The Redmi brand name comes up often when talking about affordable phones, and for a good reason as it often packs a punch at a low price. And now, the new Redmi Note 13 series arrive in early 2024 with five different models, each hitting a slightly different price point, but all of them aim to offer better value for the money than the competition.
This review is for the most advanced phone in the series: the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G.
Yes, that name is a mouthful, and while the phone shares a similar 6.7-inch OLED screen and MIUI software as the rest, it stands out with a much faster chip, insane 120W fast charging, beautiful design and a few other notable features.
You can find our reviews for the rest in the Redmi Note 13 series below:
Dimensity chipset and 120W fast charging stand out
Before we dive deep in our experience, here is an overview of the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G specs:
Specs
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G
Size and Weight
161.4 x 74.2 x 8.9mm
Display
6.7" AMOLED 120Hz 1220p up to 1800 nits GGlass Victus
Processor
MediaTek Dimensity 7200-Ultra
Configurations
8/256GB 8/512GB - for Europe 12/512GB
*LPDDR5, UFS 3.1
Cameras
200MP main cam, f/1.65 8MP ultra-wide 2MP macro
16MP front
Battery
5,000 mAh
Charging
120W wired No wireless
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G Design
In one word: beautiful
Unlike all other models in the series, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G has a curved back for a more ergonomic handling and it just looks really good in person.
It is also the only phone in this Redmi series with IP68 certification for proper water and dust protection.
And here are the available Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G color options:
While flagship phones these days come with a box with almost no contents, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G is packed with accessories: a pre-applied screen protector, a free case and even a charger. Nice!
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G Display
The 6.7-inch screen here is curved slightly, while all other Redmi Note 13 models have a flat panel.
Whether you like that or not comes down to personal preference, but one objective advantage of a curved screen is that swiping from the sides is a bit easier and more pleasant.
The screen also hits nearly 1,200 nits of max brightness, a really impressive number, which ensures great outdoor visibility. Minimum brightness at 1.8 nits, however, could be a bit lower for more comfortable use at night.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
For biometrics, you have an in-screen fingerprint scanner, which we found to be quite zippy and accurate with readings, so no issues here.
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G Camera
A main camera that impressed us
Neatly arranged on the back, you have three cameras on the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G:
200MP main shooter with f/1.65 aperture and OIS
8MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2
2MP macro camera
The macro camera is the weirdest one in this list: at 2MP it does not have enough detail and for most people it will be practically useless.
Photo Samples
The main camera, however, is really impressive. The large sensor performs well both during the day and at night, and it's great to see super clean, noise-free images in all conditions.
It also does great with zoom, especially at the 2X and 4X levels, and only then the quality starts to drop noticeably.
The ultra-wide camera is clearly not in the same category as the main one, but it does a quite decent job and you can get a good shot out of it in low light too.
We are also quite happy with selfies taken with the front camera, which have good detail and pleasing colors.
Video Quality
You have 4K video support using the main camera and footage comes out with a good amount of detail and video stabilization is very decent too.
When you start walking a bit faster though, the stabilization cannot keep up and that is probably the one downside we have to mention, but this is also true for most phones in this price range.
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G Performance & Benchmarks
MediaTek Dimensity 7200-Ultra inside and it's fast
Under the hood, the Dimensity 7200-Ultra chipset delivers very good performance for this price range. It is paired with 8GB of RAM, which also seems sufficient.
In daily use, the phone feels fast and smooth, and for more advanced tasks and gaming it is also quite capable.
Below are the test results for those who want to see the exact numbers.
On the Geekbench test which focuses on CPU performance, the Redmi scores slightly below the Pixel 7, but not too far behind.
Unfortunately, we could not run a graphics benchmark because of incompatibility, but you should expect mid-range performance in the gaming department.
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G Software
We have Android 13 and MIUI 14 running the show here, and yes, that is definitely behind the times (most other phones run Android 14 and Xiaomi phones already have the new HyperOS skin).
But this is not our biggest issue with the software. MIUI continues killing apps in the background and this messes with push notifications. For many apps, this is not a problem, but if your preferred messaging app does not deliver messages to your lock screen, then we have a problem. Unfortunately, that is the default behavior for all newly installed apps. Xiaomi's excuse is that this conserves battery, but we'd rather have a properly functioning notifications in the first place, so be warned about this issue with some apps.
For software updates, the Redmi Note 13 is scheduled to receive 3 years of major OS updates and 4 years of security patches. This means, it will receive:
With a 5,000mAh battery, this Redmi phone has the capacity to keep on going for a while and in real life we found that we would average around a day and a bit more between charges.
Below, we have run our battery tests to see the exact battery life numbers.
The Redmi outclasess the Pixel 7 by a small margin on our YouTube video streaming test, but it ranks behind it on our lighter web browsing test. Overall, though, the battery life of the two is not too far apart in our measurements.
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G Charging Speeds
However, when it comes to charging, you get this beefy 120W fast charger in the box and some truly insane charging speeds.
A full top up takes merely 25 minutes! Did we already mention the word "insane"?! And if you're in a pinch, you can get a nearly 70% top-up in 15 minutes. Truly game-changing.
There is no wireless charging on board here, though.
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G Audio Quality and Haptics
We were not surprised that this phone also sounds the best among others in the series with a good punch and clear sound.
Unfortunately, there is NO 3.5mm headphone jack here (the rest of the Redmi Note 13 models have it).
Haptics are nice and sharp, so that's a good thing.
Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G Competitors
The Note 13 Pro+ 5G price is set at 500 euro for the base model with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
And that is a LOT of storage.
The main competitor in this price range has to be the Pixel 7, which can be found for around 550 euro these days.
DEVICENAME Rivals
Advantages (over DEVICENAME)
Disadvantages (vs DEVICENAME)
Pixel 7 (current price around 550E)
Slightly better camera Clean software, no issues Longer software support
So... what's the verdict on the Redmi Note 13 Pro+?
It's mostly positive: the phone has tons of storage, beautiful design, it works smoothly, and the main camera is truly impressive.
If you can live with the MIUI software, which can mess up notifications for some apps, we think this phone should be on your radar for great mid-range options in 2024.
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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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