Xiaomi 13 Lite is a slim, lightweight, and sleek-looking phone that is reasonably priced

The Xiaomi 13 Lite is a cheaper version of the Xiaomi 13. However, this may not be obvious at first glance. It has curved front glass, a slimmer design, and a more advanced-looking front camera. “Lite” does not imply cheap in this circumstance.

Xiaomi instead hopes to provide a flagship-like experience for a significantly lower price. It also performs reasonably well. Sure, there are some budget-friendly features in every area: design, camera, performance, and so on.

However, when weighed against the price, they all make sense, giving the Xiaomi 13 Lite an excellent choice if you want a slim, light, and slick-looking phone that isn’t too expensive.

XIAOMI 13 LITE KEY FEATURES

This year’s Lite model from Xiaomi’s numeric flagship series appears to be a true Lite when compared to its plain 13 and 13 Pro brothers. The “Lite” label has long been associated with subpar hardware for consumers on a tight budget, and these models frequently rely on the success of its genuine flagship counterparts in the same series. However, this year’s Xiaomi 13 Lite appears to be the real deal. There are other improvements over the Xiaomi 12 Lite as well.

The display is virtually the same as last year’s, with the exception that it is curved this time, and the diagonal remains 6.55″, making it a relatively modest mid-range solution. However, one of the most noticeable modifications is the new chipset. This year, the Lite will be powered by the brand new Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, which promises higher efficiency and performance than the older Snapdragon 700 series.

The battery section also receives a modest boost. The battery is now 4,500 mAh rather than 4,300 mAh, and it still supports Xiaomi’s 67W rapid charging, which works well with Power Delivery 3.0. Last but not least, construction quality has improved, as the chassis is now fully made of glass and aluminum while remaining lightweight and designed.

But, as we all know, it’s not all about the stats, so we recommend that you continue reading our review to learn more about the Xiaomi 13 Lite.

XIAOMI 13 LITE UNBOXING

The Xiaomi 13 Lite includes the standard user instructions, a 67W charger, and a USB-A to USB-C connection for charging and data transfer.

There is also an extra clear silicone case.

CAMERA

Unfortunately, the promise of cameraphone dominance that Xiaomi claims it has earned with the Leica cooperation featured on the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro does not carry over to the Lite, which has a more pedestrian sensor configuration.

It features the same 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor as the Xiaomi 12, whose camera experience we classified as “okay” during our review, as well as an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP fixed-focus macro, which provide diversity to the phone’s photographic experience but not necessarily quality.

The front camera system has likely received the most notice. There’s a 32MP main selfie snapper paired with an 8MP depth sensor, which surely comes into play when capturing portrait selfies and attempting to achieve a luscious creamy bokeh around your face.

Two nice gimmicks complement the phone’s front-facing photographic experience: one hardware and one software. Xiaomi Selfie Glow refers to the dual LED flash array positioned on either side of the front camera, which is designed to provide better illumination when capturing selfies in low-light conditions. The offset position of the lights should help alleviate the strong point-light effect that some front-facing selfies suffer from when using a flash.

The second feature is Dynamic Framing, which may automatically zoom from 1x to 0.8x to 0.6x while shooting with the front camera based on how many subjects the phone recognizes in-frame. It’s made feasible by the selfie camera’s large 100° field of vision.

DESIGN AND SCREEN

The Xiaomi 13 Lite is one of the most expensive-looking phones available at this price point. It’s 7.2mm thick, with curved glass on both the back and front panels—this is the design of a flagship phone, not a mid-tier one.

Sure, the curved front glass appears to have fallen out of favor recently in favor of plain old flat glass that does not suffer from pooling reflections or mild color shifts. However, those sandwiched curves contribute significantly to the phone’s light and compact feel. The Xiaomi 13 Lite exudes elegance.

However, this style requires a few cuts. The front glass is Gorilla Glass 5, and the rear is an unidentified toughened glass. The sides are similarly plastic, and very closely resemble the metal finish on some Samsung Galaxy phones.

The Nothing Phone (1), produced by phone manufacturer Nothing, is a complete metal and Gorilla Glass 5 phone at a similar price point. However, it features a flat display, is much thicker, and was the company’s first phone. It needs to push the boundaries in a way that the Xiaomi 13 Lite does not.

Like many mid-tier slimline phones, the Xiaomi 13 Lite has only one speaker. It’s fairly loud and has enough midrange content to keep speech and podcasts from sounding thin, but lacks bass. This is most likely a trade-off between size and weight, as well as budget.

The Xiaomi 13 Lite also includes a quick in-screen fingerprint scanner, but the overall design remains flamboyant. This phone isn’t all about the surface, but Xiaomi has prioritized surface-level features above the majority of the competition. However, this does not guarantee good water resistance. It has an IP53 rating, which means it can most likely survive rain, but you should not drop it in a puddle.

The Xiaomi 13 Lite features a 6.55-inch screen with 1080p resolution. This is exactly what you’d anticipate from paying this much money, except with an extra curve on either side. As contentious as these bent displays are, the curvature isn’t very significant and doesn’t produce evident image quality difficulties other than how it gathers reflections. It also makes the screen boundaries appear extremely small. Lovely.

This is an OLED panel, so expect tremendously rich color and superb contrast. I find the default “vivid” setting a little too hot, but there are options for those who like a more plain, grounded approach.

It’s all good, if ordinary these days. The Xiaomi 13 Lite’s screen was surprisingly bright when I walked outside to shoot shots. It’s just much brighter than a OnePlus Nord 2T, which I have a lot of time for.

HOW’S THE PERFORMANCE?

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset is largely obscure in the smartphone market, as it is only used by the Xiaomi Civi 2 / Xiaomi 13 Lite and the Chinese version of the Oppo Reno 8 Pro. It does, however, have a pedigree and should be more than capable of meeting the needs of the majority of users, including the ability to play high-fidelity games.

In offering the 13 Lite to worldwide audiences, Xiaomi chose to limit the RAM and storage options to one, as opposed to two on the Civi 2 in China.

As such, the Xiaomi 13 Lite has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of non-expandable UFS 2.2 storage. While adequate for general use, it is significantly older and slower storage technology when compared to the cutting-edge UFS 4.0-compliant storage found on the flagship-class Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro.

Buy it if...

• The design is lightweight and luxurious, with a tiny footprint.
• Flagship 120Hz OLED with 12-bit color depth.
• A competitive quick charging option.
• Solid main camera performance, with outstanding videos.

Don't buy it if…

• The battery life should be better.
• The speaker arrangement was reduced to mono.
• Selfies aren’t excellent, and the depth sensor provides very little value.
• Too pricey to launch.
• More capable chipsets are available at cheaper prices.
• Ships with Android 12, with some MIUI 14 features missing.

FULL SPECIFICATION