the T-series more affordable standing in Xiaomi's extensive smartphone portfolio. Even so, the impressive wired charging speeds possible meant the inability to rest the phone on a wireless charging pad rarely felt like an issue.

Battery score: 3.5 / 5

Should you buy the Xiaomi 13T Pro?

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Xiaomi 13T Pro review: Also consider

How I tested the Xiaomi 13T Pro

• Review period: one month
• Testing included: everyday use, such as web browsing, photography, gaming, calling and messaging, music playback, as well as some benchmarking tests. 
• Tools used: Geekbench 6, Geekbench ML, GFXBench, native device stats, Xiaomi 120W charger

True testing of the Xiaomi 13T Pro took place over the course of about a month, with the writing of the review occurring over an extended period afterwards. The Xiaomi 13T Pro reviewed here was a 512GB storage, 12GB RAM, Alpine Blue (with Xiaomi's BioComfort vegan leather) model. The Xiaomi 13T Pro was put through a variety of tests, not limited to daily usage, gaming, photography, streaming of music and video, and, as ever, benchmarking.

Having worked with phones for years – originally on shop floors and later by writing about them on TechRadar (including buying advice surrounding phones in this category) – I felt comfortable reviewing the 13T Pro, safe in the knowledge I had the expertise and context to do it justice.

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First reviewed April 2024