The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus officially goes on sale in India today, along with the rest of the gang that includes the classic Redmi Note 13 and Redmi Note 13 Pro. If you’re on the look-out for a new phone and keeping track, chances are, you might have heard about these phones. One of them could be on your wish-list, too. We’ve reviewed the top-of-the-line Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus and called it a “slam dunk from Xiaomi.”
This piece right here is more of a TL;DR version giving you a quick look at the phone’s top specs and features that we liked, and all the stuff that could be better. We hope that it helps you take a more informed decision before making a purchase, and so, you’re getting your money’s worth.
Without further ado, here are 13 reasons why the new Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus is worth the hype:
- Premium design: Even before we get into the specs, the first thing you should probably take note of, is Xiaomi’s brand new design. The jury is still out on whether Xiaomi has been able to get back its mojo after the stellar Redmi Note 10 Pro phones on this front, but there is very little doubt that the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus looks nice and premium. Especially when you compare it to its predecessor. You can get it in a choice of glass (the type is unspecified) and “vegan leather.” Bold and futuristic is how we described it in our full review. The phone is slim and light and feels good in the hands. (There seems to be some confusion on the Internet about the sides. We can confirm that the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus has a plastic frame and not metallic as being reported by some publications.)
- IP68: Surely the icing on the cake is the phone’s official IP rating. The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus is Xiaomi’s first “water-proof” Redmi Note. Being IP68-rated means it can withstand being submerged in “fresh” water to a maximum depth of 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes.
- Gorgeous display: If curves could kill, the new Note would have to be arrested. Not only does it look gorgeous, the 6.67-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel boasts of excellent stats: it can go up to 120Hz and 1,800 nits, and supports 1,920Hz high-frequency PWM dimming and Dolby Atmos playback.
- Corning Gorilla Glass Victus: Yet another cherry for the picking is the “premium” screen protection, unheard of in “this price segment” at the time of writing. The fingerprint scanner, which is under the screen, is fast and doubles as a “secret” heart rate sensor.
- Reliable everyday performance: The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus is an excellent performer in day-to-day use. It has the MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Ultra under the hood and while it may not be the fastest chip on the block, especially from a gaming perspective, you’ll have a hard time finding fault from it once you start using it.
- Ample RAM and storage: The Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus ships with 256GB of fast UFS3.1 storage by default on all models while RAM can go up to 12GB.
- 200MP camera takes great photos: The 200-megapixel ISOCELL HP3 sensor backed by an f/1.65 optically stabilised lens is a big-ticket feature of the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus. And it performs brilliantly in most conditions and even though low-light shots can be a hit or miss sometimes, we’ll still call the phone’s main camera a hit.
- Good sound: The dual speakers on the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus can get nice and loud, and support Dolby Atmos.
- Great haptics: An even bigger note-worthy feature is the phone’s tight haptics that simply put, feel flagship grade.
- NFC— finally: Need we say more?
- Quick charging: You get 120W fast charging in this phone and per our experience, it takes just under 25 minutes to charge it from 0-100 percent using the bundled charger.
- Longer software support: Xiaomi is committing to longer software support, up to three years of major OS and four years of security, on the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus, a step up over the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus’s two and three. We can’t stress enough how important that is.
- HyperOS ready
But should you buy it?
That last bit comes with both good news and bad news attached. Even though the phone is HyperOS ready, Xiaomi doesn’t have an update on when it’s coming. You won’t be wrong if you expected the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus to launch with HyperOS in the first place and so, not having a definite timeline for rollout is frankly disappointing, to say the very least. What this also means is that the phone is launching with Android 13, when Android 14 should be a given at this point. We can see how that could irk some buyers, too, especially when Poco is set to launch the Poco X6 Pro with Xiaomi’s latest software “out of the box” on January 11.
The hardware is not without its quirks, too. The main camera tops out at 4K@30fps and the auxiliary cameras (and also the selfie camera) are just about serviceable. There is no headphone jack, or storage expansion. And the battery doesn’t last as long as we were expecting.
But the biggest problem is the pricing. The new Note starts at Rs 31,999 for 8GB/256GB and can go up to Rs 35,999 for 12GB/512GB. And so, it finds itself smack in the middle of stiff competition. Whether it is the iQOO Neo 7 Pro or Moto Edge 40 or OnePlus Nord 3, options galore, and while Xiaomi’s hardware choices are immaculate, a Redmi Note at these prices just doesn’t add up.
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