Xiaomi Phone 13 Ultra VS iPhone 14 Pro Max: features, differences and prices

Xiaomi has become one of the main brands of “smart” mobile phones in several countries around the world, including Spain, due to its wide catalog of smartphones with a good value for money. But For some time now, it no longer only bets on the low and medium rangebut also because of the high, even the premium.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is the new beast of asian company. A phone that, on paper, has it all: raw power, spectacular cameras, very fast charging, all kinds of connectivity, and even a heart rate reader under the screen. And all this comes at a price that inevitably makes it compare with the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

This Apple terminal is a reference in screen quality, autonomy, performance and photography. Something that can be expected considering what it is worth. whatThe Xiaomi 13 Ultra will be up to the Cupertino proposal having a similar PVP?

Features iPhone 14 Pro Max and Xiaomi 13 Ultra

• Screen: Very similar in size, the iPhone has a 6.7-inch LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED panel capable of reaching 2,000 nits of brightness, is compatible with Dolby Vision and has an adaptive refresh rate at 120 Hz, as well as a function ODA. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra has a 6.73-inch AMOLED screen that can reach 2,600 nits of brightness and comes with an adaptive refresh rate at 120 Hz.
• Processor: The Xiaomi 13 Ultra integrates Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, one of the best processors for mobile devices on the market along with the A16 Bionic, which is the one used by the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
• RAM and storage– The iPhone has 6 GB of RAM and storage options ranging from 128 GB to 1 TB, while the Xiaomi can be configured with 12 or 16 GB of ultra-fast LPDDR5X RAM and 256, 512 GB or 1 TB UFS storage 4.0.
• cameras: The Xiaomi 13 Ultra has several rear cameras, the main one being 50 MP, and a 50 MP telephoto lens, a 50 MP super telephoto lens, and a 50 MP wide-angle camera. The front is 32 MP. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a triple rear camera, with a 48 MP main sensor, and a 12 MP wide-angle and ultra-wide angle. The front is TrueDepth 12 MP.
• connectivity: The two terminals share similar connectivity. The main difference is in the connector, which on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is USB-C and on the iPhone 14 Pro Max it is Lightning.
• OS: the Apple smartphone uses iOS 16 and the Xiaomi 13 Ultra has Android 13 with the MIUI 14 customization layer.
• Battery: the Xiaomi 13 Ultra mounts a 5,000 mAh battery, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max a 4,323 mAh. Both phones have fast charging, the Xiaomi being much higher.
• Price: Apple’s proposal is available from 1,469 euros, and the Xiaomi 13 Ultra can be purchased from 1,499 euros.

Xiaomi 13 Ultra VS iPhone 14 Pro Max, which phone to buy?

Xiaomi long ago stopped focusing solely on affordable smartphones, a market in which it was crowned king with entry-level and mid-range “smart” mobile phones with a good value for money. And that is why many people do not associate it with the high-end and premiumdespite the fact that it has terminals that fit into them for price and features.

But the Xiaomi 13 Ultra may be the turning point, since it has characteristics that, on paper, have nothing to envy to other phones like the iPhone 14 Pro Max, against which it directly competes. These are the points in which both one and the other stand out the most.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is not a phone, but a camera

Apart from performance, the photographic section is one of the points most pampered by manufacturers, since it is increasingly difficult to notice the difference in power (the main tasks are writing WhatsApp messages, uploading photos to Instagram, browsing the Internet, reading email…), but in photography there is still room for improvement.

And it is that the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is basically a camera built into a mobile phone, because it has multiple sensors, one of an inch and another three IMX 858 from Sony that, although they are not that big, are very capable. It has a better lens than the Xiaomi 13 Pro and the processing algorithms change almost completely, and this is very important. These are the characteristics of the sensors:

• main sensor: 50.3 MP, f/1.9 or f/4.0 (variable aperture), 23mm, 1-inch, OIS. SonyIMX 989.
• periscopic telephoto sensor: 50 MP, f/3.0, 120mm, 5x periscopic zoom, 1/2.51″, OIS.
• Optical telephoto sensor: 50 MP, f/1.8, 75mm, 3.2x optical zoom, 1/2.51″, OIS.
• ultra wide angle sensor: 50 MP, f/1.8, 12mm, ultra-wide without OIS, 1/2.51″.
• 3D ToF sensor.

It allows shooting in RAW at 50 MP, and the shutter speed is better. However, as our colleagues from Xataka comment, the real-time HDR processing that Google and Apple do offer is missed. At least the camera app is quite complete. It even performs well taking night photos, something that not all manufacturers manage to do well.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max and its unbeatable autonomy

It is incredible how Apple improved autonomy in the previous generation of its smartphones, and that in this one it has managed to increase it even more. And this is surprising because the iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 4,323 mAh battery and can last up to 29 hours playing video. That is to say, you can spend more than a day watching series without the phone having to go through the charger.

Battery optimization on Android smartphones is complicated. Several factors come into play, such as the customization layer, the processor, the size of the battery… That is why it is very difficult to reach the level of Apple. And the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is no exception.

The latest beast from Xiaomi has a 5,000 mAh battery. Although more usage time has been gained compared to the Xiaomi 13 Pro (its battery was also slightly smaller), It is far from the figures of the Apple titan. In the analysis of our Xataka colleagues, they concluded that by making intense use, around six hours of screen time could be obtained (a day and a half per charge, in this specific case).

But there is something in the Xiaomi 13 Ultra that is appreciated and that Apple has lagged behind: fast charging. The phone of the Asian brand can be recharged wired at an impressive 90W, and wirelessly at 50W. This is far superior to what Apple offers, around 20W for Lightning and 15W for MagSafe. Although it is not good to abuse fast charging, it never hurts and can help us in a moment of trouble.

MIUI is no longer what it used to be

There was a time when Xiaomi smartphones not only stood out for their low price, but also for offering good performance. The company has always used the MIUI customization layer on its phoneswhich has its similarities to iOS and adds features not available on other Android phones.

A customization layer doesn’t have to be a strictly bad thing. But if it is not well optimized and has bugs, it does not matter what good features the smartphone has; the experience will be tarnished and will leave something to be desired. And this has been one of the most recurring complaints in recent years regarding MIUI, that the customization layer it has stopped working as well as before and the company does not fix the errors that recur update after update.

Xiaomi releases many new phones every year, to a point where it becomes difficult to offer good support for each of them. This means that the support for updates in the brand’s terminals is usually low when compared to Samsung or Apple plans, since Californians are offering around six years per device.

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Images | Apple, Xiaomi, Applesfera and Xataka

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