Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro review: The sweet spot of this year’s Redmis

When I received three Redmi Note 13 devices at the same time, deciding the order in which to review them proved a challenge.

As it turned out, I got it wrong: I should have started with the Redmi Note 13 Pro. While competition to both the Redmi Note 13 5G at £279 and the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus at £449 was a bit too fierce to fully endorse buying either, the Redmi Note Pro is right in the Goldilocks zone: a very competent handset that comfortably goes toe-to-toe with similarly priced rivals.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro review: What you need to know

We gave last year’s Redmi Note 12 Pro a solid four stars when it came out, and the successor builds on that nicely.

Curiously, while the other two Redmi Note 13s continue to use MediaTek processors, the 13 Pro switches to Qualcomm with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 – a 4nm, octa-core chipset clocked at 2.4GHz. That’s backed up by a generous 8GB RAM – up from 6GB last time – and 256GB of storage for the UK model.

On paper, it’s the camera setup that’s seen the biggest improvement, however. While the 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro lenses remain, the main sensor is now a 200MP (f/1.7) affair. That’s quite a step up from the 50MP (f/1.9) lens on the 12 Pro.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro review: Price and competition

All that will set you back £339 – the same RRP as last year’s model (which can now be had for around £200).

The obvious competitor at this price point is the excellent Nothing Phone (2a). At £319, it’s marginally cheaper than the Redmi Note 13 Pro, and well worth a look. The OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite (£299) is also worthy of consideration – but it’s a more qualified endorsement. 

There’s also the Google Pixel 6a. Yes, it’s coming up to its second birthday, but it’s regularly discounted to £300 and holds its own against newer handsets in the price bracket. As an added bonus, the Google connection means that it’s among the first in line for Android updates (it will get guaranteed OS updates until July 2025, and security updates into 2027).

You’re not going to get an iPhone at this price without dropping back several years second-hand. But at £379, the iPhone SE 3 (2022) is at least within the same postcode price-wise.

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Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro vs Note 13 vs Note 13 Pro Plus: What’s the difference?

The Redmi Note 13 Pro sits between two other similarly named handsets from Xiaomi: the standard Note 13 and the Note 13 Pro Plus. You can read more about each in their individual reviews, but here’s the top-line specs:

As you can see, the main difference comes down to processor, RAM and storage. Otherwise, it’s largely about personal preferences in terms of design (and whether you have an extra £110 knocking around).

A couple of other things to note: the Pro has a 3.5mm headphone jack, while the Pro Plus doesn’t, but the dust and water-resistance rating isn’t quite as robust here (IP54 compared to the Pro Plus’ IP68).

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Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro review: Design and key features

Despite lacking the curved edges of the Pro Plus, the Redmi Note 13 Pro is a good-looking handset. The 6.67in screen dominates the front of the device, with extremely thin bezels all the way around, and a pin-hole selfie camera at the top.

The back would be nice and minimalist, with a gently graduated frosty glass design (“ocean teal” in our case, but purple or black is also available), were it not for the somewhat ostentatious raised camera square housing three cameras and a flash. Annoyingly, the fact that this bump is offset to the left means the phone won’t stay flat on a table when lying face up.

Still, this is a minor concern, and I actually prefer the design of the Pro to the Pro Plus overall. Not only is the latter’s curved screen slightly less comfortable in the hand, but this version has room for a 3.5mm headphone jack. Unfortunately the phone has no expandable storage via microSD, though you can pop in a second SIM if you like.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro review: Display

As with the other two Redmi Note 13s, the screen is once again right up there with the best of them – and not just within this price bracket. 

It’s marginally weaker than the other two, but the differences are negligible, and not the kind of thing you’d notice without the colourimeter that we tested with. We measured sRGB gamut coverage of 91.6% with gamut volume of 91.7%. The proximity of these numbers speaks to excellent colour accuracy – just not quite as excellent as its siblings.

It doesn’t get as bright either, maxing out at 447cd/m2. That’s still bright enough for outdoor use in even sunny conditions, and being an AMOLED panel, the contrast is infinite. Throw in the sharp 2,712 x 1,220 resolution and slick 120Hz refresh rate, and this is an excellent display, despite being slightly overshadowed by the other 13 series models.

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Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro review: Performance and battery life

While the Redmi Note 13 Pro performed well in our tests, it did make Xiaomi’s decision to put different processors in the Pro and Pro Plus look a little confusing. The cheaper Pro beats the Pro Plus on multi-core performance, even if it’s narrowly slower in the single-core metrics.

In fact, in multi-core performance, it beat everything except the iPhone SE 3 (2022) – an unsurprising result, as Apple chips are ridiculously fast and tend to outperform their Android peers.

Unfortunately, the Redmi Note 13 Pro’s lead over its Android rivals evaporates when we get onto graphical performance.

Here, the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus takes a convincing lead, but not as great a lead as the ageing Google Pixel 6a, which closes in on that all-important 60fps sweet spot. 

To be clear, this benchmark is designed to be taxing, and most mobile games will still run well. Nonetheless, serious mobile gamers will want to take their business elsewhere.

In terms of battery life, the Redmi Note 13 Pro is pretty good, but lags behind its rivals. It measured 17hrs 7mins in our looping video test, which will be fine for most people, but heavy users will want to opt for the Nothing Phone (2a).

Once again, I have to add a note about the software here. The MIUI skin that covers Android 13 isn’t particularly user-friendly and it’s packed with bloatware that you’ll want to get rid of. That’s a mix of duplicates (you’ll find Chrome, Mi Browser and Opera pre-installed) and stuff you didn’t ask for. Think Booking.com, Trip.com, LinkedIn, TikTok and Amazon Shopping. 

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Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro review: Cameras

The camera specs for the Redmi Note 13 Pro – a 200MP, f/1.7 wide camera, an 8MP, f/2.2 ultrawide lens and a 2MP, f/2.4 macro sensor – are identical to the Pro Plus, so expect similar pros and cons. But for £110 cheaper, you can afford to be a lot more forgiving of its foibles.

In well-lit conditions, the 200MP camera is solid. By default, the images are compressed, and while you can set them to be taken in their full 200MP glory, the difference certainly isn’t worth the near 12x file size difference (the same picture of the church weighed in at 3.68MB and 43.6MB).

Even when zoomed in, there’s plenty of detail on the brickwork of the church.

In low-light conditions, the main lens is also pretty proficient, with surprisingly little detail lost in my garden at dusk.

Indeed, zoom in and you can make out individual rain droplets on the plant leaves.

As with the Pro Plus, the 8MP ultrawide sacrifices a lot of that detail, but that’s far more forgivable given the £110 saving.

The same is true for the 2MP macro camera. It may be a gimmick, but it’s fun enough and takes very detailed shots on the rare occasions it might prove useful.

The 16-megapixel front-facing camera is also the same, and once again it takes decent pics with minimal beautification interference by default (the middle picture below). You can also see the effects of maxing them out (right) or turning them off completely (left).

The video performance is, unfortunately, no great shakes. It’s capable of taking footage in 4K at 30fps or 1080p up to 60fps. Image stabilisation is only available at 1080p/30fps, and even then video is pretty bumpy. There’s also some visible distortion, making it far from a smooth experience.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro review: Verdict

It’s a shame to end on that sour note, because my view is that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro is the best of the latest Redmi bunch. 

Yes, its video performance is weak and its gaming output may be lesser than the Pro Plus model, but it inherits most of the positives at a far more competitive price. £339 is superb value: you lose a lot by paying £60 less for the non-Pro version, and don’t gain that much by paying an extra £110 for the Pro Plus.

You might still be better off going for the Pixel 6a for the bloat-free and readily updated OS, but as far as new releases go, this is right up there with the Nothing Phone (2a). And given we gave that five stars, that’s high praise indeed.