Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus Review: Flagship Features At Mid-Range Price

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus starts at a price of Rs.31,999 for the 8GB and 256GB variants. Furthermore, the 12GB+256GB and 12GB+512GB variants cost Rs.33,999 and Rs.35,999 respectively.

The phone is available in Fusion Black, Fusion Purple and Fusion White. It can be purchased from Flipkart, Xiaomi India website and Xiaomi Retail stores.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus packs the following items inside the box:

• Handset
• 120W Charger
• Documentation
• SIM Ejector
• Case

Before we talk in detail about the device, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.67-inch 1.5K AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate
• Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Ultra
• RAM & ROM: 8GB 256GB, 12GB 256 GB, 12GB 512 GB
• Software: Android 13 With MIUI
• Rear camera: 200MP + 8MP + 2MP
• Selfie camera: 16 MP
• Battery: 5000 mAh
• Weight: 204.5 g
• Dimensions: 161.4 x 74.2 x 8.9 mm

The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus is available in two finishes: vegan leather and glass back. The Fusion Black variant I have has a glossy finish on the back.

It offers a minimalistic look for those looking for a more muted look instead of the colourful one on the Fusion Purple variant. I prefer the Purple variant as it offers a vegan leather finish and a colourful look, making the phone unique.

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On the back, there is a triple-camera setup that looks similar to the surprised face emoji when viewed vertically. The phone feels premium to hold in the hand, and the black variant isn’t prone to smudges and fingerprints, which is excellent.

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Xiaomi also includes a premium rubberised black case that fits the phone snugly. Kudos to the company for providing a good quality case in the box, unlike other manufacturers that provide a cheap TPU case that becomes yellow in a few months.

Coming to ports and placements, the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus features the volume rocker and power button on the right while the left remains clean. At the top is the secondary microphone, IR Blaster, and the secondary speaker grille.

At the bottom, you get the USB-C port, SIM tray and the primary speaker grille. The phone also comes with NFC and IP68 ratings, which are rare features in this price bracket.

The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus sports a 200-megapixel primary, an 8-megapixel ultrawide angle lens and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. On the front, there is a 16-megapixel selfie sensor.

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During the daytime, shots taken from the 200-megapixel primary lens are vibrant and detailed, offering saturated colours which are pleasing to the eyes. The photos taken look good even when you view them on a large screen and are great for social media posts.

Furthermore, the 8-megapixel lens can take decent shots but doesn’t offer the same level of detail or colours as the primary lens. Similarly, the 2-megapixel macro lens is only good on paper, and the output is barely usable.

Regarding low-light shots, the photos have good details, offering natural colours. However, there is a bit of inconsistency in night shots, as the output is sometimes blurry and overexposed.

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The 16-megapixel selfie camera can take good images with accurate skin tones and details. You also get support for video recording at 4K at 30 FPS from the primary and 1080p at 30 FPS from the front-facing camera.

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Overall, the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus is a good camera performer. Still, there are other options, such as the Realme 12 Pro Plus and the iQOO Neo 7 Pro, which offer more consistent camera performance, and you also get a 3x periscope lens on the Realme.

The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 120W charging. The phone can easily last up to 6 to 7 hours on normal usage, which includes scrolling through social media, taking photos, listening to music and playing casual games.

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Despite the higher 1.5K resolution, you can expect great battery life thanks to the 4nm chipset. Furthermore, the device can be fully charged from 0 to 100 per cent in just 25 minutes using the included 120W charger.

Unfortunately, there is no support for wireless charging, which other phones in this segment, such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, offer. Hopefully, Xiaomi will offer wireless charging with future iterations of the Redmi Note lineup.

The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus sports a 6.67-inch 1.5K curved AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh. Moreover, the screen sports Gorilla Glass Victus for protection and has a peak brightness of 1800 nits.

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It is one of the few phones in this segment to offer Gorilla Glass Victus and 1.5K resolution, so Xiaomi deserves praise for featuring a great display. Furthermore, it is also the first phone in the Redmi Note series to offer a curved display, so kudos to Xiaomi for the upgrade.

Thanks to the 1.5K resolution, everything looks crisp, which results in a great content-watching experience. I enjoyed watching Season 2 of Tokyo Vice and the saturated colours on the vivid mode.

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You also get Dolby Vision and HDR 10+ support, complementing the viewing experience. The screen is bright enough for outdoor usage, and I did not face any legibility issues, even under bright sunlight.

Navigating through the user interface remains smooth and fluid due to the 120Hz refresh rate. There is also the option to enable 120Hz in unsupported apps, which is excellent.

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The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus also brings an in-display fingerprint sensor, an upgrade from the side-mounted sensor on the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus. It is good to see more companies bringing in-display fingerprint sensors to their smartphones.

When it comes to audio, you get a stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support, and the speakers are loud enough to fill an entire room. The phone also has NFC and IR Blaster, a rare addition; however, you don’t get a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is disappointing.

The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Ultra chipset paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It is the first phone in India to use this 4nm chipset, which debuted last year.

During day-to-day tasks, the phone remains smooth and keeps apps such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter in memory. The phone is snappy enough for regular use, and I did not encounter any lags or stutters during my usage.

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However, when it comes to intensive tasks like gaming, the Mali-G610 MC4 is average at best. It can handle BGMI at Ultra HDR and Ultra (40 FPS) or HDR and Extreme (60 FPS). There is no option to run the game at 90FPS, and it did get warm during my prolonged gaming sessions, reaching up to 41.2 degrees Celsius.

Furthermore, you get support for High and Ultra Frame Rate (90 FPS) in CODM, which is good. I also tried other intensive games, such as Hitman Blood Money Reprisal, Genshin Impact, Wreckfest, Diablo Immortal and GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition, although the experience was average.

Regarding benchmarks, the phone has a single core of 1106 and a multi-core score of 2713 on Geekbench. In addition, the phone throttles to 85 per cent in the 15-minute CPU throttling test, which is excellent.

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Moreover, the phone has an AnTuTu V10 score of 772303 and 99.5 per cent stability in the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme Stress test, which is excellent. Overall, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is a great performer if you are a casual gamer who plays games occasionally. If performance is your priority, other phones, such as the Poco X6 Pro and the iQOO Neo 7 Pro, are better suited for your needs.

The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus runs on MIUI 14 out of the box based on Android 13. It is disappointing that brands like Xiaomi are shipping phones with Android 13 in 2024 despite phones like Poco X6 Pro arriving with HyperOS.

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Thankfully, Xiaomi has promised an update to HyperOS soon with Android 14, and hopefully, the company will launch phones with the latest Android version in the future.

The phone has many bloatware apps like Block Puzzle Guardian, Crazy Juicer, Facebook, Jewels Blast, Netflix, Phone Pe, Snapchat, Spotify, etc. You can uninstall them by heading over to the Settings.

The usual MIUI customisation options include themes, Always On Display support, live wallpapers and more. You also get features like Quick Ball, One-Handed Mode, Screen Recorder, Floating Window, Second Space and Dual Apps. There is also support for virtual RAM extension up to 12GB.

You can also measure your heart rate using the in-display fingerprint sensor. Still, it is more of a gimmick, and I recommend using a medical device such as an oximeter for accurate results.

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The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus will receive three years of OS updates and four years of security patches, meaning you will get updates till Android 16. It is technically two years of updates, as the phone is still running on Android 13 and should have arrived with Android 14.