Xiaomi officially lifted the veil off the Xiaomi 13 Ultra yesterday evening, officially debuting it first for the Chinese market. Arriving almost two months after the launch of its siblings, the newer model is the highly anticipated top-end variant of the brand’s current flagship smartphone line-up, and is touted to boast next-level mobile photography on top of offering high-end performance.
As previously revealed by the company prior to the launch, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra boasts a curved all-screen front and a faux leather cladded rear panel, which also features a large circular camera bump. The latter somewhat resembles the look of its China-only predecessor, the 12S Ultra, save for the elevated upper half of its back and the addition of a fourth camera to the entire imaging setup. For colour options, the Ultra variant will be available in Black, Olive Green and White.
Like last year’s model, the phone sports a 6.73-inch display with a top-centred cutout that also houses the same 32 MP front-facing camera. However, exclusive to it is an all-new C7 LTPO AMOLED panel that’s co-developed by Xiaomi and China Star, which offers 3200 x 1440 pixel resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, up to 240 Hz touch sampling rate, and a peak brightness of a whopping 2600 nits. Other features offered to take note of includes the under-display optical fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection, IP68 dust and water resistance, as well as a USB-C 3.2 port for charging and data transfer.
Under the hood, the Ultra packs the same 5G-enabled Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset as its siblings, which is paired together with up to 16 GB LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB UFS 4.0 storage. Keep in mind that memory configurations may differ for the potential global (or even local) release of the top-end handset.
Besides that, also onboard is a new Xiaomi self-developed Loop LiquidCool cooling system, as well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC wireless connectivity support, Android 13 via MIUI 14, and a 5,000 mAh battery with 90 W wired and 50 W wireless fast-charging support. Again, much like the other Xiaomi 13 models, the phone’s battery life and charging will be monitored by the brand’s own Surge P2 and Surge G1 custom chips.
Now, onto the Ultra variant’s most exciting feature: its rear, Leica-tuned quad cameras. All four shooters are housed within the aforementioned circular bump, which is covered by a glass dome that actually functions as a unified lens, dubbed as the Leica Vario-Summicron 1:1.9-3.0/12-120 ASPH.
Helming the Ultra variant’s imaging department is the powerful 1-inch Sony IMX 989 50.3 MP sensor, which has a 23 mm optically-stabilised lens with a physical, two-step aperture that allows for openings from f/1.9 to f/4.0. This is actually a big deal, as physical aperture change lets the camera capture natural bokeh at lower apertures instead of using digital enhancements like most smartphone imaging systems, including the ones featured on brand’s own vanilla and Pro models from the Xiaomi 13 line-up.
Accompanying the primary camera are three new Sony IMX 858 sensors for the phone’s ultra-wide, mid-range telephoto and long-range periscope telephoto shooters. The first of which offers 12 mm f/1.8 ultra-wide framing with 5 cm macro focusing capabilities, the second offers 75 mm 3.2x optical zooming capabilities with f/1.8 aperture and OIS (optical image stabilisation), while the third offers 120 mm 5x optical zoom with f/3.0 aperture. The phone’s in-sensor zoom technology also allows for 46 mm 2x and 240 mm 10x optical zooming.
Of course, the Ultra’s next-level imaging also comes with equally impressive features that complements its capabilities. For starters, included are the same Leica Vibrant and Leica Authentic colour filters that are also offered on the vanilla and Pro Xiaomi 13 models. Newly introduced is the Adobe Lightroom-supported 50 MP UltraRAW mode for the primary camera which lets it capture photos in 14-bit DNG format, and a new Fast Shot mode for street photography that’s claimed to snap photos in just 0.8 seconds.
In China, the new Xiaomi 13 Ultra is slated to go on sale from 21 April. Pricing starts from CNY 5,999 (~RM 3,864) for the 12 GB + 256 GB configuration, CNY 6,499 (~RM 4,186) for the 16 GB + 512 GB, and CNY 7,299 (~RM 4,701) for the 16 GB + 1TB trim. Last night’s launch also revealed that the top-end model will be coming to “various international markets” in the next few months.
Additionally, Xiaomi also unveiled an exclusive case accessory that’s designed to provide a full-on digital camera experience to the 13 Ultra. As previously teased, the add-on features a hand grip with a dedicated shutter button and zoom dial, as well as a circular ring that lets you mount different included filters over the phone’s cameras. According to the company, this accessory is priced at CNY 999 (~RM 643).
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