The Redmi Note 13 is a bigger downgrade compared to the 5G model than you might think

Xiaomi’s technique on the subject of the aggressive inexpensive smartphone market appears to be to flood it with sheer numbers.

For additional proof think about the Redmi Observe 13, a variant on the already-reviewed Xiaomi Redmi Observe 5G that omits – you guessed it – 5G connectivity.

That’s not the one distinction to this mannequin, nevertheless, which is why it warrants a very separate overview. Divergences in chipset, design, and maybe most significantly pricing imply that it’s price contemplating by itself phrases.

One factor’s for positive: should you’re after one of the best display attainable for beneath £200, the Xiaomi Redmi Observe 13 must be in your checklist of candidates. Sadly, nevertheless, some acquainted criticisms preserve it from being a simple suggestion.

Design & Construct

• Flat design, however chunkier than 5G model
• IP54 water and dirt resistance
• Gorilla Glass 3, not Gorilla Glass 5 like 5G mannequin

The Redmi Observe 13 broadly subscribes the identical design language as its 5G brother, but it surely’s removed from an identical.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

You get the identical type of blandly flat-edged look, with a well-known plastic body and shiny plastic rear panel. The essential digicam format is similar too, although the elevated plastic mounting plate of the Redmi Observe 13 5G is nowhere to be seen.

There’s one clear motive for the latter distinction, so far as I can see. The Redmi Observe 13 is an altogether thicker telephone at 8mm (vs 7.6mm). With a weight of 188.5g, it’s additionally 14g heavier, although there’s no clear motive for this.

Maintain the 2 telephones aspect by aspect and also you’ll discover that this 4G-only mannequin is a millimetre taller and half-a-millimetre wider. The rationale for that appears to be thicker bezels, with a noticeably thicker chin making it look much less premium than the Redmi Observe 13 5G.

One other rollback in comparison with its better-connected brother is the usage of the older and weaker Gorilla Glass 3 moderately than Gorilla Glass 5. You continue to get IP54 water and dirt certification, although, which is a step up from earlier fashions.

Surprisingly, the fingerprint sensor right here is an in-display resolution moderately than the 5G mannequin’s energy button different. This appears like an improve, however in my expertise it very a lot represents a backwards step.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Even after a few pairing makes an attempt, I discovered that the telephone persistently didn’t learn my proper thumb. Weirdly, my left thumb registered comparatively reliably. It’s price noting that I’ve been utilizing two different telephones with in-display fingerprint sensors concurrently with the Redmi Observe 13 with out problem, so there evidently isn’t an issue with my thumb.

Just like the 5G mannequin, you get a 3.5mm headphone jack and an IR blaster on the highest fringe of the telephone. The latter enables you to management your TV and Hello-fi tools utilizing the Mi Distant app, which is doubtlessly a fairly helpful characteristic – particularly should you’re rocking a whole lot of older audiovisual gear.

Display & audio system

• Wonderful 6.67-inch Full HD+ OLED
• 120Hz refresh price
• Stereo audio system

The Redmi Observe 13 is a subtly totally different beast to the Redmi Observe 13 5G, however one of many parts Xiaomi seems to have left kind of alone is the show. There’s an excellent motive for that: that is undoubtedly a superb show.

This 6.67-inch OLED was arguably one of the best factor in regards to the 5G mannequin, and so it proves right here. It encompasses a strong FHD+ (2400 x 1080) decision, easy 120Hz refresh price and measured prime brightness of 454 nits with auto-brightness turned off.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

That’s a tad dimmer than the 5G mannequin, which I recorded as hitting 480 nits, but it surely’s not a massively vital distinction. It makes for comfy indoors viewing, whereas activating auto-brightness will convey the excessive brightness mode (HBM) into play while open air. Visibility is sweet in virtually all environments.

You don’t appear to get 5G mannequin’s similar degree (1920Hz) of PWM dimming, nor its 10-bit color help. However these are comparatively minor concessions, particularly within the identify of getting that value under £200.

The principle attraction of Xiaomi’s display is how color correct it’s. Much like the 5G mannequin, utilizing the extra natural-looking Normal color scheme, I recorded a 100% sRGB gamut protection and a mean Delta E of 0.87 (near 1 being the best).

One criticism I had of the Redmi Observe 13 5G was its lack of stereo audio system. Bizarrely, the cheaper Observe 13 does pack this characteristic. Go determine.

Regardless of the reasoning behind this inclusion, it makes the Redmi Observe 13 a greater all spherical media participant than its brother. Sound output is sweet and clear, and definitely advantages from the stereo separation, although as we’ve come to anticipate of cheaper telephones it lacks any nice sense of depth or low-end rumble.

Specs & Efficiency

• Gradual Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 chip
• 6 or 8GB of RAM
• 128 or 256GB of expandable storage

One other elementary approach through which the Redmi Observe 13 differs from its 5G brother is the processor that’s been chosen to energy it. There’s a Snapdragon 685 operating the present right here, versus the MediaTek Dimensity 6080 on the 5G model.

This can be a extra mainstream alternative for the 4G mannequin, however not essentially a superior one. In reality, our benchmark exams reveal that the Redmi Observe 13 5G is a a lot stronger performer in each CPU and GPU phrases.

After all, the 5G mannequin prices at the very least £50 extra. Nevertheless, each the £199 Samsung Galaxy A15 5G and the £169 Samsung Galaxy A15 additionally beat the Redmi Observe 13 fairly handily in every benchmark, as does the £180 Moto G84 5G. The Redmi Observe 13 4G is basically not a very sturdy performer, even inside its value bracket.

Xiaomi Redmi Observe 13 benchmarks

Positive sufficient, it might really feel a bit of sluggish within the arms. Leaping into the settings menu or opening up a brand new app takes a beat longer than I would really like, whereas hopping between open apps within the app switcher results in a second or two of stuttering.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Basic navigation is sufficient, with slick scrolling that makes probably the most of that 120Hz refresh price, and the fingerprint sensor unlocks fairly snappily too – when it really works. However cracks begin to seem when pushing the telephone past these super-basic duties.

Just like the 5G mannequin, console racer Wreckfest will run, however you’ll need to drop all of the settings right down to Low in order for you something resembling a constant body price.

You do get both 6- or 8GB of RAM backing that Snapdragon 685 chip up, which is a strong quantity for the cash. Storage choices, in the meantime, are 128- or 256GB choices, with Micro-SD card growth potential additionally added in.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

One crucial spec that’s lacking right here, in fact, is 5G connectivity. Opposite to what your community operator may let you know, although, this nonetheless shouldn’t be an enormous deal for most individuals. Whereas 5G entry has improved, it’s nonetheless removed from ubiquitous, and getting the total velocity and latency profit isn’t a given, even when it’s obtainable.

Digicam

• 108Mp predominant sensor
• Affordable ends in good lighting, horrible evening pictures
• First rate selfie digicam

It appears Xiaomi has put in precisely the identical digicam system within the Redmi Observe 13 because it has within the 5G mannequin, so all of my feedback from that earlier overview apply right here, even with the change in processor.

This set-up is led by the identical 108Mp 1/1.67″ predominant sensor, which appears to be the trusty outdated Samsung Isocell HM6. It yields predictably strong pictures with respectable depth and dynamic vary. The colors may be a bit of punchy for some, however publicity and element are on level.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

That’s the case in excellent lighting, at the very least. As quickly as the sunshine drops, the Redmi Observe 13’s photographic efficiency drops off a cliff. With out OIS (optical picture stablisation) to maintain issues regular and lengthen shutter instances, ‘Evening mode’ pictures are a grainy, noisy mess.

In my Observe 13 5G overview I floated the chance that the MediaTek chip may need some picture processing limitations, however these Snapdragon 685-driven pictures aren’t any higher.

As soon as once more, regardless of the dearth of a devoted telephoto digicam, Xiaomi encourages you to zoom at 2x and even 3x, successfully utilizing all these additional pixels to crop in. Any additional will actually spotlight the drop intimately, however I used to be fairly proud of the outcomes at these decrease zoom ranges.

The place you’ll actually discover the drop-off in high quality through the day is if you swap to the devoted 8Mp ultrawide, which brings with it an enormous lack of each element and publicity. There’s additionally a devoted 2Mp macro sensor on the again, which is nearly as pointless because it ever is.

Feed the 16Mp front-facing digicam loads of gentle, and it’s able to producing strong selfies. On a barely drab day, it did wash the colors out considerably, but it surely does an inexpensive job.

The video providing from that predominant sensor could be very restricted to a mere 1080p and 30fps. In the meantime, the dearth of OIS signifies that you received’t be getting significantly regular pictures.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5000mAh battery
• Barely higher battery life than 5G mannequin
• Stable 33W charging

Xiaomi has caught with a well-known battery and charging setup right here. As soon as once more there’s an ample 5000mAh cell, which can energy you thru a full day of reasonable to heavy utilization.

On lighter utilization days, I received to the top of a day with 50 and even 60% left within the tank. As ever, all of it comes right down to how a lot media you devour.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

One fascinating level to notice is that the Redmi Observe 13 carried out higher than the Redmi Observe 13 5G in our standard PC Mark Work 3.0 battery check, lasting an excellent 50 minutes longer.

This would appear to counsel that the Snapdragon 685 processor runs extra effectively than the Mediatek Dimensity 6080, although you possibly can by no means depend out the deleterious results of 5G connectivity.

Regardless of the case, I really feel comfy in stating that the Redmi Observe 13 has barely extra reliable battery life than its 5G brother.

The charging provision is an identical, although. You get the identical 33W charger included within the field, which I recorded getting the Redmi Observe 13 from empty to 63% in half-hour. You may anticipate a full cost to take a bit of over an hour, which isn’t unhealthy in any respect.

Software program

• MIUI 14 over Android 14
• Extreme bloatware
• Busy notification menu

Right here’s a curiosity for you: whereas the Redmi Observe 13 5G that I reviewed used Xiaomi’s new HyperOS 1.0 UI, the plain Redmi Observe 13 makes use of the older MIUI 14.

They’re each layered on prime of Android 14, although, and so they each subscribe to Xiaomi’s fussy method to software program. You continue to get these large charmless icons and an unpleasant break up notification menu, for instance, even when a couple of of the shortcut toggles have been juggled round.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

Jon Mundy / Foundry

The latter sit on a horizontally scrolling carousel, moderately than all being bundled onto the principle menu like in HyperOS. The older method used right here is much less streamlined, but additionally much less cluttered. You additionally nonetheless get a Settings menu shortcut right here on MIUI 14, which I missed within the Observe 13 5G’s swap to HyperOS.

Elsewhere, Xiaomi nonetheless insists on filling its telephones with annoying bloatware, together with a complete folder devoted to ‘Extra apps’ resembling Journey.com, LinkedIn and Amazon Music. There’s additionally one containing a bunch of horrible video games that each one appear to riff off higher, extra well-known examples.

Xiaomi appears to be providing three main Android updates and 4 years of safety patch updates throughout the Redmi Observe 13 vary, which is affordable for an inexpensive telephone.

Worth & Availability

Xiaomi is providing two fashions of the Redmi Observe 13 right here within the UK and Europe, which you should purchase direct from the Xiaomi UK web site.

The entry mannequin provides you 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for a value of £199, whereas the 8/256GB mannequin sells for an RRP of £229.

Within the UK, the telephone can be obtainable from Amazon, Currys and Very. However no networks are promoting it on contract, so that you’ll have to purchase outright and pair with a SIM-only deal.

And as standard, there’s no availability within the US until you need to danger importing one.

Wherever you purchase it from, the Redmi Observe 13 is significantly cheaper than the Redmi Observe 13 5G (£199). It appears to be in nearer competitors with the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G (£199) and the Moto G54 5G (£180). Each these rivals provide 5G connectivity and barely superior efficiency, however not such a formidable show.

Must you purchase the Redmi Observe 13?

The Redmi Observe 13 is an fascinating proposition, as regardless of the identify it’s not merely a Redmi Observe 13 5G with out the superior community connectivity.

For an excellent £80 much less (at full value) you’re getting the identical wonderful show and respectable digicam system, plus an identical 33W charging speeds. You’re even getting barely superior battery life and stereo sound, in addition to an in-display fingerprint sensor moderately than side-mounted one.

Nevertheless, you’ll have to just accept a bulkier and fewer premium design, in addition to markedly inferior efficiency alongside that apparent 4G community limitation.

On steadiness, the Redmi Observe 13 doesn’t actually symbolize higher worth than its 5G sibling, regardless of the lower cost. It’s nonetheless a really strong low-cost telephone with a standout OLED display, however one which’s weighed down by ugly software program and poor efficiency.

Specs

• Android 14 with MIUI 14
• 6.67in, FHD+, OLED, 120Hz, flat show
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 685
• 6GB/12GB LPDDR5 RAM
• 128GB/256GB storage
• 108Mp, f/1.8 predominant digicam
• 8Mp ultra-wide digicam
• 2Mp macro digicam
• As much as 1080p @ 30fps rear video
• 16Mp front-facing digicam
• Stereo audio system
• Hybrid dual-SIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• Bluetooth 5.1
• 5000mAh battery
• 33W charging
• 162.2 x 75.55 x 7.97mm
• 188.5g
• Launch colors: Midnight Black, Mint Inexperienced, Ice Blue