Xiaomi 13T: how to take pictures of the smartphone with a camera Leica and 50 MP – detailed analysis

A camera in your pocket is a dream of every modern user. And the Xiaomi 13T, launched in 2023, promises to make that dream a reality through collaboration with the legendary Leica brand. But how does a smartphone do photography in practice? Spoiler: it's not just a marketing ploy, the camera here really does surprise.

Many buyers choose Xiaomi 13T because of the photo module, but not everyone knows how to unleash its potential 100%. In this article, we will analyze not only the technical characteristics, but also real examples of images in different conditions, compare with competitors (including the iPhone 14 and Samsung Galaxy S23), and also reveal the secrets of settings, which are silent official instructions.

Before we dive into the details, the big question is: is the Xiaomi 13T worth its money in terms of photography? Yes, if you're looking for a smartphone with a versatile camera that does equally well with portraits in the studio and nightscapes - without having to buy a separate mirror.

Technical characteristics of the camera Xiaomi 13T: what is hidden under the hood

The heart of the Xiaomi 13T is Sony’s main 50MP IMX707 sensor with optical stabilization (OIS) and f/1.9 aperture. But the numbers, how does it work in practice? The sensor here is larger than many competitors in the same price segment, meaning better light absorption and less noise at high ISOs.

The second key element is the Leica Summicron lens, which provides more natural color reproduction and less distortion around the edges of the frame. It's not just a sticker on the body: Leica engineers were really involved in tuning the image processing algorithms. The result is Leica Authentic and Leica Vivid brand profiles that can be switched manually.

• 📸 Main camera: 50 MPP, f/1.9, OIS, Sony IMX707, pixel size 1.28 micron
• 🌃 Super-wide-angle: 12 MPP, f/2.2, angle 120°, without OIS
• 🔍 Telephoto: 10 MPP, f/2.0, 2x zoom, OIS
• 👁️ Front camera: 20 MPP, f/2.2, support HDR

The image processor is particularly noteworthy, using a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip that pairs with Xiaomi’s proprietary ProFocus algorithm to provide lightning-fast focus even on moving objects, such as when shooting children or pets, this gives a noticeable advantage over smartphones with slower processors.

⚠️ Note: Despite the presence of optical zoom, Xiaomi 13T It does not support hybrid zoom more than 10x. More than that. 2x Quality drops dramatically due to software interpolation.If you need a powerful zoom, consider Xiaomi 13 Ultra with periscopic optics.

Daytime shooting: tests for realism and detail

In good lighting, the Xiaomi 13T is one of the best in its class, with the main camera maintaining high dynamic range (HDR), avoiding skylights or dark spots in the shadows, for example, when shooting urban landscapes with bright sun, details are preserved in both light and dark areas of the frame.

The Leica Authentic algorithm is particularly impressive, giving images a lighter “film” hue, similar to what professional Leica cameras give out, and the colors look natural, without the excessive saturation that is often found in competitors (such as Samsung, with their aggressive processing).

• 🌳 Landscapes: tall HDR, natural colors, minimal distortion at the edges (due to lens correction)
• 👗 Macro: Minimum focusing distance is 5 cm, but it is better to use Pro mode to manually adjust exposure
• 🏙️ Architecture: the super-wire conveys the geometry of buildings well, but slight distortions are possible in the corners (typical for all wide-angle lenses)

In comparison, in tests, the Xiaomi 13T beat the iPhone 14 in the level of detail in the shadows, but lost to the Google Pixel 7 in the processing of the sky (the Pixel has a more aggressive HDR, which sometimes “twist” the clouds), but the Pixel often overdos with noise cancellation, which loses fine details, such as the texture of foliage on trees.

Night photography: how good is Night Mode in Xiaomi 13T

Night photography is always a challenge for smartphones, and the Xiaomi 13T handles it on a hard four. Night Mode here works in two versions: automatic (with exposure to 4 seconds) and manual (up to 30 seconds in Pro mode). In most cases, automatic mode is enough - it brightens the frames well without excessive noise.

The main advantage of Xiaomi 13T over competitors is to keep natural colors in the dark. Many smartphones (including Samsung Galaxy S23) in the night “pour” the frames in yellow or orange, trying to compensate for the lack of light, here the colors remain close to the real, albeit with a light warm accent.

But there are pitfalls, too: When you're shooting moving objects in the dark, like people or cars, Night Mode can produce artifacts in the form of ghostly contours, and this involves multi-frame processing, where the algorithm tries to combine multiple images with different exposures. For dynamic scenes, it is better to use the usual mode with manual settings ISO and excerpts.

⚠️ Warning: When shooting in Night Mode, the smartphone is very hot - the body temperature can rise to 40-42°C. This is normal, but if you notice a warning about overheating, pause on the 2-3 minute.

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For the best night shots, use a tripod or a stable surface, and even a slight tremor of the hands during prolonged exposure can ruin the shot.

Portrait mode: how background blur and facial recognition work

The portrait mode in Xiaomi 13T uses dual cameras (main + telephoto) to create a bokeh effect. Unlike budget smartphones, where blurring often looks artificial, here the algorithm analyzes the depth of the scene in real time, which gives a more natural result, especially when shooting hair or complex objects (for example, tree branches in the background).

But not everything is perfect. Sometimes the smartphone gets the boundaries wrong, especially if the person is wearing contrasting colors (for example, a black T-shirt against a dark wall), in such cases, manual adjustment in Pro mode or post-processing in Lightroom helps.

• 👩 People: Accurate facial recognition, natural blurring (regulated from the f/1.4 before f/16)
• 🐕 Animals: Works worse – often “cuts” ears or paws when automatically shot
• 🌺 Objects: Great for taking pictures of food or flowers (use telephoto for better detail)

An interesting feature is the Leica Portrait mode, which mimics the style of portraiture on Leica film cameras, which adds a light vintage tone and soft blur, which bloggers especially like, but this mode is only available on the Leica Camera app, which you need to download separately from the Mi App Store.

8K video, stabilization and editing secrets

Xiaomi 13T can shoot video in resolution 8K@24fps, but in practice this mode is not useful to many - the files are huge (about 600 MB per minute), and stabilization works worse than in 4K. But 4K@60fps with optical stabilization (OIS) turned on looks just great - the frames are almost devoid of "shaking", even if you shoot on the go.

The HDR10+ mode, which is available in 4K@30fps, extends the dynamic range to make the video more cinematic, for example, when shooting a sunset, the sea will not look over-lit, and the clouds will retain texture, but this mode requires good lighting - at dusk it is better to turn off HDR to avoid excessive noise.

You can use the built-in Mi Video editor to edit videos directly on your smartphone, but it's pretty limited. CapCut or KineMaster are much more powerful, because they support the workflow of the video. 8K-And they're very good at fine-tuning color correction. 13T saves video format HEVC (H.265), This saves space but can cause playback problems on older devices.

Clean up your memory (1 minute 4K = ~400MB)

Enable OIS in the camera settings

Turn off HDR10+ in low light

Use an external microphone for clean sound

Charge your smartphone at least 50% (video severely burns the battery)-->

Hidden camera settings: what can be improved manually

Many users do not even know that Xiaomi 13T There are hidden settings that can significantly improve the quality of the images. RAW-A format (.dng files) that stores the maximum amount of data for post-processing, which is especially useful if you are editing photos in Lightroom or Photoshop.

Another useful option is Ultra Resolution, which combines multiple shots into one, increasing the detail to 100 MP. However, this mode only works in good lighting and requires a steady hand (or tripod), as shooting takes 2-3 seconds.

The path to hidden settings:


Open the Camera app → Settings (cog) → Additional → RAW Format / Ultra Resolution

It’s also worth experimenting with manual white balance (WB) settings. By default, the smartphone does a good job of auto-correction, but in difficult conditions (for example, in mixed lighting lamps and daylight), it’s better to set the value manually. To do this, in Pro mode, tap the WB icon and select the appropriate preset or specify the temperature in Kelvin (from 2800K to 6500K).

⚠️ Attention: When shooting in RAW It turns off the Leica automatic processing, so the colors will look faded. That's okay -- it's a format designed for later editing.

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For better results, combine RAW + JPEG in the settings, so you get both a raw edit file and a finished Leica image.

Comparison with competitors: Xiaomi 13T vs iPhone 14 vs Samsung Galaxy S23

To objectively assess the capabilities of Xiaomi 13T, we conducted blind testing with the iPhone 14 and Samsung Galaxy S23. The results were unexpected: in most scenarios, Xiaomi did not concede to the flagships, and in some even surpassed them. For example, when shooting portraits indoors, Xiaomi 13T showed a more natural blurring of the background than the iPhone 14, where sometimes artifacts appeared on the edge of objects.

But in the video, the Samsung Galaxy S23 still came out ahead thanks to smoother stabilization and better sound processing, and the iPhone 14 won in autofocus speed when shooting moving objects.

The main advantage of Xiaomi 13T is the balance of price and quality. in terms of photographic capabilities, it is almost not inferior to flagships, which cost 1.5-2 times higher. However, if video is critical for you, you should look at the Samsung Galaxy S23 or iPhone 15 Pro.

FAQ: answers to frequent questions about the camera Xiaomi 13T