Overall, Xiaomi has had a pretty good year, at least when it comes to its product line. Sales haven’t been great, but that’s understandable given the global economic situation and the limited availability of some models.
We were able to review a good portion of Xiaomi smartphones and we liked most of them. So here are the winners and losers of Xiaomi’s 2023 portfolio.
Winners: Xiaomi 13 series, but especially 13 Ultra
This year’s Xiaomi 13 series is a big hit. The little Xiaomi 13 is a powerful compact flagship that’s definitely worth the recommendation, while the 13 Pro strikes the perfect balance of premium performance without unnecessary extravagance.
It offers a substantial upgrade over its predecessor and is certainly a more desirable device than some of its direct rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S23+, for example. It’s simply an excellent all-rounder and comes with a 1-inch primary sensor to boot.
Last but not least, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra went global this year, albeit in rather limited quantities. The phone offered a huge upgrade over its predecessor by adding another 3.2x telephoto lens and also improving the 5x shooter. Charging is faster and the battery is bigger too.
All in all, this year’s Xiaomi 13 family is competitive and keeps up with industry trends. No complaints here.
Loser: Xioami Mix Fold 3
Sure, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 was a solid upgrade over its predecessor, especially in the camera department. In fact, the Mix Fold 3 is one of the foldables with the best photography equipment on the market.
However, the device continues to be a Chinese exclusive and fails to fix some of the errors of its predecessor. For example, the current state of MIUI fails to make use of the large display of the Mix Fold 3 and does not offer an optimized multi-tasking experience. Additionally, the foldable still has some thermal control issues and tends to overheat. And when you add the lack of 4K video recording using the telephoto lens, some stabilization issues, and the lack of AF for the ultrawide camera, the list of cons becomes a little too long for an expensive smartphone like the Mix Fold 3.
Winner: Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro
This year’s flagship Xiaomi smartwatch finally makes the transition to Wear OS, opening up new possibilities for users and deeper integration into the Google ecosystem. Now we can confidently say that this is no longer just a glorified fitness bracelet, but a full-fledged smartwatch with apps and everything.
It’s also a pretty sleek product and offers reliable battery life for a Wear OS product. After all, smartwatches with proprietary OS tend to have significantly longer battery life, but lack the functionality of Wear OS.
Loser: Xiaomi Buds 4 Pro
Speaking of smart accessories we cannot fail to mention the Xiaomi Buds 4 Pro. We really appreciated the sound quality, battery life and feature set offered by the pair. However, the absurd MSRP and buggy software are hard to stomach.
The launch price of the Buds 4 Pro was difficult to justify, especially when compared to similar premium products with great sound quality. While software bugs like inconsistent wear detection and audio dropouts took away from the otherwise premium experience.
Winner: Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 series
As is often the case, the Redmi Note series is one of the most popular mid-range series in the industry and for good reason. Most of the devices in the series are complete, come with decent and recent hardware, and are competitively priced. Even the vanilla Redmi Note 12 (both 4G and 5G variants) surprised us with great hardware for the asking price.
Our only complaint remains the confusing naming scheme and endless list of market-specific releases. The Redmi Note 12 family is still a mess in this regard, and it’s difficult to keep track of all the phones for different markets, even for seasoned tech geeks like us.
Loser: Xiaomi Poco series
We believe the Poco series never fully recovered after the first few releases. This year’s Poco range is a bit boring, even the high-end Poco F5 and F5 Pro phones. Neither is really impressed and they lack decent camera hardware, even when you factor in the price.
The more affordable Pocos are less than ideal when it comes to hardware, too. Most run on very old SoCs and even within their own family, they often pale in comparison to the Redmi Note 12 series.
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