The Xiaomi 13 Pro, the company's flagship smartphone which launched in February, had a surprisingly great camera. Now, Xiaomi is trying to improve on that with the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, a smartphone tailor-made for mobile photography enthusiasts.
More portable camera than phone, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra has four Leica-branded, 50-megapixel cameras on the rear, all squeezed into a massive circular bump, which gives the Ultra a design distinct from the Xiaomi 13 Pro, which has a square camera bump on the back.
There, you'll find a wide angle, ultra-wide angle, telephoto, and a super-telephoto camera. The main, wide angle camera offers variable aperture, letting you choose between f/1.9 and f/4.0 aperture, and is paired with Sony's 1-inch IMX989 sensor. The new, super-telephoto camera lets you take photos at a 5x optical zoom, which can be further enhanced digitally if needed.
The list of perks this camera system gives you is quite long and includes 14-bit Ultra Raw support, and 8K video recording at 24 fps, On the front, there's a 32-megapixel selfie camera with night mode and portrait mode options.
Other than the cameras, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is as packed with features as you'd expect, with a 6.73-inch, 120Hz AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, 12/16GB of RAM, and 256/512/1,024GB of storage. It has a massive, 5,000mAh battery with 90W wired charging, 50W wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging.
Other tidbits of note include dual speakers with Dolby Atmos support, as well as dust and water resistance up to IP68 specifications. Instead of the far more typical glossy back, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra has antibacterial nanotech silicone leather on the rear, which gives it a nice, retro look.
The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is coming to China first on April 21, and will be available internationally over the "next few months." It comes in black, white, and olive green, and the pricing starts at RMB 5,999 ($870).
