Home > Smartphone comparison > 13 Ultra vs 12S Ultra – which one to choose?

Xiaomi 13 Ultra vs 12S Ultra

74 out of 100
Xiaomi 13 Ultra
VS
67 out of 100
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
Xiaomi 13 Ultra
Xiaomi 12S Ultra

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.73-inch Xiaomi 13 Ultra (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2) that was released on April 18, 2023, against the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 and came out 10 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 13 Ultra
  • Shows 12% longer battery life (23:30 vs 21:00 hours)
  • Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (90W versus 67W)
  • 10% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1796K versus 1627K)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Delivers 13% higher peak brightness (1216 against 1075 nits)
  • Faster storage type - UFS 4.0 versus UFS 3.1
  • 37% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 1995 and 1458 points
  • The phone is 10 months newer
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 12S Ultra
  • More recent OS version: Android 15 versus 14
  • Slow-motion recording at 3840FPS

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi 13 Ultra and 12S Ultra crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
12 / 256 GB
VS
8 / 256 GB
61.5
(Average)
Value Index
23.6
(Mediocre)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
13 Ultra
vs
12S Ultra

Display

Type AMOLED AMOLED
Size 6.73 inches 6.73 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3200 pixels 1440 x 3200 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
PPI 522 ppi 521 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1300 nits 1000 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 2600 nits 1500 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate 240 Hz 240 Hz
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Gorilla Glass Victus
Screen-to-body ratio 89.7% 89.4%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
Display tests
RGB color space 97.4% 99.7%
PWM 120 Hz 186 Hz
Response time 1 ms 2 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
13 Ultra +13%
1216 nits
12S Ultra
1075 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 163.18 mm (6.42 inches) 163.17 mm (6.42 inches)
Width 74.64 mm (2.94 inches) 74.92 mm (2.95 inches)
Thickness 9.06 mm (0.36 inches) 9.06 mm (0.36 inches)
Weight 227 g (8.01 oz) 225 g (7.94 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Eco-leather -
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Green Black, Green
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Screen-to-body ratio
13 Ultra
89.7%
12S Ultra
89.4%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Xiaomi 13 Ultra and Xiaomi 12S Ultra
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1
Max clock 3200 MHz 3190 MHz
CPU cores 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3		 - 4 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 3 cores at 2.75 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X2
L3 cache 8 MB 6 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 4 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Hexagon
GPU
Graphics Adreno 740 Adreno 730
GPU shading units 1536 1024
GPU clock 680 MHz 900 MHz
FLOPS ~2089 GFLOPS ~1843.2 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Xiaomi 13 Ultra and Xiaomi 12S Ultra
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
13 Ultra +37%
1995
12S Ultra
1458
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
13 Ultra +36%
5419
12S Ultra
3970
Single-core score 1995 1458
Multi-core score 5419 3970
Sources: Geekbench [3]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
13 Ultra +10%
1796720
12S Ultra
1627862
CPU 579418 557953
GPU 433654 426871
Memory 329244 254661
UX 454407 388377
Total score 1796720 1627862
Samples [12 tests] [3 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
13 Ultra +18%
1011
12S Ultra
856
Stability 96% 98%
Graphics test 7 FPS 6 FPS
Graphics score 1011 856
3DMark Solar Bay
13 Ultra
5228
12S Ultra
n/a
Stability 98% -
Graphics test 20 FPS -
Section 1 23 FPS -
Section 2 20 FPS -
Section 3 17 FPS -
Graphics score 5228 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
13 Ultra +27%
3488
12S Ultra
2746
Stability 91% 76%
Graphics test 20 FPS 16 FPS
Graphics score 3488 2746
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
13 Ultra
n/a
12S Ultra
13388
Web score - 12064
Video editing - 7359
Photo editing - 31040
Data manipulation - 9969
Writing score - 14944
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Xiaomi 13 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-07 (Brbrpotopim)AnTuTu 121997922
📘 2026-08-06 (berkayvaihimself)AnTuTu 111874805
📘 2026-07-23 (Zalupachos)AnTuTu 111766026
📘 2026-06-23 (Kotosti)AnTuTu 111782088
📘 2026-05-23 (Acolute)AnTuTu 111815019
Add View all (13)
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-05 (HAbib)AnTuTu 111685123
📘 2026-01-31 (Yasso Elgabry)AnTuTu 111627862
📘 2025-11-02 (RexOne12201)AnTuTu 111353661
Add View all (3)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5
Memory clock 3200 MHz 3200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.0 UFS 3.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 14) Android 12 (Can be upgraded to Android 15)
ROM HyperOS 1.0 HyperOS 3
OS size - 32 GB
OS updates 3 years 3 years
Security updates 5 years 4 years

Battery

Capacity 5000 mAh 4860 mAh
Max charge power 90 W 67 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Po
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (50 W) Yes (50 W)
Reverse charging Yes Yes, (wireless)
Fast charging Yes (58% in 15 min) Yes (73% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:40 hr 0:50 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 09:36 hr 08:46 hr
Watching video 13:10 hr 13:01 hr
Gaming 05:28 hr 05:25 hr
Standby 117 hr 96 hr
General battery life
13 Ultra +12%
23:30 hr
12S Ultra
21:00 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50.3 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 -
Zoom Optical, 5x Optical, 5x
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 24FPS Up to 24FPS
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
Slow motion 1920 FPS (1080p) 3840 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 122° 128°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50.3 MP
2) Telephoto: 50 MP
3) Telephoto: 50 MP
4) Ultrawide: 50 MP
5) Depth
1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 48 MP
3) Ultrawide: 48 MP
4) Depth: 0.3 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50.3 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.9 - 4.0 f/1.9
Focal length 23 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony IMX989 Sony IMX989
Sensor size 1/1" (≈ 1 inch) 1/1" (≈ 1 inch)
Pixel size 1.6 micron 1.6 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Laser autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/3.0 f/4.1
Focal length 120 mm 120 mm
Sensor Sony IMX858 Sony IMX586
Sensor size 1/2.51" (≈ 0.4 inch) 1/2.0" (≈ 0.5 inch)
Pixel size 0.64 micron 0.8 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 50 MP 48 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/2.2
Focal length 12 mm 13 mm
Sensor Sony IMX858 Sony IMX586
Sensor size 1/2.51" (≈ 0.4 inch) 1/2.0" (≈ 0.5 inch)
Pixel size 0.64 micron 0.8 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
13 Ultra +1%
138
12S Ultra
137
Video quality
13 Ultra +6%
137
12S Ultra
129
Generic main camera score
13 Ultra +3%
140
12S Ultra
136
Bokeh 65 65
Preview 72 63
Zoom 147 136
Samples Photo samples of Xiaomi 13 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Xiaomi 12S Ultra from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 32 megapixels 32 megapixels
Image resolution 6528 x 4896 6528 x 4896
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.5
Focal length 22 mm 26 mm
Sensor CMOS Omnivision OV32C
Sensor size 1/3.14" (≈ 0.32 inch) 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 0.7 micron
Autofocus Phase autofocus No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 1080p (Full HD) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
DxOMark front camera
13 Ultra +12%
128
12S Ultra
114
Photo 123 103
Video 137 132

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5.3 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes, DP 1.2 -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port Yes Yes
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 20
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
13 Ultra +8%
89.5 dB
12S Ultra
83.2 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced April 2023 July 2022
Release date April 2023 July 2022
Launch price (MSRP) $1499 $890
Successor - Xiaomi 17 Ultra -
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Yes, 90 W Yes, 67 W
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Xiaomi 13 Ultra is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
157 (78.5%)
43 (21.5%)
Total votes: 200

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