Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.Learn more.
Xiaomi 13 Ultra vs iPhone 14 Pro Max: Which top-end flagship is better?
In This Article
If you need a flagship phone with a capable set of cameras, the newXiaomi 13 Ultracould be the device for you. Here’s how it compares to Apple’s own top-end smartphone, theiPhone 14 Pro Max.
Keep reading to discover the most significant differences between the Xiaomi 13 Ultra and the iPhone 14 Pro Max, along with a few similarities.
The Xiaomi 13 Ultra has four 50-megapixel cameras
Both the Xiaomi 13 Ultra and the iPhone 14 Pro Max boast advanced camera systems.
In fact, the smalleriPhone 14 Procurrently tops our list of thebest camera phonesas the best for video, while Trusted Reviews editor Max Parker called the Xiaomi 13 Ultra “more camera than phone” and the camera hardware some of the finest he had seen on any phone to date.
On paper, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is definitely a strong contender here with its four 50-megapixel lenses – one wide, one ultra-wide, one telephoto and one periscope telephoto – with the main camera taking advantage of a huge 1-inch sensor. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra can also record 8K video at 24fps or 4K at 60fps.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max has a 48-megapixel main sensor, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 12-megapixel telephoto sensor. The phone can also be used to shoot 4K video at up to 60fps, with Cinematic Mode now supporting 4K and a new Action Mode that stabilises video when necessary at the expense of low-light performance.
Both phones have flagship chipsets
Both the Xiaomi 13 Ultra and the iPhone 14 Pro Max are powered by high-end chipsets. The Xiaomi 13 Ultra runs on Qualcomm’s flagshipSnapdragon 8 Gen 2, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max has Apple’s ownA16 Bionic SoC.
We found the performance of the iPhone 14 Pro Max to be excellent with its fantastic GPU performance making it ideal for mobile gaming.
We have yet to spend enough time with the Xiaomi 13 Ultra to measure its performance beyond our first impressions, but so far the 13 Ultra seems to be a very fast phone that is on par with theXiaomi 13 Pro.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max has an innovative notch
One of the standout features of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is theDynamic Island. The innovative new design takes the highly-derided notch from the phone’s predecessors and transforms it into an interactive feature that displays alerts, notifications and information from apps, such as album art from Apple Music.
While the Dynamic Island is infinitely better than the chunky notch on theiPhone 13 Pro Max, the idea is a little gimmicky in nature. That isn’t to say it isn’t functional however and we enjoyed having easy access to music controls, timer alerts and more in any app.
If you prefer a simpler design, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra sticks with a punch-hole camera on its own 6.73-inch display.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max has new safety features
Apple announced a couple of new safety features alongside the iPhone 14 Pro Max that aren’t present on the Xiaomi 13 Ultra.
This included an upgrade to Emergency SOS which allows the feature to work via satellite, meaning users in supported locations can now contact emergency services when cellular and Wi-Fi connections are unavailable.
The iPhone also includes a newCar Crash Detectionfeature, which is capable of detecting if you’ve been in a car crash and automatically contacting emergency services and notifying your emergency contacts.
You might like…
Hannah joined Trusted Reviews as a staff writer in 2019 after graduating with a degree in English from Royal Holloway, University of London. She’s also worked and studied in the US, holding positions …
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
