The Apple iPhone 13 family is here, and with it plenty to talk about. As Apple has done the past few years, it’s released a set of Pro iPhone models and a set of non-Pro iPhone models. The iPhone 13 falls into the latter camp, which makes it Apple’s affordable flagship for 2021. This $799 smartphone steps into a crowded but uneven category that has had few genuine hits in 2021. Is the iPhone 13 enough to tear you away from the Android phone in your pocket? Find out in the Android Authority Apple iPhone 13 review.
About this Apple iPhone 13 review: I tested the Apple iPhone 13 over a period of six days. It was running Apple iOS 15. The unit was purchased by Android Authority for this review.
What you need to know about the Apple iPhone 13
- Apple iPhone 13 (128GB): $799 / £779 / €899
- Apple iPhone 13 (256GB): $899 / £879 / €1,019
- Apple iPhone 13 (512GB): $1,099 / £1,079 / €1,249
Apple trots out new iPhones each fall. There used to be a single new model to ooh and ahh over, but now we’re up to four distinct devices. The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini share most specs, as do the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. This review covers the vanilla iPhone 13 model. A separate review for the iPhone 13 Pro Max is available here.
Apple’s iPhone 13 goes head to head with plenty of devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S21, the OnePlus 9, and the soon-to-be-released Google Pixel 6. This is an interesting lot of phones that fall just under full flagship fair, meaning they aren’t as expensive as the top devices in the market but they don’t quite offer all the bells and whistles either.
Check out: Which iPhone is right for you?
The iPhone 13 (and its smaller sibling, the iPhone 13 Mini) still manage to pack a lot into their mid-sized frames. You’ve got high-resolution screens, powerful processors, dual camera systems, and tons of connectivity options. The iPhone 13 is available in three storage configurations, starting with 128GB for $799 — that’s double the base storage of its predecessor, the iPhone 12. The iPhone 13 comes in five different colors: Starlight, Midnight, Blue, Pink, and (PRODUCT) Red. There’s no charger in the box.
Apple sells the iPhone practically everywhere. Following its global September 24 release date, you can now buy the iPhone 13 online from Apple, Amazon, B&H, and other retailers, as well as most carriers in the US. If you’re outside the US, chances are you can pick one up from a nearby Apple Store, Amazon, other major third-party retailers, and local carriers. Apple itself is offering reasonably good trade-in offers for select phones, as are US carriers. There’s no telling how long these deals will last, so it’s best to move quickly if you’d prefer to avoid paying full price.
Design: Nothing new here
As Apple so often does, it carried over many of the iPhone 13’s hardware features from the previous generation phone. The company typically uses the same basic design approach for two years running for many of its products, and the iPhone is no exception. That means the iPhone 13 looks and feels almost identical to the iPhone 12, though there are of course minor differences that set them apart.
The iPhone 13 is a metal and glass sandwich with an aluminum frame that’s pressed between two glass panels. The front is protected by Apple’s Ceramic Shield, which is the company’s own hard(er)-to-break glass material. Apple hasn’t specified what the rear panel is made from other than glass. Many of today’s competing Android devices rely on Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus to keep the display safe, though early testing has shown that the Ceramic Shield (also made by Corning) is a near equivalent. The iPhone’s edges are flat, creating a rather sharp angle where the metal and glass meet. While the materials themselves are quite smooth, this angle makes the iPhone 13 perhaps less comfortable to hold than devices with rounded profiles.
Related: Our guide to picking the best case for your new phone
Apple’s ability to design and assemble high-quality devices is once again on display with the iPhone 13. It’s a fine piece of hardware that has its own basic appeal. I can’t fault the materials and fit and finish one bit, which are top-notch as usual. The basic look of the phone is plain and simple almost to a fault. Some will surely find the economy of design appealing, while others may find it a turn-off. This year’s Blue model, which we reviewed, is a nice shade. I like it much more than the blue of last year’s iPhone 12. Speaking practically, however, most people will probably slap a case on the iPhone 13 anyway thereby hiding its design and colorways.
The iPhone 13 is a medium-sized smartphone thanks in part to its 6.1-inch screen. For reference, it’s about the same size as the Google Pixel 5. It has the exact same dimensions as the pricier iPhone 13 Pro, yet it is significantly lighter at 174g, compared to the Pro’s 204g weight. The compact size is definitely easier to manage than something like the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max or the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Every other phone in the market uses the standard USB-C port, making Apple the outlier here.
Functional elements of the phone are carried over from the iPhone 12. That means a power button, separate volume toggles, a ringer switch, and a SIM card tray are built into the outer edges of the iPhone 13. iPhones don’t support expandable storage, so there’s no microSD slot. There’s also no headphone jack, but that’s to be expected after Apple’s infamous decision to drop it several years ago.
Apple still relies on its proprietary Lightning port for charging and data transfer. Every other phone in the market uses the standard USB-C port, making Apple the outlier here. The European Commission recently issued a mandate that all devices use the same port. Apple voiced disagreement with that decision. Either way, if enforced, it will be years before we see a USB-C iPhone. Until then, Lightning it is. The cable provided in the box has a Lightning connector at one end and USB-C on the other. The Lightning port is aggravating because it can make it harder to find certain accessories or mandate the use of pricey dongles when you simply want to connect to something.
The iPhone 13’s speakers make use of the earpiece together with a downward-firing speaker to create a stereo effect. A little more sound comes from the bottom-mounted speaker, which creates slightly imbalanced volume when holding the phone sideways. It’s not the end of the world, but you may notice it if you’re watching a movie. Moreover, you may accidentally cover the speaker with your finger and mute the phone. The speakers can deliver Dolby Atmos sound. To my ears, the sound comes across as a little boomy, perhaps too rich in the bass and mids with not quite enough high-end. It’s totally fine for casual listening, but clarity sometimes suffers at higher volumes. Speaking of which, the iPhone 13’s speakers are really, really loud. Filling a mid-sized room with music is no problem at all.
The camera bump on the phone’s rear is the same size and shape as that of the iPhone 12. The one thing Apple changed was the layout of the camera lenses, which now run diagonally rather than vertically. Apple did this due to the larger size of the new camera sensors beneath the glass.
The iPhone 13’s design and hardware features are everything we expect from an Apple device: class-leading in many ways and utterly annoying in others.
An IP68 rating ensures that the iPhone 13 is protected from dust and water. It can handle submersion in water up to 1.5m for up to an hour. That means accidental dunks in the pool won’t spell the demise of your pricey precious. Not all $800 phones have an IP68 rating, so this gives the iPhone 13 a small advantage.
The iPhone 13 relies on Face ID, Apple’s proprietary facial recognition technology, to secure the phone. Face ID makes use of special sensors tucked into the notch. Face ID is best-in-class, but COVID-related mask mandates have made it inconvenient. It would be nice to have a hardware fingerprint reader as a backup, though you can technically use Face ID with a mask if you also own an Apple Watch Series 3 or later.
If there’s one advantage the iPhone enjoys over its Android peers, it’s the large ecosystem for accessories. Third-party case makers and the like swoon to ride the iPhone gravy train, which means you’re more likely to find something to augment the iPhone 13 than you are with some Android devices.
In sum, the iPhone 13’s design and hardware features are everything we expect from an Apple device: class-leading in many ways and utterly annoying in others.
Display: Still notched
There are three screen-size choices in the iPhone 13 family this year. The iPhone 13 Mini has a 5.4-inch screen, the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro have 6.1-inch screens, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max has a 6.7-inch screen. Size isn’t all that differentiates these displays, however. The Pro models have 120Hz “ProMotion” displays while the non-Pro models have standard 60Hz screens. So how’s the iPhone 13’s “normal” display?
Apple calls it a Super Retina XDR Display. This OLED panel features HDR, True Tone Display (automatic white balance shifting), and a two-million-to-one contrast ratio. It packs in 2,532 x 1,170-pixel resolution at 460ppi and pumps out 800 nits of brightness.
The iPhone 13’s 6.1-inch panel is impressive in what it offers.
It’s a really good screen. I prefer slightly larger displays myself, but the iPhone 13’s 6.1-inch panel is impressive in what it offers. All of Apple’s buzzword-heavy screen tech amounts to a sharp display that’s colorful, rich in contrast, and bright enough to be used under the harshest lighting conditions.
It compares well to similarly-priced Android devices in everything but the refresh rate. While today’s top flagships are pushing 120Hz panels (and some beyond), some sub-flagships and even mid-rangers have crept up to 90Hz refresh rates. I would have liked to see Apple split the difference here between 60Hz and 120Hz given the price tag of the iPhone 13.
Then there’s the notch. Nearly all Android devices have moved away from the notch, save for a few teardrop notches here and there to accommodate cameras on mid-range and entry-level devices. Apple remains the lone holdout of big, noticeable display notches. Apple claims the notch is 20% smaller than the notch of the iPhone 12, but it’s still really large and aggravating. More to the point, Apple doesn’t allow the iPhone 13 to do anything special with the software to hide or otherwise fine-tune the behavior of the status bar in a way that might make the notch less noticeable or ugly. I get that Apple needs the space for its special Face ID camera, but a little more progress here would be appreciated.
Related: The best notch-less phones for all you notch haters out there
Other than the notch and the standard 60Hz refresh rate, there’s nothing to really complain about. The screen gets the job done, and movies — particularly HDR content — look excellent on the display.
Performance: Bionic beats Snapdragon
Apple relies on its own silicon to power iPhones, iPads, and more. This year, the company introduced the A15 Bionic alongside the iPhone 13 family. The A15 Bionic is a fresh six-core design with four efficiency cores and two performance cores. It includes a new 16-core neural engine and (here’s the kicker) a four-core GPU for the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini with 4GB of RAM and a five-core GPU for the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max with 6GB of RAM.