The New Generation of Smartphone Cameras
The new generation of smartphone cameras is coming with larger sensors and more technical capabilities, promising big improvements in photo and video quality. So, the question is – will these innovations make a real difference? In this camera test, we take a look at the brand new Xiaomi 13 Pro, the company’s flagship phone for 2023, which comes with an impressive camera system featuring a new and much bigger 1-inch type camera sensor and a revolutionary new zoom camera that has one feature we have never seen before on a smartphone.
Xiaomi 13 Pro Review
Let’s see if the new Xiaomi 13 Pro can beat the camera quality of the popular iPhone 14 Pro Max and Galaxy S23 Ultra in a direct camera comparison.
Camera Specs
The defining feature of the Xiaomi 13 Pro is its larger than usual main camera sensor. The larger the sensor, the better it gets at gathering light, which helps it capture cleaner photos and videos at night. Here is a comparison of the camera specs:
| Xiaomi 13 Pro | Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max | Galaxy S23 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main camera | 50MP, 23mm f/1.9, 1″ sensor | 48MP, 24mm f/1.8 | 200MP 23mm f/1.7 |
| Ultra-wide | 50MP, 14mm f/2.2 | 12MP, 13mm, f/2.2 | 12MP, 13mm f/2.2 |
| Telephoto | 50MP 3.2X zoom f/2.0 | 12MP, 3X zoom, f/2.8 | 10MP 3X zoom, f/2.4 10MP 10X zoom, f/4.9 |
| Front | 32MP with 1080p video | 12MP with 4K video | 12MP with 4K video |
Xiaomi Color Profiles
You should know that you have two different color profiles in the Xiaomi camera app. The Leica Vibrant one has more vivid colors and a typical sharper “phone” look, while the Leica Authentic has more film-like colors, but also a very noticeable vignetting. Because of the strong vignetting, we used the Leica Vibrant mode for this comparison.
Main Camera – Daytime
In ideal conditions, all three phones do a great job, but interestingly, the Xiaomi 13 Pro portrays the greenery in darker tonalities, which is not quite realistic. In the second shot, the differences between the three are minimal and mostly boil down to the color science of each company. In this third shot, highlights can be a bit overexposed and lacking definition for the Xiaomi 13 Pro, as opposed to the other two phones.
Detail
As all three phones output 12-megapixel photos in the default shooting mode, there isn’t a giant variation when it comes to the amount of resolved detail. However, this crop illustrates the specific processing for each of the phones.
Low Light
The big promise of the 1-inch type sensor on the Xiaomi 13 Pro is way better low-light and night time shots. The Xiaomi phone strikes a good balance in the first shot. In the second photo, you really start to notice the advantages of the larger sensor, with the Xiaomi preserving the detail in the highlights beautifully and far better than the Galaxy or the iPhone. However, white balance is not always correct on the Xiaomi.
Ultra-wide
We see the same kind of processing with the ultra-wide as with the main camera here on the Xiaomi. The grass is a bit too dark, while the other two phones do a better job maintaining a proper exposure across the whole frame. However, in terms of detail, the Xiaomi 13 Pro does a great job and overall the image is on par with the other two phones. In low light, the Xiaomi ultra-wide snapper is not as capable and loses out in terms of detail to both the iPhone and the Galaxy.
Zoom Comparison
At 3X zoom, both phones do a good job, but the iPhone stands out during the day. At 5X zoom, the quality out of the Galaxy has degraded quicker than on the others and it has less detail. At 10X zoom, the Galaxy has an advantage due to its native periscope lens, but it’s not as huge as you might think.
Portrait Mode
Daytime portraits out of the Xiaomi 13 Pro turn out good looking and on par with the iPhone and the Galaxy. In low light, the Xiaomi is not quite as good with portraits as the Galaxy, which is the current portrait mode king, but it’s not too far off.
Selfies
We see the typical image processing for selfies that we know happens on many Chinese phones. In low light, the Xiaomi selfie camera performs very well, as you can see above.
Conclusion
The new Xiaomi 13 Pro is a very capable smartphone camera that can compete with the popular iPhone 14 Pro Max and Galaxy S23 Ultra, thanks to its larger sensor and revolutionary new zoom camera. While it’s not perfect and has some issues with white balance and vignetting, overall, it does a great job in daylight and low-light conditions, especially when it comes to preserving detail in highlights and shadows.
