Big camera chops

Xiaomi has just finished its launch event in its home country, China. But unlike the years before, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is also aimed at Global markets. Because the “ultimate” of smartphone photography will also be available in Europe in the colors black and olive green. The white variant is exclusively reserved for Chinese customers until further notice. But I would almost put my hand in the fire that it will also find its way to us eventually.

Xiaomi 13 Ultra
The quad camera unit is supposed to remind us of the legendary Leica M-series. / © Xiaomi Image source: Xiaomi

You get a 6.73-inch AMOLED display with a maximum resolution of 3,200 x 1,440 pixels (WQHD+). Of course, Xiaomi supplies an adaptive panel that supports a variable refresh rate of 1 to 120 Hz and a touch sampling rate of 240 Hz. Xiaomi also sets new standards for maximum brightness with the 13 Ultra: 1,300 nits under normal circumstances (HBM) and a whopping 2,600 nits in direct sunlight. NextPit’s Stefan will provide a first hands-on soon and might also be able to say something about the brightness of the Dolby Vision and HDR10+ capable screen.

Of course, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 manufactured in 4 nm process technology is under the hood—the fastest mobile processor Qualcomm currently has to offer and graphically supported by an Adreno 740 GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The Snapdragon X70 modem, which supports 5G and Sub-6 as well as mmWave networks, ensures a fast data connection.

At least in China, we were presented with 12/256 GB, 16/512 GB, and 16 GB LPPDR5X RAM and 1 TB of internal and non-expandable UFS 4.0 program memory. The in-house user interface MIUI 14 based on Android 13 is available ex-factory as the operating system.

Xiaomi 13 Ultra official release
The Leica optical lenses have equivalent focal lengths from 12 mm (ultra-wide angle) to 120 mm (5x telephoto). / © NextPit Image source: NextPit

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra with an optically-oriented Leica M camera system

Let’s probably move on to the most important hardware elements of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra: the total of five built-in cameras. Xiaomi touts its strategic collaboration with German camera expert Leica, resulting in the Summicron lens upgrade, from which the “coming-of-age ceremony in mobile imaging” fructifies.

The main sensor is a previously rumored 1-inch IMX989 image sensor from Sony with a variable two-stop aperture (f/1.9 & f/4.0) and 50-MP resolution. There are also three other 50-MP IMX858 image sensors for a telephoto zoom, a periscope, and a macro camera.

Details like on the “Fast Shot mode”, the Leica optical lenses for equivalent focal lengths of 12 mm (ultra-wide angle), 23 mm (wide angle), 75 mm (telephoto) up to the new 120 mm (super telephoto) as well as the additional lengths of 46 mm and 240 mm due to the in-sensor zoom, Stefan gives you in his hands-on today.

The 163.18 x 74.64 x 9 mm large and 227 g heavy Xiaomi 13 Ultra has a 5,000 mAh strong battery installed, which can be charged with 90 W wired and 50 W wirelessly. Of course, the IP68-certified Xiaomi 13 Ultra also has built-in stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos sound.

Xiaomi 13 Ultra specifications

  2023 flagship
Product
Display 6,73-inch OLED
3,200 x 1.440 Pixel
1-120 Hertz variable refresh rate
CPU Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Memory 12 / 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM
256 / 512 GB / 1 TB UFS 4.0 ROM
Software Android 13 + MIUI 14
Camera Main: 50 MP, f/1.9, 1 Zoll Sony IMX989, OIS
Ultra-wide-angle: 50 MP, f/1.8, Sony IMX858
3.2x telephoto: 50 MP, f/1.8, OIS, Sony IMX858
5x telephoto: 50 MP, f/3.0, OIS, Sony IMX858
Selfie 32 MP, f/2.0
Battery 5,000 mAh
90 Watts wired charging
50 Watts wireless charging
10 Watts reverse charging
Connectivity 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6,
Wi-Fi Direct (2,4 GHz + 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5.3, NFC
IP certification IP68
Colors Black, Olive Green
(China-only: White)
Dimensions 163.18 x 74.64 x 9.06 mm
227 g

What do you think of Xiaomi’s new flagship camera smartphone? Is it a go or a no-go? Write us your opinion in the comments.

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