Xiaomi 13 Pro Has the Fastest Battery Charger I’ve Ever Used – CNET

Xiaomi has just launched the new Xiaomi 13 flagship lineup that’s poised to compete with Samsung’s Galaxy S23 series. The highest-end phone of the two member series is the Xiaomi 13 Pro. It boasts headline features such as a large 1-inch camera sensor and 120-watt fast charger, which genuinely stunned me by fully replenishing my dead battery within 20 minutes.

Apart from the headline features, there’s a 6.73-inch OLED display with a fast refresh rate, an ultracrisp screen, a solid camera module complete with a telephoto lens and a cutting-edge processor in the form of the Snapdragon 8 Gen Plus 2 chipset. There’s also a large battery backed up by fast charging options including wireless, reverse and that clutch 120-watt wired charger.

I spent a day testing the Xiaomi 13 Pro, which delivers a solid Android experience packed in a sleek device with premium build quality. I’ve always been a fan of fast charging for practical reasons, and once again Xiaomi has delivered the goods with the 13 Pro. The display also stood out to me not only for its responsiveness but also for its sheer clarity and sharpness when I was reading. I’m nearsighted and reading the screen felt easier on my often-strained eyes.

This isn’t a revolutionary upgrade from the Xiaomi 12 Pro, but more of a fine tuning. And Xiaomi seems to have ticked all the key boxes. This year Xiaomi flagships finally secured an official IP rating, for example. The Xiaomi 13 Pro has an IP 68 rating, which means it’s essentially dust- and waterproof. This puts it on par with Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Plus. 

The Xiaomi 13 Pro is slated for a global release. However, there’s no current plan for a US rollout. At the time of this writing, there was no pricing information available.

Xiaomi 13 Pro has a trio of 50-megapixel cameras

The Xiaomi 13 Pro has three 50-megapixel cameras on its rear, which were co-developed with Leica. This is the first time Xiaomi has partnered with Leica for an international flagship. The device also comes with two photographic styles called Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant, though I gravitated towards the former since I wanted to see images in their rawest form.

 The main camera uses the same 1-inch-type Sony IMX989 sensor found in the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, which means it’s among the largest image sensors found on any phone. It’s also the same sensor found in Sony’s $1,200 point-and-shoot camera, the RX100 VII, and it means the Xiaomi 12S Ultra houses the largest image sensor found on any phone. 

However, a word of caution: The phone’s history-making camera hardware isn’t a guarantee of best-in-class photos. As with any other phone, the Xiaomi 13 Pro’s software will play a crucial role as well in determining the image quality of the final photo, though Xiaomi has a solid track record. 

That said, I was impressed with the crisp, detail rich photos this camera took, especially in environments with ample light. The main sensor is accompanied by a 50-megapixel telephoto camera complete with an upgraded 3.2x optical zoom and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide with support for macro photography. Take a look at the images taken in all sorts of lighting environments below.

Xiaomi 13 Pro leads the charge 

It’s clear from the specs sheet Xiaomi focused on giving customers options when it comes to charging. There’s a 120-watt charger in the box, which blew me away, even though Xiaomi has always been one of the industry leaders with its fast-charging technology. The charger lived up to the promises, and charged the 4,820-mAh battery within just 20 minutes. 

In addition to this spectacularly fast-charging brick, the 13 Pro also offers 50-watt wireless charging support and 10 watts of reverse wireless charging. Xiaomi says not to worry about battery longevity, indicating that its Xiaomi Surge battery management and charging chipsets will offer protection in that area. The company didn’t provide details on how that technology works, however.

Xiaomi 13 Pro’s display and design

The Xiaomi 13 Pro has 3200×1440 resolution sprawled across an 6.73-inch screen, making for an impressive 522 ppi pixel density. It sounds good on paper, but in practice I was genuinely impressed by how clear text and images were displayed. I often find my eyes strained due to using screens a lot and reading a lot, but I somehow found it easier to read text on this display thanks to that flagship worthy resolution, which put less of a strain on my eyes. The display also has a 120Hz refresh rate, making for smooth and seamless navigation between apps and when I scrolled my social media feeds.

For more details on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, take a look at the specs chart below. We’ve also compared its specs with perhaps its biggest Android rival, the Galaxy S23 Plus.