Design
Overall, the iPhone 13 Pro has this pretty similar look to its predecessor, the iPhone 12 Pro . So yeah, the iPhone 13 Pro sort of gives off a luxurious beauty, thanks to the stainless steel frame, and also there is the matte glass on the back too.
Based on the specs Apple published, the iPhone 13 Pro is 19 grams heavier and 0.25 mm thicker than the iPhone 12 Pro, but honestly that gap feels so tiny, like almost negligible. The two most noticeable differences are basically the bigger, and slightly more bulky camera clusters on the back, and then the notch up front, on the screen, that’s a bit smaller.
In terms of grip, I like the 6.1-inch size of the iPhone 13 Pro. My hands are average for Asian men, but I can also reach almost all the commonly used areas on this iPhone 13 Pro screen.
Meanwhile, I feel two corners are “difficult” to reach, which are two right angles on the opposite side of the handle; these are rarely used corners and are easily manipulated even when needed.
Screen
ProMotion – a feature worth the ‘great money’
Based on assessments from a bunch of rating orgs and tech sites, including DisplayMate, the screens of the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are among the “top” in the smartphone world right now, kind of, yeah.
The iPhone 13 Pro ships with an OLED panel, with a resolution of 2532 x 1170 and a pixel density of 460 pixels per inch. That’s pretty much the same as the iPhone 12 Pro, no big surprise. Still, it’s the ProMotion feature that really creates a massive difference for the iPhone 13 Pro vs its predecessor, in practice, not just on paper. Basically, it will automatically tune the scanning frequency from 10Hz up to 120Hz, adjusting to what’s on the screen and also the pace of your finger on the glass.
This feature is not new to Android devices, even some mid-range Android devices are now equipped with high refresh rate screens, but bringing ProMotion to iPhone 13 Pro / Pro Max is still a challenge a welcome upgrade from Apple.
After nearly two weeks of experiencing the iPhone 13 Pro, I still assert that this is a feature addictive. Indeed, in my spare time, or every morning when I wake up, just swiping back and forth on the list of apps or installed apps to enjoy the “smoothness” of ProMotion alone makes me feel happy all day.
Extremely high screen brightness
Besides ProMotion, the iPhone 13 Pro screen is also extremely bright – up to 1,024 nits. With such a “terrible” brightness, I can still clearly see the iPhone 13 Pro screen right under the harsh sunlight of the sun at noon.
Going back to the Apple Event: California Streaming event in mid-September 2021, Apple revealed that the notch area “will be significantly reduced.” It is also smaller, but after more than a week of experience, I still have not seen any benefit from ‘increasing the display area’ in this notched area. If it’s “aspiration,” I hope that Apple can ‘do something to be able to take advantage of this extra area, display battery percentage, for example.
Performance
Benchmark AnTuTu
I have performed AnTuTu scoring on this iPhone 13 Pro, and the score received is 608,243.
Real experience – common tasks
With most common tasks, like scrolling on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or taking photos recording videos, the iPhone 13 Pro works smoothly and well, there is just nothing to complain about. As for the video recording part, I’ll mention more details later, in the camera section.
Real experience – gaming
I’ve tried the two games that I most often play for nearly two weeks, League of Legends – Wild Rift and PUBG: Mobile at “max settings”). With PUBG Mobile, the device heating up begins in the second or third match (after about 40-45 minutes). Still, I have never encountered it to the point of having an FPS drop or screen brightness reduction.
As for the game League of Legends – Wild Rift does not heat much and only has a slight lag when entering the team fight to “discharge skills” in weak Wi-Fi conditions, and I activate Dual connection (concurrent mode use 4G and Wi-Fi).
The sad thing is that mainstream games have not released an update to support high refresh rate screens. To experience the smoothness of the ProMotion feature, you must go to Apple Arcade (given three months of use from the date of activation of the iPhone 13 series) and find a game that supports, Asphalt 8+ like the term.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro (512GB, Silver) [Locked] + Carrier Subscription: Buy it now
Camera
The iPhone 13 Pro has three rear cameras, each one is rated at 12MP . i mean, they all use Sony sensors, and at least one of them is the telephoto unit, with a 77mm focal length, which gives you 3x optical zoom. The main camera module also gets a bigger sensor with an f/1.5 aperture , so it can pull in more light than before, and honestly you can see that in low light, like it’s less noisy and more usable.
Then there is the 12MP 120-degree ultra-wide lens, and that one also gets a larger sensor plus now it supports autofocus, so ultra wide angle photos look sharper rather than a little soft.
On top of the hardware stuff, the iPhone 13 Pro camera adds Cinematic Style along with Cinematography, and it kinda feels more like a real film tool, not just a basic phone shooter.
With Photography Style, users can customize several color tones and warmth parameters before shooting. At the same time, the Cinematic feature is essentially a “genuine” version of video recording to remove fonts, helping with Hollywood cinematic videos.
The battery
After nearly two weeks of experience, battery life is one of the most impressive points on this iPhone 13 Pro. Specifically, according to the system’s record, its daily battery consumption is about 65%-125%, the average is at 80%. Besides, two more notable parameters are my average on-screen and background usage time of 8 hours 53 minutes and 2 hours 2 minutes, respectively.
These days, I tend to “test” the battery, so I’ve been working on my iPhone more than usual than before, which can be mentioned as ‘playing’ Cinematic mode constantly, taking more photos than usual. Besides, I switched to using iPhone to do tasks that I had only done on computers before, such as video calls (Messenger), Facebook, or even watching YouTube – the tasks I used to use on my computer.
According to some sources, the iPhone 13 Pro supports fast-charging up to 27W, and Apple did not introduce this. I tried the Type-C to lightning cord (included in the box) and i attached it to the MacBook Pro charger, just to see if that is true. The result was kinda wild, the iPhone 13 Pro battery “jumped” from 3% to 22% in only 10 minutes. So, in that case, battery life shouldn’t be a problem with the iPhone 13 Pro.
The points are not satisfactory.
Here are the things I don’t really like on the iPhone 13 Pro:
– Too heavy for a 6.1-inch machine, the square design causes stress, fatigue when used for a long time
– The camera is too big and too convex, leading to the overall appearance being a bit rough (the camera cluster occupies more than 1/2 of the back width), and the device is too channeled when placed on the table.
– Many applications and games still do not support 120Hz, causing an inconsistent experience
– The notch has increased the display area, but it doesn’t help much.
Ending
For me, iPhone 13 Pro has everything I need in a high-end phone: powerful performance, good battery life, super photography/video recording, and completely worthy of being the most worthy phone to buy in this year’s high-end segment.
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Tech Reviewer & Product Analyst
Định Bia has spent over 10 years testing consumer electronics with a focus on smart technology. He work as a product advisor at Biareview where he helped customers find the right devices for their needs. He personally tests every product featured on this site using a consistent evaluation framework covering quality, durability, and value. All reviews are based on experience, not influenced by the manufacturer.