Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is one of the hottest new phones on the market. In this article, we’ll compare it with the best Apple has to offer. We’ll compare the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra. These two smartphones are both great, but in entirely different ways, as they’re quite different. That not only applies to their designs, but everything in between, pretty much. So, there’s a lot to talk about here.

We’ll kick things off by listing their specifications, and will then move to a number of other categories. You’ll get to see their designs compared, and the same goes for their displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. Having said that, let’s get this party on the road, shall we?

Specs

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Design

These two devices do look considerably different no matter what side you’re looking at them. They also feel entirely different in the hand. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is made out of metal and glass. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra, on the other hand, is made out of metal, with a layer of vegan leather on the back. That vegan leather does not cover the entirety of the backplate, even though it does cover most of it. It does not curve into the frame on the sides, though, that frame extends to the back, to a degree. It’s kind of difficult to explain. The upper portion of the phone’s back side is also higher than the bottom one. The backplate gradually increases in thickness to make the camera bump less pronounced.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is slightly taller than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, while it’s noticeably narrower. It’s also thicker than iPhone’s offering. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is 13 grams heavier, though both of these phones are quite hefty in the hand. They do have flat sides too. The flat surface on the iPhone 14 Pro Max definitely does take more space than on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, as far as their sides are concerned. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is a lot less slippery in comparison, and it also cuts into your hand less when you hold it. That’s a combination of the design and the fact it’s lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Apple’s handset has a pill-shaped cutout on the front, and uniform bezels. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra has extremely thin bezels, and a display camera hole. The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a flat display, while Xiaomi’s flagship offers a curved one. When we flip the two phones around, even more differences are noticeable. Apple’s handset has three cameras on the back, organized in a camera island placed in the top-left corner. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra has a huge camera bump on the back, with four cameras included inside it. That camera bump is centered in the upper portion of the phone’s backplate. Both phones do feel premium in the hand, and both are IP68 certified for water and dust resistance.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Display

The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch 2796 x 1290 LTPO Super Retina XDR OLED display. This panel has a 120Hz refresh rate, which is adaptive. It supports HDR10 content, and it also comes with Dolby Vision support. We’re looking at a 19.5:9 aspect ratio here, while this display goes up to 2,000 nits of brightness at its peak. This panel is protected by the Ceramic Shield glass, and it’s flat.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra, on the flip side, includes a 6.73-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1440) LTPO AMOLED display. This panel is curved, and it can project up to 1 billion colors. It supports HDR10+ content, and also comes with Dolby Vision support. It has a 20:9 display aspect ratio, and it can get immensely bright at 2,600 nits of peak brightness. This panel is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus.

Let me just say that both of these displays are fantastic, to say the least. These are some of the best panels on the market. They’re bright, vivid, sharp, and offer great viewing angles. The blacks are deep, and the touch response is really good. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra’s panel does look a bit better on paper, but that’s, for the most part, not the difference you’ll notice. Both panels do get extremely bright outdoors, and both will be more than sufficient to use in bright daylight, even under direct sunlight. These panels are outstanding.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Performance

Apple’s flagship is fueled by the Apple A16 Bionic SoC, while the phone comes with 6GB of RAM and NVMe storage. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra, on the other hand, is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. It includes up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. These two processors are basically the best two mobile SoCs on the market at the moment. When it comes to RAM and storage, Xiaomi’s handset is more powerful.

What is the performance like, though? Well, outstanding, in both cases. These two phones do come with significantly different software builds, and software experiences, but the general performance, in terms of fluidity, it’s great. Both phones are buttery smooth regardless of how you’re using them. That goes for regular everyday tasks, and even gaming. Even the most demanding games on their respective app stores cannot slow down these two phones, they’re that great in terms of performance. So, that’s not something you have to worry about.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Battery

The iPhone 14 Pro Max packs in a 4,323mAh battery. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra, on the other hand, has a 5,000mAh battery on the inside. Do note that iPhones need less battery capacity to deliver similar battery life due to different software. In any case, both of these smartphones do offer great battery life. They’ll last until the end of the day for the vast majority of you. Gaming and similar tasks can, of course, affect battery life more.

Reaching the 8-hour screen-on-time mark on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is not a problem at all. I was able to get there most days, or would have been able to if I used the phone as much. I was even left with some battery life in the tank at that point. The iPhone 14 Pro Max did not do as great at launch, but things improved with updates. It can now also go over that point, and offers every better results at times. They’re mostly on the same playing field in terms of battery life, though.

Charging is another story entirely. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra completely destroys the iPhone 14 Pro Max in that regard. Xiaomi’s flagship not only supports 90W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging, but it also packs in a 90W charger in the box. The iPhone 14 Pro Max supports 20W wired, 15W MagSafe wireless, and 7.5W Qi wireless charging, and it does not offer a charger in the box.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Cameras

The iPhone 14 Pro Max has three cameras on the back. A 48-megapixel main camera is backed by a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), and a 12-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom). The Xiaomi 13 Ultra carries four 50-megapixel cameras on the back. It has a 50-megapixel main camera (1-inch sensor), a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera (122-degree FoV), a 50-megapixel telephoto unit (3.2x optical zoom), and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom). Xiaomi’s flagship also comes with Leica lenses, and some software too.

These two devices produce rather different pictures. During the day, they’re both outstanding. The images from the iPhone tend to have a slightly warmer tone, but both results are very sharp, and detailed. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra does handle HDR situations a bit better, but only at times when the iPhone 14 Pro Max decides to mess up the white balance. That’s still an issue from time to time.

In low light, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra takes the cake. That is especially noticeable when you zoom into shots and see how much more detail that phone provides. I’m talking about the main camera, of course. Its sensor allows for way more light to enter the scene, and the software does a good job of balancing that, almost every time. The ultrawide camera performance is also better in low light, and the same goes for the telephoto camera. You’ll see more details across the board.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max still does an amazing job, though, and many people may actually prefer those results. When it comes to video recording, we’d give a slight advantage to Apple, even though the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is almost on par in that regard. It does a better job in low light, that’s for sure, which is especially noticeable when you’re panning around.

Audio

There is a set of stereo speakers on each of these two devices. Those speakers do a good job in both cases, but the Xiaomi 13 Ultra has the edge. The sound sounds a bit more detailed, and there’s also more bass here. These speakers also do get a bit louder.

What you will not find on either phone is an audio jack. You’ll have to use the Lightning port on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and a Type-C port on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra if you’d like to achieve a wired audio connection. If you’d rather go wireless, Bluetooth 5.3 is available on both phones.