After the powerful mini mobile that was the Xiaomi 12, we are already wondering what the future holds: and unless the math fundamentally changes in the coming months, it will probably be the Xiaomi 13 next.
Bad luck for some? Not really, because four is the number that is considered unlucky in China, where Xiaomi is from.
We still don't know much about this phone as there are plenty of Xiaomi phones that we hope to see sooner, including the Xiaomi 12 Ultra, Xiaomi 12T, and many Redmi and Poco devices.
But as the company's next true flagship phone, the Xiaomi 13 is naturally where our thoughts go, not least because it will be a strong competitor to the Samsung Galaxy S23 and iPhone 14.
This article is where we'll list the big leaks or rumors as they happen, but before they show up, we'll also post a wish list of what we want to see in the Xiaomi 13.
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- What is it? Xiaomi's next flagship phone
- When did it come out? In late 2022 or early 2023
- How much will it cost? Various high-end mobiles at different prices
Xiaomi 13 release date and price
Xiaomi usually launches its new flagship phones at the end of the year in China, but it waits until February or March before they're available worldwide, and that's just for the "main" phone, the Lite and Ultra versions, which often they are released later.
For that reason, it's hard to pin down a vague release window for the phones, let alone a more concrete release date, but it's likely we'll start hearing leaks giving us more information before too long.
Because Xiaomi phones belong to a single family, there will be a range of phones reaching different price points. You can expect a Lite version for budget users, a mid-priced 13T series towards the end of 2023, and the Xiaomi 13, 13 Pro and 13 Ultra will likely be premium phones, the Ultra priced super high.
Xiaomi 13 news and leaks
We haven't heard many Xiaomi 13 leaks... but we have heard a few.
The main thing so far is that a fan website called Xiaomiui (opens in a new tab) has found the model numbers of four upcoming Xiaomi flagships (two of which are Chinese versions of the other two); claims that these are for the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro, and further suggests that finding these model numbers suggests that the phones will launch sooner than expected.
We're not entirely convinced that they're for the Xiaomi 13 series, or at least that the devices launch earlier, that wouldn't give the Xiaomi 12T series enough time to breathe, but it does show that excitement is building for the new series.
What we want to see in the Xiaomi 13
Here's our wish list for the Xiaomi 13, taking a look at the company's previous phones and other things going on in the mobile industry.
1. A telephoto lens
Xiaomi tries to position its phones as champions in photography and videography, but the lack of a telephoto lens really hampers its abilities in those departments.
Telephoto lenses are normally used for zoom photography, but they are also great because they create a more attractive effect of depth and also allow you to get closer to subjects without having to move. These two reasons are as important to film as they are to photograph.
Although Xiaomi sometimes includes telephoto lenses in its high-end phones, the standard Xiaomi 12 did not have any, and neither did the Lite and T versions. But we wish Xiaomi would commit to using zooms more widely so that its phones really have a chance to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S series.
2. A lower minimum price
Xiaomi offers Lite versions of its flagships for people who can't afford the more expensive family members, but it doesn't launch them at the same time. You often have months to wait for a budget alternative, and usually around six months for the T version, which is a mid-range version of the flagship.
To give fans of budget phones something to buy right away, we'd like to see the standard Xiaomi 13 start for less than $749 / $749 that the Xiaomi 12 started at. It doesn't matter if it's a Xiaomi 13X (there was a 12X but it didn't go on sale globally), we just want a mid-range phone to see us through to the T-series.
3. Cleaning software
We've been complaining about Xiaomi's Android MIUI fork since the beginning of recorded history, and while fixes have been made (and Xiaomi is no longer the worst offender), the smartphone's operating system still isn't perfect.
One of the issues we run into is bloatware, as business phones often have some third-party apps pre-installed that you usually end up removing. The other problem is that phones can often have quite buggy software, with features crashing or failing more often than competing phones.
For the Xiaomi 13 to be a true flagship to compete with the Galaxy and iPhones of the world, Xiaomi needs to make MIUI a clean, high-end operating system that comes with useful extra features and doesn't crash all the time.
4. Design improvements in progress
The Xiaomi 12 was the first Xiaomi flagship to really turn heads: it had a slightly textured back, came in beautiful pastel colors, and used a two-tone design that gave it a cool look.
We'd like to see Xiaomi continue this trend of making attractive smartphones, perhaps with bolder color options (we're always fans of red or gold devices), or with an improved camera that stands out more.
5. A simultaneous release
While the Xiaomi 12 series launched in China in December 2021, it wasn't until a few months later that it went on sale in the rest of the world; by then, the hype over the phone had died down after its initial debut.
Xiaomi isn't the only company launching early in China, and it's not the only company suffering from this hype train derailment.
This is especially the case with Xiaomi trying more and more to be a bigger player in the phone space: Huawei only became a giant when it realized that it had to launch its product with great fanfare for the whole world, not just for one region.
With that in mind, we would like to see the Xiaomi 13 launched and launched for all regions of the world in one go, as Samsung and Apple are doing. We don't want to miss out on the phone before it goes on sale.