Xiaomi’s Redmi 13C goals to supply a stable 5G expertise coupled with an interesting-looking design and good battery life. It even provides a big show to the combo which makes it good for content material consumption as properly. Its design is just not solely trendy however can be mud and splash resistant. Certainly, it looks as if the Redmi 13C 5G is the proper starter telephone for somebody who’s upgrading from a quite fundamental battery-life oriented, entry-level smartphone. And even for somebody who’s getting their first smartphone after years of utilizing a characteristic telephone. Retaining this standards in thoughts let’s discover out if the Redmi 13C 5G caters to the quite fundamental smartphone necessities of such a person.
Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Overview: Value in India
The Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G is priced from Rs. 10,499 in India. At that price ticket you get 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which mainly is entry-level {hardware} to maintain the software program expertise and apps chugging alongside. Nonetheless, it is also good to see 128GB of base storage, which needs to be sufficient to cater to the app necessities of most smartphone consumers at this value level. The telephone can be out there in a extra future-proof 6GB RAM variant, which is attractively priced at Rs. 11,999.
Out of the three, it additionally affords the most effective worth, as 6GB of RAM ought to assist with fundamental multitasking and conserving apps in reminiscence. Lastly, there’s the 8GB RAM variant, which comes with 256GB of storage. This variant doesn’t break the financial institution with its Rs. 13,999 price ticket, nevertheless it’s at this value level that consumers will discover extra enticing and competitively priced choices from Samsung and different manufacturers.
Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Overview: Design
The Xiaomi 13C 5G has a slick-looking design with straight strains and flat sides. The telephone’s rear panel is made out of polycarbonate and so is its body and chassis. Nonetheless, it is constructed properly and feels fairly stable.
The telephone has a 6.74-inch show with a water drop-shaped notch on the prime for the selfie digital camera. Given the in any other case trendy look, the water drop notch does make it look a bit dated as soon as the show is switched on.
Whereas most premium gadgets provide such giant shows, these panels even have skinny black borders. Since it is a price range telephone, the Redmi 13C 5G doesn’t have these, and so the massive panel, together with the thick bezel, makes this telephone a bit too giant to deal with with one hand. At 192 grams, its weight can be on the heavier aspect, nevertheless it’s nothing out of the unusual, given its measurement.
I am not a fan of flashy rear panels, however the Startrail Inexperienced end (which is analogous to the Startrail Silver end) does look good in an understated manner. It provides the rear panel an animated look with effective operating strains which race throughout back and forth. These strains animate when gentle hits the telephone at an angle. In any other case, the telephone seems to have a principally flat and stable inexperienced end. Should you aren’t a fan of those animated rear panels, then Starlight Black is a extra delicate possibility.
This contemporary and minimalist design additionally affords fundamental splash and mud resistance, however Xiaomi will not affirm these scores on its web site, so they are not official. Due to this fact, I don’t suggest dunking this telephone in water or pulling it out when it is raining.
Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Overview: Specs and Software program
The Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G has a MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ SoC, which can be present in some price range smartphones which can be priced a bit larger. The chipset is just not a performance-oriented one. It isn’t constructed with gaming in thoughts, however it’s environment friendly when operating day-to-day apps and delivers stable 5G connectivity. And, on that notice, it affords help for quite a few 5G bands (each NSA and SA) and likewise affords dual-band Wi-Fi for correct in-home knowledge connectivity together with Bluetooth 5.3, which is greater than enough for connecting to your TWS earphones or different equipment. There’s additionally help for the same old GPS navigation methods, so you will not face any points when utilizing a maps app for navigation. The telephone has a 5,000mAh battery and comes with a 10W charger within the field. The telephone additionally affords microSD card storage growth of as much as 1TB for many who want that additional area. Lastly, there’s a fingerprint reader for safe biometric authentication, and it labored reliably through the testing section of this evaluate.
What’s a correct turn-off (even at this value level) is the sheer variety of pre-installed apps. And with this come a number of duplicates like two internet browsers (Chrome + Opera), two gallery apps (Gallery + Pictures), two file managers (File Supervisor + Google Recordsdata) and lots extra. Whereas I might uninstall and clear up the litter, these can get complicated and overwhelming for a first-time smartphone person. Add to this a number of spammy notifications from apps like GetApp, Recreation Heart and the Theme Retailer every day and it does find yourself ruining the software program expertise.
The telephone runs MIUI 14, which relies on Android 13. Even for a price range telephone in 2024, this feels a bit dated. The software program expertise is usually MIUI, which is a bit dated, however the upcoming HyperOS replace ought to enhance this expertise.
Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Overview: Efficiency
As for software program efficiency, our expertise on the 8GB RAM + 256 GB variant was fairly clean with no hiccups. Apps additionally remained in reminiscence, however we can’t say the identical concerning the 4GB base variant, as we didn’t get to check that one out.
The 6.74-inch HD+ LCD show is just not the sharpest one we have now seen at this value level. Whereas its efficiency is ample, displaying the most effective colors at its Commonplace show color scheme, I did discover a yellowish solid within the backside half of the panel when viewing it indoors.
Since it’s an LCD panel, it won’t be able to provide the deep blacks like an AMOLED show does. So it’s possible you’ll find yourself squinting on the show when viewing content material with darker scenes. Surprisingly, there are telephones just like the Samsung Galaxy M34 5G which provide AMOLED shows round this value level.
Whereas the Redmi 13C 5G’s show is vibrant sufficient indoors, I discovered it inadequate when considered open air, particularly underneath direct daylight. The content material seems dim, and the colors seem a bit washed out. Should you spend most of your time open air or out within the subject (as a substitute of an workplace), then this won’t be the fitting smartphone for you.
The 90Hz display screen refresh charge aside from making the software program animations and transitions seem clean, does not likely assist in some other space, as video games principally work at medium graphics settings. Whereas watching films this refresh charge stays locked at 60Hz and nearly by no means drops to 30Hz.
I used to be joyful to seek out Widevine L1 help on this telephone, that means that streaming content material seems at Full HD high quality, and all the things seems sharp and crisp. Nonetheless, the single-speaker, whereas decently clear, was simply not loud sufficient, and I typically ended up maxing out the quantity degree, which additionally led to some noticeable distortion.
Battery life because of the power-efficient processor, HD+ show and the massive battery was fairly good. The telephone simply lasted a day and a half, and this may be stretched to 2 days with informal utilization. Xiaomi does provide 18W wired charging however solely affords a 10W charger within the field, which is excruciatingly sluggish to cost this telephone up. The charger manages a 21 p.c cost in half-hour and reaches 40 p.c in an hour, finishing the cost in precisely 2 hours and 37 minutes. So, for those who do find yourself buying this telephone, do add the elective 18W charger to your procuring cart.
Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Overview: Cameras
Pictures captured utilizing the first 50-megapixel digital camera in daylight do not pack in much-resolved element and sharpness. Objects in any given scene lack definition, so all the things seems a bit delicate. The HDR system additionally does a poor job of conserving the intense spots and darkish areas in examine, so I did discover loads of clipped highlights in pictures.
Taking pictures at 2X digital zoom solely worsens issues, as most photographs captured find yourself wanting like work. Selfies captured by the 5-megapixel digital camera are nearly satisfactory when it comes to general high quality, and the Portrait mode can’t see the perimeters of topics within the body properly. Issues solely worsen with most photographs not being usable when captured in low gentle and even with the devoted Evening mode.
The second digital camera is barely used for gathering depth knowledge for the first digital camera when utilizing the Portrait mode. Nonetheless, edge detection is not nice right here, both. And the identical goes for the general high quality of photographs. In brief, regardless of the twin cameras and a selfie digital camera, you actually solely have entry to at least one selfie digital camera and one rear digital camera.
The Redmi 13C 5G maxes out at 1080p 30fps when recording video. The standard of those movies is generally common, with respectable dynamic vary and saturated colors. They’re low on element, have a uneven framerate, and lack stabilisation, so they seem fairly shaky when panning.
Xiaomi Redmi 13C 5G Overview: Verdict
Certainly, Xiaomi has minimize just a few corners with its Redmi 13C 5G to ship 5G connectivity (sometimes called the “5G tax”) at this sub-Rs. 11,000 value level. This would come with a supremely bloated and spammy software program expertise, poor digital camera efficiency (even for a price range telephone) and really sluggish charging.
On the identical time, it does examine just a few packing containers relating to model, content material streaming (clearer movies), battery life and a clean (but outdated) software program expertise. Nevertheless it’s actually arduous to suggest, provided that smartphones just like the Motorola Moto G34 exist. It affords a smoother show, a cleaner software program interface (up to date to Android 14), stereo sound and sooner charging. And this supplied you may ignore its common digital camera efficiency.
In case you are searching for extra worth and do not thoughts spending Rs. 13,999, then the Samsung Galaxy M34 5G is a stable contender. It affords a far superior high-resolution full-HD+ 120Hz AMOLED panel, up to date software program with OneUI 6.0 (Android 14), a greater choice of cameras, and a 6,000mAh battery.