The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is more camera than phone

Really a camera or still a phone? With its massive camera casing and four fat lenses, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is impressive when you first get your hands on it – complemented by a textured faux leather back, reminiscent of the heyday of SLR cameras.

I weigh up the 13 Ultra in my hands. At over 220 grammes, it’s quite the heavyweight and with a thickness of over 9 millimetres, it’s even thicker than the bulky Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. And to be honest, it also looks a bit bulky, what with the two-step transition from faux leather to plastic edges to metal edges. It kind of looks as if someone had put a chunky cover on it.

On the other hand, the coarse «nano-tech» silicone faux leather is incredibly nifty. It protects the back of the phone and is grippy enough that I probably wouldn’t bother with a case for the everyday. The Ultra won’t plummet out of your hand so easily. However, the protruding camera bump with its glass cover is a weak point should you drop the phone.

I was able to test the Xiaomi 13 Ultra for about two hours at an event for tech journalists in Cologne. In other words, this article isn’t a detailed review, but a first impression at the European market launch, where it’s now available for 1,500 francs or euros. In China, the Ultra has been on the market since April. We don’t yet know when we’ll have it in our shop. As soon as we do know more, I’ll link the product here.

My colleague Jan already wrote about all the tech specs in a news piece. As for more in-depth findings, I’ll report on those in a later, more detailed review. In this article, I’ll limit myself to two aspects that I was able to test in my limited time with the phone. Namely, the design and screen as well as the cameras.

The bright screen makes for a perfect viewfinder

First up, let’s talk about the 6.73-inch screen. It meets all flagship requirements: AMOLED, 3,200 by 1,440 pixel resolution and thus a high pixel density of 522 ppi. The refresh rate automatically adjusts from one to 120 hertz and the screen features a 240-hertz touch sampling rate.

The brightness hit me in a positive way, offering 1,300 nits under normal conditions and up to 2,600 nits in strong sunlight. And I really noticed a difference on my photo-taking walk. The 13 Ultra remains easy to read even in the afternoon sun. The Google Pixel 7 Pro that I used for comparison fared considerably worse.

The screen is even more important on this device, as it doubles as a viewfinder for the camera system. And the camera is clearly the 13 Ultra’s crowning feature. If it doesn’t hold up, neither can its price tag.

Four sensors with 50 megapixels each

Xiaomi has done a lot to ensure that its top device can outperform the competition in photography. To this end, the company intensified cooperation with Leica. With this phone, the German optics manufacturer has not only supplied the software, but also co-developed the lenses of all four cameras.

In addition, Xiaomi relies on four premium image sensors from Sony, each with 50 megapixels. The main camera uses the IMX989, a so-called 1-inch sensor. In addition, there are three Sony IMX858 sensors, which are also new and of extremely high quality.

In photography lingo, the focal lengths are 12, 23, 75 and 120 millimetres. In the context of smartphones, we tend to talk about wide-angle (0.5x), main camera (1x) and optical zoom (3.2x and 5x) lenses. The main camera also has a variable aperture that changes between f1.9 and f4.0 to let in more or less light depending on the scene.

For this first impressions test, I didn’t make much use of the many looks and filters that are available from Leica, primarily relying instead on auto mode. Let’s start with the main camera. I take a picture of Cologne Cathedral with the very bright sky in the background. It turns out very well. The photo looks sharp and on point.

The bridge below presents an even more difficult scene to capture; it’s very dark and contrasts strongly with the sunny sky and the tree. Even so, the camera manages to preserve an amazing amount of detail in the stone.

The portrait function with its strong depth of field, seen below, also looks impressive at first glance. Especially because here, too, the shade and sunlight don’t make for a simple environment. However, the overall result looks a bit artificial.

I took a series of photos at a jazz club, where the lighting was dim overall but also with stark contrasts. The wide-angle lens has trouble with this shot because of the sunlight shining into the club. The main camera, on the other hand, captures the mood well, with the daylight coming through the window and door looking natural and not too glaring.

The zoom levels – 2x, 3.2x, 5x and 10x – stand out as a positive surprise. The photos are sharp, the colours good and the lighting nice. With the 10x partially digital zoom, the result is also more than usable – you can even see the backs of the bottle labels.

What didn’t win me over in this initial test is the 32-megapixel selfie cam. In the test photo below, the colour of the cathedral’s facade is totally distorted. During testing, I got the overall impression that Xiaomi used all its innovative power on photography and the main cameras. If you’re someone who records a lot of videos or takes a lot of selfies, you may be a bit disappointed. It’s also a shame that there’s no dedicated shutter button.

My conclusion after this first hands-on test: the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is a phone for photography fans – or an almost-camera with smartphone functionality. It’s ideal for all those who otherwise use professional cameras but also need as many features as possible on their phone, as well as for anyone else who cares about the quality of their phone snaps.

What interests you most about the Xiaomi 13 Ultra? What should I look at specifically in my detailed review? Let me know in the comments!