Another Xiaomi 13 variant may launch soon with Dynamic Island-style camera housing

What you need to know

• Xiaomi 13 Lite 5G will likely launch with Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro globally.
• It could be a cost-effective variant powered by Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC.
• Leaked unboxing videos hint at the device's design, shows off a pill-shaped hole-punch.

Xiaomi has an event gearing up for the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2023 in the next couple of weeks. The tech giant announced it would bring the Xiaomi 13 Pro to global markets, including India, on February 26. However, it looks like there is yet another Xiaomi 13 series device in the pipeline, dubbed Xiaomi 13 Lite 5G.

However, the device is not entirely a new phone but a apparently a rebranded version of Xiaomi's Civi 2, according to tipster Sudhanshu Ambhore (via Android Authority). The phone was originally a China exclusive, just like the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro smartphones. The trio of devices are now being wrapped under Xiaomi 13 series with the upcoming release later this month.

While the 13 and 13 Pro will fall under higher-end models powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Leica-powered cameras, the 13 Lite is set to be a more cost-effective model. If the Civi 2 is anything to go by, the Xiaomi 13 Lite specs look promising on paper, particularly for a cheaper Android phone.

The Xiaomi 13 Lite will likely have a 6.55-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rates and Full HD+ resolution. It is said to have the newest Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, the latest mid-range and gaming-focused chipset under the Snapdragon 7 series introduced by Qualcomm.

The tipster also notes that it could come with a triple rear camera setup featuring a 50MP primary camera, a 20MP wide-angle lens, and a tiny 2MP macro lens. The unboxing further reveals a 67W fast charge adapter expected to charge the 4500mAh battery that the device is said to ship with.

The other key takeaway of the upcoming device is its dual selfie cameras housed in a pill-shaped hole punch, something we don't see too often anymore with Android phones. The pill-shaped notch will likely house two 32MP selfie cameras wherein one could act as a primary selfie camera and the other utilized for wide-angle selfies or to fit more people in a shot, which is convenient.

Will it have something similar to Dynamic Island?

While such implementations aren't certainly new to Android devices, it sure is for the recent Apple iPhone 14 Pro models. However, Apple's implementation has opened up a new interactive platform within the notch dubbed Dynamic Island, which differs from Android devices with a similar setup.

Android OEM makers bringing such use cases to current devices is highly unlikely at this point, as pill-shaped notches are old school for them. Regardless, the "Dynamic Island" introduced by Apple has raised eyeballs across the industry to the point where developers have started creating their own versions for Android, including a Xiaomi theme developer.

Still, it's unclear if the Xiaomi 13 Lite could incorporate the feature, although the design definitely fits the profile. However, the Vietnam-based YouTube explained that the device wasn't seen showcasing any new Dynamic Island-style software.

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