Infinix Note 40 Pro vs Redmi Note 13 Pro

We have been using the Infinix Note 40 Pro for a while. We even have a full review that you can read (or even watch) here. The short of it is that we have been starstruck by the device. It ticks many boxes and should be an excellent buy for anyone touching it. Right from the design to the other features. How does it compare to the competition, though?

You know, that’s very important because the local market is very hyper-competitive.

For the Infinix Note 40 Pro, it faces direct competition from another Transsion sibling, the Tecno Camon 30 with which it shares so much. There is also Samsung’s Galaxy A35. Then there’s Oppo’s A98. However, for the sake of brevity, we will look at how the device stacks up against another regular brand here on Android Kenya: Xiaomi Redmi. In particular, the Redmi Note 13 Pro, one of the latest Xiaomi smartphones in Kenya.

Other than having the “Pro” moniker in their overall names, the two devices do have a lot going for them. They have many similarities as well as differences.

For instance, they are both powered by the same chipset, MediaTek’s Helio G99, the G99 UItimate for the Infinix and the G99 Ultra for the Xiaomi (the Xiaomi has a variant with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 from Qualcomm as well).

The Infinix goes a step higher and includes an in-house chip (refer to our review) so as to make its custom battery charging technology head and shoulders above the rest. On the Xiaomi side, there’s the fast charging which tops out at 67W as well as Xiaomi’s own suite of technologies to better preserve the battery and extend its charging cycles, something Infinix has also mastered with AllRound FastCharge. There’s that, on the Infinix end, topping out at 70W for the fast charging component and much much more. Including wireless charging!

As far as the displays on both devices go, the size difference is negligible with the Xiaomi coming a hair short but the rest of the stuff is eerily similar.  There’s the small matter of the curved vs flat display which plays out here very well. The Infinix deploys a waterfall display model while the Xiaomi goes flat out (pardon the pan). Which you pick is really down to individual preference. The rest of the stuff is almost the same. Almost. The resolution, the refresh rates, the brightness… Heck, the devices even match each other with their IP54 rating and the lack of 5G (there are separate 5G variants, though)!

Oh, and Infinix managed to snap a Xiaomi signature feature and make it its own on the Note 40 Pro: the IR blaster! The Xiaomi has the blaster but that shine has been taken away.

It makes up for that, though, with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot, both features the Infinix lacks.

Other than the obvious places where we’d expect to see glaring differences like the software (where Infinix goes with XOS and Xiaomi sticks with MIUI HyperOS), there are some differences in the overall design approaches of the two devices, the cameras and, for those that care, the kind of accessories one gets in the box. Xiaomi has for long adopted a minimalist approach to what it includes in the box, long before that became fashionable, offering a charging brick and not much else while Infinix – and pretty much all of the Transsion Group – has a “pack everything” approach. Including that wireless charger (no one gives you a free wireless charger in the box) and that nice back cover we loved which makes the Infinix pop.

Pound for pound, here is how the two devices stack up:

Which one is your pick and why?