A full charge in 25 minutes feels almost unfair to the competition
In the ongoing negotiation between aspiration and affordability, Xiaomi's Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G arrives in early 2024 as a quiet argument that the gap between premium and mid-range is narrowing faster than the industry would like to admit. At €500, it offers a 200-megapixel camera, a full charge in 25 minutes, and a polished design that borrows the language of flagship devices without demanding their price. The phone is not without its tensions — software habits inherited from MIUI remind buyers that value always carries a footnote — but as a statement about what the middle of the market can now deliver, it is difficult to dismiss.
- A €500 phone is charging fully in 25 minutes while flagship rivals like the Pixel 7 are still at 26% — the gap in charging technology has become almost embarrassing for the competition.
- A 200MP camera with optical stabilization is producing clean, noise-free images at a price tier where blurry low-light shots were once accepted as the cost of entry.
- MIUI's aggressive background app management is silently killing notifications, meaning important messages may never surface on the lock screen — a software habit that undermines the hardware's ambitions.
- The phone ships with Android 13 and MIUI 14 while competitors run newer software, leaving buyers to weigh a generous accessory box and three years of updates against an already-aging OS foundation.
- Without wireless charging or a headphone jack at this price, small omissions accumulate into a quiet reminder that every value proposition has its edges.
Xiaomi's Redmi brand has long operated on a straightforward premise: deliver serious features without demanding a serious price. The Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G, arriving in early 2024 at €500, is the flagship of a five-phone lineup — and the one that makes that premise feel almost unfair to rivals.
The phone carries itself well. A curved back, IP68 water resistance, and a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with near-1,200-nit peak brightness give it a presence that mid-range devices rarely project. The in-screen fingerprint scanner is fast, and the curved edges make one-handed use feel considered rather than accidental.
Inside, a MediaTek Dimensity 7200-Ultra processor paired with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage handles everything asked of it without hesitation. The 5,000mAh battery lasts a day comfortably, but the real story is the 120W charger in the box: a full charge in 25 minutes, 66 percent in just 15. The Google Pixel 7, by comparison, takes 96 minutes to fill and reaches only 26 percent in the same window.
The 200MP main camera with optical stabilization delivers clean images in daylight and low light, with sharp results at 2X and 4X zoom. The ultra-wide is capable if unremarkable, and the 2MP macro is best ignored. Video stabilization holds up in calm conditions but struggles with fast movement.
Software is where the experience grows complicated. MIUI 14 on Android 13 already lags behind the current generation, and its aggressive background app management can suppress notifications from messaging apps — a battery-saving measure that trades convenience for peace of mind. Three years of OS updates and four years of security patches offer some reassurance about longevity.
There is no wireless charging and no headphone jack, but the box includes a screen protector, a silicone case, the 120W charger, and a cable — a generosity that most flagship manufacturers have quietly abandoned. For buyers who can make peace with MIUI's notification habits, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G stands as one of the more compelling mid-range arguments of 2024.
Xiaomi's Redmi brand has built its reputation on a simple promise: serious phone features at prices that don't require a second mortgage. The new Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G, arriving in early 2024 at €500 for the base model, is the flagship of a five-phone lineup, and it's the one that actually delivers on that promise in ways that feel almost unfair to the competition.
The phone itself is handsome in a way that mid-range devices rarely are. Unlike its siblings in the series, the Pro+ has a curved back that feels genuinely ergonomic in hand, and it comes in three colors: Midnight Black, Midnight White, and Aurora Purple. It's also the only model in the lineup with IP68 water and dust protection, a feature that usually signals a phone taking itself seriously. The 6.7-inch AMOLED screen curves slightly at the edges, which makes swiping from the sides feel natural rather than awkward. Peak brightness hits nearly 1,200 nits—enough to see the display clearly in direct sunlight—though the minimum brightness of 1.8 nits could go lower for comfortable late-night reading. The in-screen fingerprint scanner is fast and reliable.
What makes this phone genuinely interesting is what Xiaomi packed inside. The MediaTek Dimensity 7200-Ultra processor handles daily tasks smoothly and doesn't choke on gaming or demanding apps. Paired with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, there's no sense of compromise. The battery is a 5,000mAh unit that lasts a day and a bit longer in real use, which is respectable if not exceptional. But the charging is where things get genuinely wild: the included 120W charger fills the battery completely in just 25 minutes. In 15 minutes alone, you can reach 66 percent. Compare that to the Google Pixel 7, which takes 96 minutes for a full charge and hits only 26 percent in 15 minutes. It's not even close.
The camera system is where the phone earns its place in the conversation. The main sensor is a 200-megapixel shooter with optical image stabilization and an f/1.65 aperture. In practice, this means clean, noise-free photos in daylight and low light alike. Zoom at 2X and 4X magnification remains sharp; only beyond that does quality noticeably degrade. The 8MP ultra-wide camera is clearly a step down but still capable of producing usable shots even when light is scarce. There's also a 2MP macro camera, which is largely pointless—at that resolution, macro photography becomes an exercise in frustration. Video recording tops out at 4K with decent stabilization, though the system struggles when you're moving quickly. The front camera produces selfies with good detail and natural color.
The software situation is more complicated. The phone ships with Android 13 and MIUI 14, which means it's already behind the times compared to phones running Android 14 and Xiaomi's newer HyperOS. More problematically, MIUI's aggressive background app management kills notifications for some messaging apps by default. Xiaomi claims this conserves battery, but the trade-off is that you might not see important messages on your lock screen until you open the app manually. This is the kind of decision that sounds good in a spreadsheet and feels terrible in real life. The phone will receive three years of major OS updates and four years of security patches, which is solid.
There's no wireless charging and no 3.5mm headphone jack, which feels like a small loss in a phone at this price point. The audio quality is the best in the series, with clear sound and sharp haptics. The box itself is refreshingly generous—you get a pre-applied screen protector, a silicone case, the 120W charger, and a USB-A to USB-C cable. Most flagship phones ship with almost nothing anymore.
At €500, the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G sits in a strange space where it outperforms phones that cost more and undercuts competitors like the Pixel 7, which hovers around €550. If you can tolerate MIUI's notification quirks, this phone deserves serious consideration as one of the best mid-range options available in 2024.
Citações Notáveis
MIUI continues killing apps in the background and this messes with push notifications. For many apps, this is not a problem, but if your preferred messaging app does not deliver messages to your lock screen, then we have a problem.— PhoneArena review
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does a phone at this price point need 512GB of storage? That seems excessive.
It's not excessive if you actually use it. At €500, you're competing with phones that give you 128GB and call it a day. The storage here is a statement—it says Xiaomi isn't cutting corners on the basics.
The charging speed sounds almost too good to be true. Is there a catch?
Not really a catch, but there's a trade-off. You get the 120W charger in the box, which is rare, but there's no wireless charging. If you're someone who likes to top up by setting the phone down, you're out of luck.
Tell me about the MIUI notification problem. How bad is it really?
It depends on which apps you use. Some messaging apps won't show notifications on your lock screen because MIUI kills them in the background. You'll still get the message eventually, but you might not know about it until you open the app. It's frustrating enough that Xiaomi should have fixed it by now.
The camera has 200 megapixels but also a useless 2MP macro lens. Why include it at all?
Marketing, probably. The macro camera sounds impressive on a spec sheet, but at 2MP it's practically decorative. The real camera work happens with the main sensor, which is genuinely excellent.
How does this phone compare to what most people actually need?
For most people, this is more phone than they need and less than they'd expect to get at this price. The design is beautiful, the main camera is impressive, and the charging is genuinely useful. The software quirks are the only real friction point.