Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Review: Goes Big on Features and Price

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is the latest addition to Xiaomi’s ever-expanding smartphone portfolio. Only a few people may remember, but the Redmi Note smartphone was among the first few launches in India in its debut year – 2014. That reminds me, Xiaomi is celebrating its 10 years in India this year, and the company has a solid start to the year with three new phones – Redmi Note 13, Redmi Note 13 Pro and Redmi Note 13 Pro+. If you have been following Xiaomi closely, you may be aware that its Redmi Note is one of the smartphone series offering the most value-for-money package. 

The Redmi Note series in India initially targeted the sub-Rs. 10,000 category between 2014 and 2017, after which we saw a gradual increase in prices over the years. But, with increasing component prices, that was unavoidable. Back in 2017, I got my hands on the Redmi Note 4 for review and cut to 2023; I have the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ – a device that packs all bells and whistles for the price segment. But the stakes have changed; consumer expectations have skyrocketed, and the company’s offering has evolved. So, does the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ do justice, and is it worth buying? I answer that in the review.

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Review: Design and Display

Xiaomi has set the benchmark in terms of design with the first launch itself this year. Yes, I’m talking about the Redmi Note 13 Pro+. It is the only smartphone launched in the last few years I have preferred to use without a case. The entire fusion design has worked for me and probably for the people who noticed the phone while I was reviewing and liked the colour-blocked pattern design in particular. The Redmi Note 13 Pro+ launch with vegan leather is also a sign that there will be plenty of phones with the same back design this year. 

The phone comes in Fusion White, Fusion Black, and Fusion Purple colours. I got the latter one, which looks the best of the three. The vegan leather back and the curved display design have worked in favour of the Redmi Note 13 Pro+. It’s easier for one-hand tasks. This is the first time Xiaomi has added a 3D curved display on a Note series device. While they have been late to the party, they nailed it when it comes to offering a perfect one-hand grip. The curve towards the back makes it comfortable to hold.

The front has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus for protection, an excellent addition to this price segment device. With this, Xiaomi is all set to raise the benchmark for other manufacturers. The company, during a briefing session, claimed that the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is among the strongest Redmi yet, with a strong thickened motherboard and reinforced aluminium corner. While I’m no JerryRig to test durability, despite all of these additions, the Leather Vegan variant is under 200 grams, which is interesting. The body-to-weight distribution is decent, and at no point during the review, I felt that the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ was too heavy for one-hand usage. The physical buttons are tactile and easily accessible. Overall, Xiaomi has mostly nailed the design part of the Redmi Note 13 Pro+.

Jumping to the display. The phone features a 6.67-inch 3D Curved AMOLED display (1220×2712 pixels) with 446PPI pixel density and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. One of the highlights of the phone is its screen-to-body ratio, which stands at 93.35 percent. The display supports Dolby Vision, and it is a stunning display for most multimedia needs. Be it streaming shows on Netflix or, gaming or just browsing photo gallery, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is excellent. Texts appear sharp, while images are crisp on the display. The sunlight legibility is also excellent. There’s the in-display fingerprint scanner, which works flawlessly and is quick. The Redmi Note 13 Pro+ packs one of the best displays we have used on a Redmi Note device yet.

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Review: Performance

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is powered by a 4nm MediaTek Dimensity 7200-Ultra processor clocked at 2.8GHz. Notably, this is a custom chip designed for the 13 Pro+. It comes with LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1 storage. There are multiple SKUs – 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 256GB, and 12GB + 512GB. The company sent the top-of-the-line model for this review.

For gaming enthusiasts, it packs a large vapour cooling chamber. Talking about real-world performance, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ handles most of the multitasking smoothly. Everything, from app launch to switching between apps, is easily handled. Thanks to a crisp display, the multimedia experience on the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is excellent. 

Jumping to gaming, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ can easily handle games like COD Mobile, BGMI, and Need for Speed No Limits. Depending on the game itself, you can choose between mid to high graphics settings, and the device handles it all. To compare, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ can handle games better than Nothing Phone 2 and Pixel 7a. 

In the benchmarks, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ performed decently. It scored 1122 in single-core and 2598 in multi-core tests on GeekBench, while on AnTuTu, it scored a solid 721512 but below the OnePlus Nord 3. On the GFX Bench, the device scored 31fps in Car Chase and 115fps in T-Rex tests.

To enhance the overall experience, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ packs dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, offering one of the better audio experiences in the price segment. Another thing that I liked was the haptics motor on the Redmi Note 13 Pro+; it is powerful and offers good typing feedback. There’s also IR Blaster on offer, a signature Redmi feature now. 

The biggest addition to Redmi Note 13 Pro+ this year is IP68 certification. This is the highest level of water and dust protection we have seen on new-age flagships, and by bringing it to the mid-premium price segment, Xiaomi has set a benchmark. While the IP rating does not allow you to start diving into a swimming pool with your phone, it gives you peace of mind that the phone offers a level of protection. 

The calling experience on the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ was excellent. The device can latch onto networks at almost dark zones, which is impressive. There’s also an AI Face Unlock feature on the Redmi Note 13 Pro+, which works well. Though, I preferred the in-display fingerprint scanner as it was quick. There’s NFC support on the device, too, which is a neat addition.

The overall performance of a device also has a dependency on the software aspect. This is where it gets slightly tricky for the device. Until Xiaomi was targeting a lower price bracket, the bloatware and app notifications were all right to some extent. At a price point of upwards of Rs. 30,000, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ gets into a spot. From setting the phone to the point where I’m typing the review, the phone threw a bunch of GetApps notifications daily. Mind you, this is after I force-stopped it multiple times. Keeping these aside, the software experience has been good. The number of pre-installed apps has come down to some extent, but it is still there. 

Another disappointment with the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ was the Android version; yes, it launched with Android 13 out of the box. Considering some Poco devices are now getting Android 14 with HyperOS, the MIUI 14 with Android 13 treatment seems unfair. But I’m guessing the company is already working on the update, and it may be pushed to the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ soon. Talking about future updates, the company promises three major updates and four years of security updates. One of the updates will be Android 14-based HyperOS, which will get Android 15 and 16 until 2026. 

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Review: Camera

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ sports a triple camera setup featuring a 200-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL HP3 sensor, a big talking point of the device. We will get to the other two sensors in a bit. The primary camera of the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is one of its biggest strengths and packs OIS and EIS. There’s a long list of supported features that include Portrait Mode with Beautify, Depth Control and Filters support, Night Mode, AI Camera, AI Beautify, Pro Mode, HDR, Macro, Assist cam, Long Exposure, Procut, AI SkyScraping, Magic cutout, Smart Beautify and more. 

The camera UI is, again, simple and familiar. Anyone who has had a Xiaomi phone can quickly understand the interface. Talking about real-world performance, the primary camera performs well in good lighting conditions. The Redmi Note 13 Pro+ offers a wide dynamic range and good detail in daylight images. The colour reproduction is also decent, the exposure level is good, and the noise levels are well-controlled in bright lights. The autofocusing is also quick, which makes it ideal for point-and-shoot purposes. Xiaomi has been improving cameras on its Redmi Note series, and last year’s Redmi Note 12 Pro+ also packed solid primary cameras. 

Even in low light, I liked the amount of detail captured, and the colours were also decent. I got some decent low-light shots on the Redmi Note 13 Pro+, which I could use for a while at a railway station and capture the Lamborghini Urus parked. However, the low-light results are inconsistent at times. The colours are sometimes too over-saturated. 

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ camera sample (1x)

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ camera sample (0.6x)

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ camera sample (4x)

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Portrait

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Low-light

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Low-light

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ low-light

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ daylight performance

 

The phone performs well in zoom shots, all thanks to the 200-megapixel sensor, and the 2x zoom shots are almost lossless. Where it gets tricky is when you start using the 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera. I’m curious why Xiaomi went with this sensor as it is unreliable, and shots that we got had low details captured. Another disappointment is the 2-megapixel macro camera, which barely produces decent shots, and if you really want photos, try using zoom modes for better photos. 

The phone supports 4K videos at 30fps and Slow-motion videos as well. Video performance on the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is decent in well-lit conditions, but in low light, I noticed videos getting blurry and some noise levels. 

The 16-megapixel front-facing camera works well in daylight. It doesn’t add any artificial smoothing or filters by default, resulting in a more natural look. The skin tone is also more realistic. The selfies taken at night are decent enough to share on social media platforms because these platforms usually compress the image quality. Therefore, you don’t have to worry too much about the quality of the night-time selfies.

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Review: Battery

Coming to the battery department, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ packs a 5000mAh battery, which is standard for the Note series now after all these years. But, looking at how the form factor has evolved over the years is an interesting journey. Cherry on the cake is 120W HyperCharge, which means fast charging at user convenience. 

It is great to see the company shipping 120W adaptors instead of 67W, especially considering the price jump. This also means that the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is among a handful of devices available at around Rs. 35,000, offering over 100W fast-charging speeds. As expected, Xiaomi packs its indigenous Surge P1 chip in the adaptor, a custom chip for charging the battery more efficiently. The company claims the phone can charge from 0 to 100 percent in 19 minutes. However, my experience was slightly different. 

While the 120W HyperCharge was an excellent relief for short charging sessions, like when I was late for the office and the phone was at 28 percent, and in about 10-12 minutes, it was 75 percent, and I could use the phone for the rest of the day. From 0 to 100 percent, my charging test results never stood at 100 under 20 minutes. It was either around the 30-minute mark or sometimes longer than that. This could be a unit-related issue, too. But that aside, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is a solid phone when it comes to battery. 

With heavy usage, the phone lasted almost a whole day with regular apps open in the background, a couple of hours of gaming, and some streaming on Prime Video. With medium usage, the phone almost lasted for 36 hours. In our video loop test, wherein the device plays the same video in a loop until the battery dies with optimum settings, the phone lasted for about 9 hours and 55 minutes, which was decent. 

Redmi Note 13 Pro+ Review: Verdict

The Redmi Note 13 Pro+ has a lot going for it. Its design, display, and battery life are its most notable features. The primary camera is impressive for its price range, and the addition of 120W fast charging and IP68 rating make it stand out from the competition. Adding IP68 should revolutionise this price category for the highest water and dust rating, usually limited to premium smartphones.

However, the software situation could be better, as the phone comes with preloaded bloatware. The camera performs poorly in low light conditions, and additional sensors are not useful. 

The Redmi Note has traditionally been a great value proposition, but this year, this is only true for some models. Thanks to multiple SKUs, Xiaomi offers Redmi Note 13 to everyone from sub-Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 35,000. However, now that it has entered the Rs. 30,000 price bracket, it faces stiff competition from devices like the Pixel 7a (Review). If you prioritise a unique design, a vibrant display, long battery life, and an excellent primary camera and are willing to overlook the preloaded apps for overall performance, then the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is a solid choice.