Xiaomi 13 Vs Galaxy S22: Small Screen Flagship Comparison

The Xiaomi 13 series launched in China, but how does the base model in the lineup compare to the Galaxy S22? The Xiaomi 13 series consists of two smartphones: the vanilla Xiaomi 13 and the Xiaomi 13 Pro. Both models are powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC and sport a 120Hz AMOLED display. Of the two phones, however, the Xiaomi 13 has the smaller display, which pits the compact Galaxy S22 against each other.

The Xiaomi 13 comes with a 6.36-inch OLED display with a peak brightness of 1,900 nits, while the Galaxy S22 comes with a 6.1-inch AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 1,300 nits. While both phones support a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz, the Galaxy S22 has a higher pixel density and features Corning Gorilla Glass Victus Plus. As for the design, both phones have a similar front panel with a top center punch hole and symmetrical bezels on all sides. However, the Xiaomi 13 has a square camera island, while the S22 has a rectangular camera bump. Both smartphones have an IP68 rating for water resistance.

Xiaomi 13 has a faster processor

For color choices, Xiaomi’s latest flagship comes in four colors: Mountain Blue, Flora Green, Black and White. On the other hand, Samsung offers five color options – Phantom White, Phantom Black, Green, Pink Gold and Bora Purple. The Galaxy S22 draws its power from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 released in 2021. Its main Cortex-X2 performance core is clocked at 3 GHz. In addition, this processor has three Cortex-A710 cores clocked at 2.5 GHz and four Cortex-A510 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz. On Geekbench, the processor scores around 1,280 points on the single-core benchmark and 3,830 points on the multi-core benchmark.

In contrast, the Xiaomi 13 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, an octa-core chipset with a revised cluster structure. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has one Cortex-X3 core clocked at 3.2 GHz, two Cortex-A715 cores clocked at 2.8 GHz, two Cortex-A710 cores clocked at 2.8 GHz, and three Cortex-A510 cores. Preliminary scores from Geekbench show the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 scoring around 1,480 points in the single-core performance test and over 5,000 points in the multi-core performance test.

According to performance tests, the Xiaomi 13 is significantly faster than the Galaxy S22. However, that doesn’t mean Samsung phones are left behind. Both smartphones can easily handle multitasking and heavy gaming. Another factor that differentiates between smartphones is their user interface. While both phones come with Android 13, the Xiaomi 13 runs MIUI 14, while the Galaxy S22 recently received the One UI 5.0 update.

Camera, battery life and price

The Xiaomi 13 and Galaxy S22 have a similar camera setup. The former comes with a 50 MP (f/1.8) main sensor, a 10 MP (f/2.0) telephoto lens with up to 3.2x optical zoom, and a 12 MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide sensor. Xiaomi 13 can record videos in 8K resolution at 24 fps. In comparison, the Galaxy S22 has a 50MP main camera (f/1.8) which can also record 8K video at 24fps, a 10MP telephoto lens (f/2.4) for up to 3x optical zoom and a 12MP ultra (f/2.2) wide camera. On the front, the Xiaomi 13 has a 32MP (f/2.0) sensor, while the Galaxy S22 has a 10MP (f/2.2) sensor. Both phones can record HDR10+ videos with stereo surround sound.

When it comes to battery life, the Xiaomi 13 is the clear winner. The smartphone has a 4,500mAh battery that supports up to 67W wired charging and 50W fast wireless charging. The Galaxy S22 doesn’t come close, with a 3,700mAh battery capacity and support for 25W wired and 15W wireless charging. However, both smartphones are on par with connectivity and biometric options including USB Type-C, Wi-Fi 6, NFC, GPS, Bluetooth LE, and an in-display fingerprint scanner.

The base version of the Xiaomi 13 with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage is priced at ¥3,999 (~$575) in China. But Xiaomi is unlikely to release the phone in the US, giving the $799 Galaxy S22 with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage the upper hand. However, the Xiaomi 13 is also more powerful and less expensive, and is the best option on the market available, at least until the Galaxy S23 arrives.