So I got this phone because my old one died. Nothing dramatic. Just stopped charging one day. RIP.
I looked around. Didn’t want to spend a lot. Someone said check the 13T. It’s from 2023 but whatever. Price had dropped. So I bought it.
Used it for like three weeks now. Maybe a month. Here’s the thing nobody tells you.
Camera first because that’s where this phone surprised me
I’m not a photographer. I just take photos of my food like everyone else. And my dog. And random sunsets.
But this Leica thing? I thought it was fake. Like those “Hasselblad” phones that just have a filter. Nah. It’s different.
There’s two modes. One is called Authentic. Makes photos look kinda moody. Darker shadows. Cooler colors. I took a photo of my chai in the morning light and it looked like something from a movie. Not even lying.
The other mode is Vibrant. Makes colors pop. Good for photos of street food. Or when you’re at a wedding and want things to look lively.
What I actually like? You can switch between them with one tap. So same photo, two different looks. Pretty cool.
Night photos are good too. Not amazing like a Pixel but good. The phone has this stabilization thing so your hand shaking doesn’t ruin the shot. I took a photo at 11pm outside my building. No lights. Still got a clear shot. My friend’s iPhone couldn’t do it.
Zoom is 2x optical. That means you can zoom without losing quality. Perfect for taking photos of people from far away without being creepy about it.
The selfie camera is fine. Just fine. Nothing special. You’ll look okay on Instagram.
Video? I don’t shoot much video. But I tried 4K once. Looked smooth. Good enough.
What I don’t like? The ultra-wide camera is weak at night. Daytime it’s fine. Nighttime? Lots of noise. Just use the main camera and step back.
Now gaming – because I play a lot at night when I can’t sleep
PUBG. That’s my game.
This phone does 90 FPS. Not 120. I know some phones do 120. But honestly? I can’t tell the difference unless I really focus. 90 is smooth. Really smooth.
I drop hot. Pochinki. Bootcamp. Places where everyone dies in two minutes. The phone holds up. No lag. No stutter.
There was this one match. Final circle. Three squads left. Smoke grenades everywhere. Someone threw a Molotov. Pure chaos. Phone was at 88 FPS the whole time. Didn’t drop.
The touch response is fast. Like really fast. I use gyroscope for aiming. You know, move the phone to move the crosshair. The sensor doesn’t drift. Doesn’t act weird. My sprays feel tight.
Temperature? Gets warm after an hour but not hot. Like holding a cup of warm tea. Not uncomfortable. My old phone would get so hot I had to take the case off. This one? No.
Battery during gaming. I played for like two hours straight one night. Lost about 35-40% battery. So you can game for 4-5 hours easy. More than that? You need a break anyway.
Free Fire? Runs like butter. Too easy for this phone. 60 FPS locked. Phone doesn’t even get warm. Battery barely moves. You could play all day probably.
COD Mobile. This surprised me. The vibration when you shoot? Really satisfying. Not too strong. Not too weak. Just right. Makes you feel like you’re actually holding a gun. Stupid thing to care about but I care.
The touch sampling thing – numbers don’t matter. What matters is when I tap to shoot, the gun fires immediately. No delay. In COD where everyone dies in one second, that matters.
Genshin? I tried it. Medium settings work fine. High settings? Phone gets warm and FPS drops. If Genshin is your life, buy a gaming phone. If you just play sometimes, it’s okay.
Click Here For Xiaomi 13T Details
Daily normal use
Scrolling feels nice. 144Hz screen. Everything moves smooth. Once you get used to it, normal 60Hz phones feel like they’re broken.
Brightness is good. I used it outside at 2pm. Full sun. Could see everything fine. No squinting.
Battery life? Really good. I wake up at 8am. Use it all day – WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, calls, some gaming. Go to bed at midnight. Still have 20-30% left.
Charging is fast. 67W. I plug it in when I’m getting ready in the morning. 20 minutes later it’s at 60-70%. Enough for the whole day easily.
No wireless charging. I don’t care. But some people do.
The annoying things
Okay so the software has some junk apps. When I first turned it on, there were games and apps I never asked for. I deleted them. Took 5 minutes. But still. Annoying.
Sometimes notifications come late. Like WhatsApp. You have to go into settings and change something. I figured it out but a normal person might not.
There are ads in some Xiaomi apps. Like the music app. You can turn them off. Again, annoying but fixable.
The fingerprint sensor is low. My thumb has to reach down. You get used to it but at first it’s weird.
No headphone jack. I use Bluetooth earphones but sometimes I forget to charge them. Then I’m stuck.
The clear case that comes in the box? Turns yellow in two weeks. Just throw it away.
Who should buy this
If you have around 35k. Want good camera. Play games but not pro level. Want battery that lasts. Don’t care about wireless charging. Get this.
If you need 120 FPS in PUBG? Skip. If you hate spending 10 minutes removing bloatware? Skip. If you need the newest phone? Skip.
But for normal people who just want a phone that works and takes nice photos and plays games smoothly? Yeah. This is good.
Bottom line
I didn’t expect to like it this much. It’s not perfect. The software has small annoyances. The fingerprint sensor is in a dumb spot. No headphone jack.
But the display is beautiful. The camera takes photos that make me look like I know what I’m doing. The gaming is smooth enough for me. The battery lasts all day.
