The Xiaomi 13 Lite joins the Xiaomi 13 series and is being introduced in new countries today. This is a follow-up to the 12 Lite from before, and it offers performance and camera upgrades. The “light” moniker plainly identifies it as a mid-range device, but on the good side, it costs less than half as much as a Xiaomi 13. (not to mention the Pro model).
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 within the new model has 20% greater GPU and 30% more AI performance than the Snapdragon 778G inside the 12 Lite. Unfortunately, Xiaomi is still using LPDDR4X and UFS 2.2 and has not updated the Memory or storage. There are two possible setups: 8/128GB and 8/256GB. While it should be noted that this specific version of MIUI 14 is based on Android 12, the phone ships with it out of the box.
The Xiaomi 13 Lite employs the 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor, which has already been seen in a variety of high-end smartphones. As comparison to the 108MP sensor and f/1.9 lens on the 12 Lite from last year, the 1/1.56″ sensor with 1.0m pixels on the 12 Lite (2.0m with binning enabled) and the f/1.8 aperture can catch 123% more light.
Both the 2MP macro camera and the 8MP ultrawide camera (1/4″ IMX355) seem to be carryovers from the previous year.
An 8MP depth sensor has become good friends with the 32MP selfie camera. The couple lives in a camera hole in the display modelled as an island. Selfies will have more realistic bokeh effects thanks to the depth sensor. For group shots, the camera will automatically adapt the frame and has a 100° field of view.
The 6.55″ AMOLED display of the Xiaomi 13 Lite is curvy. Its 12-bit panel can produce 68 billion different colours and supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+. With an average brightness of 500 nits and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, it employs PWM dimming at 1,920 Hz.
Its display’s resolution is 1,080 by 2,400 pixels (20:9), and it features a refresh rate of 120 hertz and a touch sampling rate of 240 hertz. Curved Gorilla Glass 5 protects it. The frame is plastic, and there is glass on the rear as well (not GG). The phone is rated IP53 for protection to splashes of water and dust.
The battery is virtually on par with the Xiaomi 13 battery and has seen a modest improvement over last year. It has the same 67W wired charging capabilities and 4,500mAh capacity (+200mAh over the 12 Lite), which can reach 100% in 40 minutes. But, wireless charging is not available here.
The new Lite phone stands true to its moniker and weighs 171g while being 7.23mm thick. Light Blue, Lite Pink, and Black are the colours that are currently available. The entry-level 8/128GB variant is available starting on March 8 for €499.