Redmi 13C: Simply more of the same

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The Redmi 13C is out and it has quickly grabbed all the headlines. It is the latest budget phone from Xiaomi.

Before we talk about this device, there’s something you must know. For starters, the Redmi line is a budget line. It is vastly different from the Redmi Note and Xiaomi lines. I have seen people talk about a certain “Xiaomi 12” when they mean Redmi 12. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll think they’re referring to the Xiaomi 12 flagship instead of the Redmi 12.

See: Xiaomi Naming Schemes for Redmi and Poco explained

Usually, when you try to correct them, they dig their heels deeper into willful ignorance and their crew will join them to celebrate being ignorant.

So let’s go back to the Redmi 13c. This device is the successor to the moderately successful Redmi 12c and the impressive Redmi 10c. For a while, I saw a lot of leaks and rumors stating that the Redmi 13c was going to be a huge leap over the 12c. To be honest, I believed all of them. The most notable leak stated that the Redmi 13c would be sporting a MediaTek Helio G99 upper midrange SoC.

Now that the device is finally here, what I can report is that the Redmi 13c is a rebadged Redmi 12c with slight improvements.

Redmi 13c

Key Specifications of the Redmi 13C

  • SoC: MediaTek Helio G85
  • Display: 6.74″ 720p IPS-LCD with 500 nits, 260 ppi and 90Hz.
  • Cameras: 50MP (main) + 2MP (macro) + 0.08MP and an 8MP selfie.
  • Battery: 5000mAh + 18W fast charging
  • Port: USB-C
  • Prices: Starts from ₦98,100 (4/128GB), ₦108,000 (6/128GB), ₦121,00 (8/256GB)

Body

The phone is made of plastic. It’s got a plastic frame and a plastic back. The device is flat and weighs 192g. It does not have any protection against water so be warned.

Performance

For performance, the Redmi 13c uses the same MediaTek Helio G85 as its predecessor. Unlike another rebadged device (Redmi Note 12) that got an overclocked Snapdragon 680, there’s nothing of such here. What you see is what you get.

Now please, I’m not hating on the Helio G85. It’s a very capable SoC that can handle most games around mid to low settings. It can also take on the PlayStation (DuckStation) and PlayStation 2 (AetherSX2) emulators as well. My point is, compared to the Redmi 12C, there’s no upgrade to the performance.

Software

One could argue that there’s going to be an improvement in the software as the Redmi 13c runs MIUI 14 based on Android 13. Something that the Redmi 12c looks very unlikely to get.

Cameras and Video

So moving on to the cameras, there seem to be some minor improvements. They’ve added a 2MP macro camera and bumped up the selfie to 8MP. Hopefully, they’ll tune the camera software to output better shots. But with Xiaomi being Xiaomi these days…you’ll never know. The video resolution as expected remains at 1080p at 30fps for both the front and rear cameras.

Displays

The Redmi 13c uses a 6.74″ LCD which is bigger than the 6.71″ LCD on the older Redmi 12c. It keeps the same 720p resolution and around the same level of brightness.

When you check the advertised brightness, the Redmi 13c is slightly dimmer at 450 nits compared to the 500 nits on the 12c. It only makes it up by having a higher sunlight brightness (600 nits) and a higher refresh rate (90Hz).

I’m not sold on these higher 90Hz refresh rates on budget phones. I mean how can 60Hz on a Redmi Note 9 Pro be smoother than the 90Hz on a low-end phone?

Battery and charging

This is the only upgrade, in my opinion. The inclusion of an 18W fast charge for the 13c as well as a USB-C port is long overdue at this level. However, Xiaomi only included a 10W charger. Just like they did with the Redmi Note 7. Customers will have to spend extra for an 18W fast charger to enjoy this feature.

In Conclusion

When we do a Redmi 13C vs Redmi 12C comparison, what we’ll get is…

  • Performance = The same
  • Display = The same
  • Cameras = Added Macro and bumped up the selfie
  • Battery = Same but added fast charge and USB-C

If you have a Redmi 10, Redmi 12, Redmi 10c and Redmi 12c. Please do not upgrade. It’s the same. The people who should update are those using Redmi Note 8, Redmi 8, and below. If you’ve got a Redmi Note 8 Pro, you should not be downgrading to this device. Your device is miles better than this budget phone.

Unpopular opinion but hear me out. Instead of remaking the different versions of the same phone template, companies should make one solid budget phone and support it exclusively for 2 years. This is better than having 2 or 3 versions of the same phone that won’t be properly supported?

I mean the Redmi 10c is a better phone than both the Redmi 12c and its successor, the Redmi 13c. If not for the superior displays and charging, I would argue that it’s also better than both the Redmi 10 and 12. This device is still very much sought after by many people today. Xiaomi should have supported it instead of releasing inferior products after it.

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