Xiaomi 13 Ultra Audio test

We subjected the Xiaomi 13 Ultra to our rigorous SBMARK audio test suite to measure its performance both when recording sound using its built-in microphones, and when playing audio through its speakers.
In this review, we’ll analyze how it performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases.

Overview

Key audio specs include:

• Two speakers (top side, bottom side)
• No audio jack output
• Dolby Atmos technology

Reproduction

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In our SBMARK audio tests, the Xiaomi 13 Ultra performed well overall, consistent across all playback and recording secondary tests. On playback, it worked best when gaming, but the results were of an equally high standard when listening to music or watching movies. Recording results were best with the main camera and great with the memo app. The narrow width of the audio scene and fuzzy localizability meant that the audio performance of the front camera lagged slightly.

The sonority was very good and the dynamics were punchy and precise, both with the integrated speakers in playback and recording. However, our experts found the device to be unsuitable for recording at high sound pressure levels, such as concerts, and the audio zoom function was not very effective at focusing on a particular sound source.

Trial summary

Learn about SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our playback protocol, click here; for more details on our recording protocol, click here.)
The following section compiles the key elements of our extensive testing and analysis performed in the SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.

The Xiaomi 13’s tonal performance under playback was good overall, although our testers found the tonal balance slightly tinny at times. Treble delivery was nice and natural, but the midrange lacked warmth and body, and the device lacked bass overall. Dynamic performance was excellent, with great attack, precise bass and good punch. Our experts also found the spatial performance to be good, with an excellent balance between the two speakers, a decent width of the audio scene and an accurate rendering of the distance. However, the localizability of individual sound elements was a bit fuzzy and the stereo output didn’t follow the rotation of the device with the default movie app.

Volume was good at maximum volume, and our experts found the lowest volume level was loud enough to hear quiet volume passages in highly dynamic content, such as classical music. The distribution of volume steps was also quite consistent. Also, unwanted audio artifacts were pretty well under control at low and nominal volume. However, our testers did notice some distortion at maximum volume, especially at higher frequencies. When playing games, we found the speakers to become clogged quite easily. This resulted in a muffled sound or even complete muting.

Hear about the playback performance of the smartphone tested in this comparison with some of its competitors:

Here’s how the Xiaomi 13 Ultra fares in playback use cases compared to its competitors:

Here are some sound pressure levels (SPL) measured while playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:

The following graph shows the gradual changes in volume from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume steps match user expectations:

On the recording, the timbre was good overall, with consistent tonal balance between use cases but a slight lack of clarity. However, when recording at high sound pressure levels, such as at rock or pop concerts, the tonal balance was focused on the upper midrange. Depending on the content, the treble could sound dull and there was a serious lack of low-end extension across all types of content. Dynamic recording performance was good overall, with a precise envelope and correct signal-to-noise ratio, although background sounds could have been attenuated a bit more.

The breadth of the recorded audio scene and the localizability of individual sound sources were great with the main camera and memo app, but more limited when recording with the selfie camera in portrait orientation. Distance rendering was good, with accurate perception of voices in the audio scene. The recordings sounded quite loud and were generally artifact-free. However, at high sound pressure levels, our testers noted heavy compression. The background was clean in all use cases, with a natural tonal balance.

Here’s how the Xiaomi 13 Ultra fares in recording use cases compared to its competitors:

Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); for reference, we expect volume levels to be above -24 LUFS for recorded content:

In this audio comparison, you can hear how this smartphone handles wind noise compared to its competitors:

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