Google Pixel 7 Pro vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is the company’s latest and greatest smartphone offering. In this article, we’ll pitch it against the very best of Google. We’ll compare the Google Pixel 7 Pro vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra. The Pixel 7 Pro is not exactly brand new, it launched in October last year, but it’s still the best Google has to offer. Both of these smartphones are great in their own way, so it’ll be interesting to see how they compare.

They are quite a bit different, though. That not only goes for their design, but also their software. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra launched only in China thus far, even though it’s coming to global markets. The variant we checked out is made for the China market, though, so keep that in mind. We did sideload Google services without a problem. In any case, we’ll first list the specs of both phones, and will then compare them across a number of categories.

Specs

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Design

These two phones do look quite a bit different. Well, if you look at them from the front, they’re far more similar than they actually are. The Google Pixel 7 Pro is made out of metal and glass. It has the Gorilla Glass Victus on the back, and its frame is made out of aluminum. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is made out of metal, while there is a vegan leather backplate included on its back. There’s actually a lot to talk about here.

The back side of the Pixel 7 Pro is equally thick in all areas, save for the camera visor. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra’s is not. It’s thicker in the portion around the camera, as the backplate’s thickness gradually increases towards the upper portion. This is a design choice by Xiaomi, to avoid having an extremely thick camera oreo. The company did have to find a way to include four 50-megapixel cameras in there, including a 1-inch camera. Its vegan leather backplate also doesn’t curve into the frame, it cuts off before that point. It’s an interesting look, and the first such implementation we’ve seen.

Both phones have curved displays, thin bezels, and a centered display camera hole. The Pixel 7 Pro does have slightly sharper corners, and a camera visor on the back. That visor connects to the frame on both the left and right sides, and it’s covered by metal. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra includes a huge, circular camera island on the back, which is centered in the upper portion of the phone’s back.

The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is slightly taller and a bit narrower than the Pixel 7 Pro. It’s also slightly thicker, and a bit heavier too. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is considerably less slippery compared to the Pixel 7 Pro. Both smartphones do come with IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. Both feel really well-built, and like premium pieces of tech, as you’d expect. Neither phone is easy to use with one hand, not at all. They’re not only huge, but also quite bulky at the same time.

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Display

The Google Pixel 7 Pro features a 6.7-inch QHD+ (3120 x 1440) LTPO AMOLED display. This panel is curved, and it has a 120Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR10+ content, and gets up to 1,500 nits of brightness at its peak. We’re looking at a 19.5:9 aspect ratio here, while the Gorilla Glass Victus protects the display.

On the other hand, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra has a 6.73-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1440) LTPO AMOLED display. This panel is also curved, and it supports a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Dolby Vision is supported, as is HDR10+ content. This panel gets considerably brighter than the Pixel 7 Pro’s, at 2,600 nits of peak brightness. At the time of writing this article, this was technically the brightest display on the market. It has a 20:9 aspect ratio, and it’s protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus.

Both of these displays are great. They offer vivid colors with deep blacks, and really good viewing angles. The touch response is good too. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra does have the advantage from the brightness standpoint, though. This display is great for outdoor use, especially when the sun is shining. The difference is quite noticeable between the two, actually. If that’s not a concern for you, either display will serve you great.

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Performance

Google’s flagship handset is fueled by the Google Tensor G2 SoC. In addition to that, Google included 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM here, in addition to UFS 3.1 flash storage. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC from Qualcomm. That SoC is backed by up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra does come with a more powerful SoC, and newer/better RAM and storage units.

Is this the difference you’ll notice during usage? Well, yes and no. If you use them side by side, you will notice the added speed of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 during day-to-day usage, sure. The Pixel 7 Pro is plenty fast and fluid on its own, though, and that chip on the inside is quite capable. Sure, it is a bit slower than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but as long as you’re not using them side by side, you won’t really care, to be quite honest.

Things do change when gaming is concerned, though. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is far better in the gaming department, especially when it comes to truly demanding games. The Tensor G2 wasn’t really made for gaming, or the Pixel 7 Pro. So, if you’re planning to play demanding games on your phone, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is definitely the better choice. For the vast majority of games, however, the Pixel 7 Pro will serve you just fine too.

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Battery

There is a 5,000mAh battery pack inside each of these two smartphones. They do not offer the same battery life, though, not at all. The Pixel 7 Pro has been rather finicky when it comes to battery consumption for us. At times it was great, and then at times it was rather average over the months we’ve seen it. At the moment, it provides up to 7 hours of screen-on-time, most of the time.

We’re still in the process of testing the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, and for now, it does do better in the battery life department than the Pixel 7 Pro. It’s nowhere near the levels of the Galaxy S23 Ultra and OnePlus 11, though. I’m able to reach the 7.5-8-hour mark, though. Do note that gaming is not really included in that equation, and I do take a lot of pictures on a daily basis. Your mileage may vary, though, due to different usage of different apps, with different signal strengths.

When charging is concerned, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra obliterates the Pixel 7 Pro. It supports 90W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. The Pixel 7 Pro supports 23W wired, 23W wireless, and 5W reverse wireless charging. On top of all that, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra does come with a 90W charger in the box, while the Pixel 7 Pro doesn’t include a charger at all, only a charging cable.

Google Pixel 7 Pro vs Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Cameras

The Pixel 7 Pro has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (126-degree FoV), and a 48-megapixel telephoto camera (5x optical zoom). The Xiaomi 13 Ultra, on the flip side, comes with a 50.3-megapixel main camera (1-inch camera sensor, variable aperture), a 50-megapixel ultrawide unit (122-degree FoV), a 50-megapixel telephoto camera (3.2x optical zoom), and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto unit (5x optical zoom, 100x digital zoom).

When it comes to camera hardware, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra dwarfs the Pixel 7 Pro. In fact, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra could be the most powerful smartphone in the market, when it comes to camera hardware. The Pixel 7 Pro does provide outstanding results with its setup, due to Google’s excellent image processing. Now, these two phones do provide entirely different results, and are more or less aimed at different people.

The Pixel 7 Pro does all it can to process images the right way, and it’s arguably one of the best when it comes to that. The pictures end up looking great as a result, punchy, sharp, and everything in between. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra relies on its excellent hardware more, and thus images do look more natural, and the colors simply pop as well. The images do look sharper in low light, while being less processed at the same time. They also look more natural in low light. The Pixel 7 Pro low light photos do look outstanding, but they don’t really look like they were taken in low-light conditions sometimes. That may be the look you prefer, though. It’s all a matter of preference.

We did enjoy the Xiaomi 13 Ultra’s telephoto camera due to the excellent portrait mode it offers. While the ultrawide camera does an excellent job of keeping up with the main unit. Even the telephoto images in low light are nothing to scoff at. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra also has that periscope telephoto camera for crazy zoom ranges, unlike the Pixel 7 Pro. The video recording is better on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra, it’s more stable, and looks more natural at the same time.

Both of these smartphones are outstanding for taking pictures. It all depends on what you need from a phone in that regard. The results are considerably different. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra is definitely more professional-feeling, and more versatile at the same time. The Pixel 7 Pro is excellent for point-and-shoot usage, and thus may suit more people.

Audio

You will find a set of stereo speakers on both of these phones. On the Pixel 7 Pro, the main speaker sits at the bottom, while the secondary unit is located under the earpiece grille. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra speakers sit at the top and bottom of the phone. Xiaomi’s flagship offers richer sound, and these speakers are also louder. There’s also more bass included. The difference is not huge, though, as the Pixel 7 Pro is solid in that regard too.

Neither of the two devices has a 3.5mm headphone jack. You’ll need to use a dongle or Type-C headphones for wired connections. If you prefer wireless headphones, however, you’ll be glad to know that the Pixel 7 Pro and Xiaomi 13 Ultra offer Bluetooth 5.2 and Bluetooth 5.3, respectively.