Xiaomi 13 Lite is a mid-range model from this year’s Xiaomi 13 line. The smartphone costs Euro 800 and is among the smaller and lighter phones. For many people, it may turn out to be an entirely reasonable choice. It is much harder to answer whether Xiaomi 13 Lite is worth its price. You can find smartphones with higher performance and lower prices on the market. And yet performance is less and less the primary determinant of whether a smartphone is worth attention. There are many more elements. Therefore, let’s take a closer look at Xiaomi 13 Lite.
Production quality
The smartphone is available in light pink, light blue, and black. The matte glass texture on the back cover looks attractive and does an excellent job of hiding touch marks. The mirror island of cameras is not as good at it, but its smaller surface does not interfere with practice. The phone weighs only 171 grams and fits well in the hand. One of the compromises resulting from the lower weight is using a plastic frame of the device.
Xiaomi has a fast fingerprint scanner under the display and can unlock the screen with your face. Both methods work flawlessly. Unfortunately, in the Lite model, Xiaomi gave up stereo speakers. The mono sound quality is good, but the sound coming from only one side when watching a movie is not suitable for a smartphone at this price.
The housing has an IP53 sealing standard, so it is splash-proof, but you cannot immerse the phone in water.
Display
The screen is one of the advantages of Xiaomi 13 Lite. The panel is made in AMOLED technology with a diagonal of 6.55 inches, an FHD+ resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels a refresh rate of 120 Hz, and 1000 nits of maximum brightness. In addition, it is a 12-bit display, displaying 68 billion colors, supporting HDR10 + and Dolby Vision.
Xiaomi can boast narrow, almost symmetrical screen frames that characterize modern high-end smartphones. The display’s image quality and viewing angles are impeccable, as are the available eye protection and color settings.
Specification
The Xiaomi phone has a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 processor and 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of memory for the system and UFS 2.2 files. The smartphone does not support memory cards.
Xiaomi 13 Lite scored 571,554 points in the AnTuTu benchmark, which resulted in the 79th position in the ranking, two positions lower than the Nothing Phone (1) with the Snapdragon 778G+ 5G processor, which is PLN 350 cheaper than Xiaomi.
This illustrates the situation of Xiaomi well against the background of the competition. Performance provides total comfort but, at the same time, does not make any special progress compared to the phones that premiered a year earlier. POCO F3 from two years ago with the Snapdragon 870 processor is also a little more efficient and PLN 600 cheaper on the premiere day. Therefore, although the performance is completely sufficient, it is not the strongest side of the Xiaomi 13 Lite .
In terms of the communication package, there is nothing to complain about. Xiaomi has 5G, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and an infrared emitter. There is also a set of sensors and an extensive location system: GPS (L1), GLONASS (G1), BDS (B1I+B1c), GALILEO (E1), and QZSS (L1).
It’s harder to understand Xiaomi’s decision to launch the 13 Lite models with Android version 12. Its newer version has been available since August last year, and the 13 Lite model refers to flagships with Android 13 and is released earlier. The security of the system is also from the end of last year. However, the MIUI overlay is in the latest version, 14.
We have described the MIUI overlay many times. It is aesthetic and legible. It has a lot of additional functions, although not as many as Samsung. Unfortunately, it can also display advertisements to the user in system applications. The tested phone also has a lot of pre-installed third-party applications.
Camera set
Xiaomi 13 Lite has three cameras at the back, but the two additional ones are weaker and play a secondary role compared to the primary camera. It gets more interesting again in the case of a double selfie camera. It is also worth noting that last year’s Xiaomi 12 Lite model had twice the resolution of the main matrix.
- 50 MP, f/1.8, 23mm, PDAF – main camera
- 8 MP, f/2.2, 119˚ – wide-angle camera
- 2 MP, f/2.4 – aparat do makro
- 32 MP, f/2.4, 100˚ – aparat do selfie
- 8 MP, f/2.3 – selfie camera responsible for detecting the depth of the scene
The main camera maintains a high level in all lighting conditions – both during the day, indoors, and at night. The processing and colors are attractive, the tonal range is wide enough, and there is no shortage of detail. This is a camera just right for a mid-range phone.
The wide-angle camera has a lower resolution and detail, and the phone adds a lot of contrast to maintain the sharpness of the image. The jump in quality from the primary camera to the wide angle is visible. Photos are still good enough to be shared on social networks and viewed on your phone screen. The additional macro camera is pure marketing.
However, selfie photos are of good quality – detailed, sharp, and high resolution. The possibility of choosing three different viewing angles and switching on the double LED lighting gives additional possibilities. Only autofocus was missing.
The 4K video recording mode also deserves praise. The image is detailed, and there is also very effective digital stabilization. The only limitation for 4K is the lack of switching between lenses during recording. This option is reserved for the lower resolution of 1080p.
Sample pictures:
Battery
The battery capacity in Xiaomi 13 Lite is 4500 mAh, which is 200 mAh more significant than in the older model. In the box with the phone, you will also find a fast charger with a power of 67W, which will fully charge the phone in about 40 minutes.
In our YouTube video streaming test with the screen brightness set to half, the phone played the video for 20 hours. This good result will provide the user with comfort and up to two days of moderate use. In addition, comfort increases thanks to the ability to recharge the battery quickly.
Conclusion
Xiaomi 13 Lite is a balanced, successful mid-range representative. I like its appearance, the smartphone fits well in the hand, and the screen holds a very high level. The performance is not so good anymore, but it provides comfort. The photos and video from the primary camera are of good quality, and the included charger is fast. The main objections to the Xiaomi 13 Lite are the weaker wide-angle camera, and the macro camera added forcibly.
The situation only gets complicated when we compare Xiaomi 13 Lite to Xiaomi 12 Lite, and it turns out that little has changed compared to the older model. The processor is newer, but the performance and supported standards are similar; the battery is more extensive, but the operating time is not extended, and the resolution of the primary camera has dropped by half, although it is not of crucial importance. We do not recommend changing year after year to a newer model because there will be practically no differences.
In short, Xiaomi 13 Lite is a successful phone, but it’s worth waiting for a promotion or buying an older model because little has changed compared to its predecessor.
