In this article, we’re comparing two relatively compact smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Xiaomi 13. Truth be said, both of them have a display size of over 6 inches, and are not exactly small. Considering how large phones are these days, both of these are considered to be compact. The Galaxy S23 more so than the Xiaomi 13, that’s for sure. Comparing them also makes sense as they’re the most compact flagship-grade phones from the two companies.

That being said, we’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to compare them across a number of categories. We’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. Both of them are outstanding phones, but there are quite a few differences worth noting, so… let’s get down to it.

Specs

Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Xiaomi 13: Design

Both phones are made out of metal and glass. The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is on the back of the Galaxy S23, and the Gorilla Glass 5 is on the back of the Xiaomi 13. There is also a variant of the Xiaomi 13 with a silicon polymer back. From the front, the two phones look very similar. They both have flat displays, extremely thin bezels all around, and a centered display camera hole. On top of that, their corners are rounded, and the same goes for display corners. Even their buttons are on the same side.

When we flip them over, however, you’ll notice the differences. The Galaxy S23 has three vertically-aligned cameras, each of which protrudes directly from the backplate. The Xiaomi 13 includes a camera island in the top-left corner. So that’s one unit that protrudes from the back. The backplates on both phones are fairly flat, they do curve into the frame towards the very edges.

The Xiaomi 13 has flat sides all around, while that’s not the case with the Galaxy S23. They do feel considerably different in the hand. The Xiaomi 13 is considerably heftier, and it feels different to hold due to those flat sides, and the fact it’s a bit bigger. It is not only taller, but wider and thicker too. Both devices are IP68 certified for water and dust resistance, and both do feel premium in the hand. They’re both slippery, but are also great for one-handed use. The Galaxy S23 is easier to use with one hand, though.

Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Xiaomi 13: Display

Samsung’s handset includes a 6.1-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. That display has a 120Hz refresh rate, and supports HDR10+ content. The display gets up to 1,750 nits of brightness at its peak, though only under automatic brightness, of course. This panel has a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and it’s protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The Galaxy S23 includes a flat display.

The Xiaomi 13, on the flip side, features a 6.36-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) AMOLED display. This display has a 120Hz refresh rate too, and it’s also flat. It does support HDR10+ content, and has Dolby Vision support too. The Xiaomi 13’s panel gets up to 1,900 nits of peak brightness under the automatic brightness setting. The display aspect ratio is 20:9, and this panel is protected by the Gorilla Glass 5.

Both of these displays are really great. They may not be the sharpest displays out there, but QHD+ displays are overrated. Almost nobody can tell the difference if a good fullHD+ panel is in use, especially when displays are of this size. These are great displays, with great viewing angles, and they’re quite vivid. The blacks are deep, and the touch response is good on both. The Xiaomi 13’s panel does get a bit brighter, but both are more than bright enough to be used in direct sunlight.

Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Xiaomi 13: Performance

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 fuels both of these phones. Well, the Galaxy S23 does come with a special version of that chip which has the ‘for Galaxy’ addition at the end. It basically means it has a slightly overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Both companies use LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage, on almost all models. Variants with 128GB of storage, in both cases, do use UFS 3.1 flash storage, so keep that in mind. The Galaxy S23 comes with 8GB of RAM, while the Xiaomi 13 offers up to 12GB of RAM (market-dependent).

The performance is outstanding on both phones. They do come with different skins on top of Android 13, but both phones deliver in the performance department. It doesn’t really matter if you’re a light or a heavy user, you’ll get smooth performance regardless. They can open and close apps really fast, are great for browsing the web, consuming multimedia, and whatever else you can think of.

Well, even if you’re a gamer, you shouldn’t be worried about the performance. Both devices can handle basically every game available on the Play Store, with relative ease. Even when it comes to immensely demanding games, such as Genshin Impact, these two phones shine. So if you’d like to fire up some games, that’s not a problem. Do note that the Xiaomi 13 does get a bit warmer than the Galaxy S23, but not by much. The performance on neither gets impacted by that, however.

Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Xiaomi 13: Battery

The Galaxy S23 features a 3,900mAh battery on the inside. The Xiaomi 13, on the other hand, comes with a 4,500mAh battery. The Galaxy S23 once again doesn’t have a specifically large battery, not even for its display size, but at least it’s an improvement compared to its predecessor. The Xiaomi 13 battery size seems fitting for its specs, to be quite honest. What does that mean in terms of performance, though?

Well, neither phone offers outstanding battery life, but they’ll be good enough for most people. We’ve managed to get around 5.5-6 hours of screen-on-time with the Galaxy S23, and the Xiaomi 13 is in the same ballpark. Considering that the Galaxy S23 Ultra and OnePlus 11 can cross the 10-hour mark with relative ease with similar usage, that’s not exactly brilliant. Still, it’s should be enough for most people. Your mileage may vary, though, due to different usage, and various other factors. Also, do note that if you’re gaming, you’ll drain the battery more quickly, of course.

Now, as far as charging is concerned, both offer wired and wireless charging. The Xiaomi 13 simply wins in comparison, though. The Galaxy S23 supports 25W wired, 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. The Xiaomi 13 offers 67W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. It’s faster in every aspect, and it also comes with a charger in the box, unlike the Galaxy S23.

Samsung Galaxy S23 vs Xiaomi 13: Cameras

The Samsung Galaxy S23 features a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom). The Xiaomi 13, on the other hand, has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (120-degree FoV), and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera (3.2x optical). Xiaomi’s handset also includes Leica lenses. It does not, however, have a 1-inch camera sensor like its ‘Pro’ sibling.

The results these two phones are capable of producing are great. Pretty much every major flagship handset has really good cameras these days, so this is not surprising. They produce balanced shots during the day, which end up looking sharp, and colorful. There are Leica Vibrant and Leica Authentic modes on the Xiaomi 13, depending on how pronounced the colors you want to be. Both handle white balance really well, which is a nice change from the Xiaomi 12, which had issues with that. Difficult HDR shots are also handled really well in general by both phones.

Nighttime shots look slightly moodier on the Xiaomi 13, but both do a good job. They have a good handle on the noise, and tend to pull out more than enough details from the shadows. The ultrawide camera is good enough on both phones, and even does a solid job in low light. The telephoto units try to keep up, but are not as good as the main camera on either phone. The Galaxy S23 does do a better job with portrait shots, though. It also has a more capable front-facing camera.

Both of these phones are really good when it comes to photography. They’re not as good as their larger siblings, but are not that far behind either. Chances are you’ll be happy with either one, unless you’re really specific about your smartphone cameras.

Audio

You will find stereo speakers on both of these phones. The ones on the Galaxy S23 do offer better output, though. They sound a bit clearer, and offer a bit more bass. Both sets of speakers are loud enough, though.

There is no audio jack on either phone. You will need to use their Type-C ports if you’d like to connect your headphones via a wire. If you choose a wireless connection, do note that both devices are equipped with Bluetooth 5.3.