Apple iPhone 13 Pro

At Rs. 293,999, the Apple iPhone 13 Pro is a hard sell as a new purchase. It is a 2021 phone, and at this price you are paying mostly for iOS, a polished camera system and a premium build.

Strengths that still hold up:

• A smooth 120Hz ProMotion display.
• A fast A15 Bionic with a 5-core GPU.
• Reliable cameras with a 3x telephoto and macro mode.
• Battery life that comfortably lasts a day.

Compromises: a heavy 204 g body, the notch, slow charging with no charger in the box and Lightning instead of USB-C.

Buying tips: many units on sale today are used or refurbished. Check battery health (above 85% is a good target), make sure the phone has not been opened, since that can weaken water resistance, and confirm PTA status.

Verdict: worth it only if you specifically want a compact Pro iPhone and find a unit in good condition. The iPhone 13 Pro Max (Rs. 318,699) is the better choice if battery life matters more than comfort.

The iPhone 13 Pro has a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display at 1170 x 2532 pixels (about 460 ppi), with HDR10 and Dolby Vision. It is one of the most colour-accurate OLED panels around.

• ProMotion: an adaptive refresh rate that rises to 120Hz for scrolling and gaming and slows right down for static content, which saves battery. Scrolling feels far smoother than on older iPhones, and text stays crisp while moving.
• Brightness: up to 1000 nits outdoors and 1200 nits peak for HDR, so it is easy to read in sunlight, with responsive auto-brightness.
• Gaming: touch response feels quick, and games can run at 120 frames per second.

Limitations: some third-party apps do not always run at 120Hz. The notch is narrower than before but still deep enough to cut into videos, even when they are not full screen.

The Apple A15 Bionic (5 nm) with a 5-core GPU and 6GB RAM makes the iPhone 13 Pro one of the strongest phones of its generation.

• Graphics: about 60% faster than the iPhone 12 Pro in GPU tests, and noticeably stronger than the regular iPhone 13's 4-core GPU.
• Gaming: demanding games like Genshin Impact run without trouble, with power to spare.
• Everyday use: apps open quickly and the whole system feels smooth with ProMotion.
• Benchmarks: a recent test recorded Geekbench scores of 2409 single-core and 5972 multi-core, still strong today.

Heat: in a side-by-side benchmark run, the 13 Pro warmed to about 40°C, warmer than the Google Pixel 9 under the same test. It stays usable, but expect it to get warm during long gaming or heavy recording.

The iPhone 13 Pro has three 12 MP rear cameras, main (f/1.5, sensor-shift OIS), 3x telephoto (OIS) and ultrawide (f/1.8, 120 degrees), plus LiDAR. It shares this full setup with the 13 Pro Max.

• Main camera: very consistent in all lighting, with natural background blur from the larger sensor. You may need to tap to focus more often because of the shallower depth of field.
• Telephoto: 3x zoom looks almost as good as the main camera, though it cannot match long periscope zooms on some Android phones.
• Ultrawide and macro: among the best ultrawides of its time, and it can focus as close as about 2 cm for macro shots. Edges show some fringing, and the automatic switch to macro can be annoying.
• Video: 4K video and stabilisation are excellent. ProRes recording is up to 4K at 30fps, but 128GB models are limited to 1080p. Cinematic mode is 1080p at 30fps.
• Weaknesses: lens flare around bright lights, no astrophotography or manual pro mode, and selfies can struggle in low light, with HDR sometimes blowing out bright areas.

The iPhone 13 Pro has a 3095 mAh battery, about 11% larger than the iPhone 12 Pro's, and battery life is a major strength.

• Long-term use regularly gives six to seven hours of screen-on time, without running out in a day.
• ProMotion slowing down on static screens and the efficient A15 Bionic both help.
• A full day of photo and video shooting can end with charge to spare.

On used units: a recent comparison with a unit at about 78 to 80% battery health showed it draining faster than the Google Pixel 9. Battery health makes a big difference on a phone this age, so aim for 85% or higher.

Charging: it reaches about 50% in 30 minutes with a fast charger, and supports 15W MagSafe wireless charging, but there is no charger in the box. The large camera bump can lift the phone slightly on some dual MagSafe chargers when using a thick case.

The iPhone 13 Pro launched with iOS 15 and can be updated to iOS 26, which officially supports the iPhone 13 series.

• ProMotion works across iOS, with smoother animations everywhere.
• Photographic Styles, Cinematic mode and ProRes editing are built in.
• No ads or duplicate apps.

Limitations: major iOS updates can bring bugs at first, and customisation remains more limited than on Android.

Update support: Apple does not publish a fixed number of years of updates. The iPhone 13 Pro is on the iOS 26 list, but future major updates are an estimate, not a promise.