Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G World Champions Edition: More Ronaldo than Messi!

One of modern sports greatest rivalries is between Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Lionel Messi of Argentina. Both players have been dominating football for more than a decade now, setting a number of records at different levels. They both have very different styles of playing – Messi tends to lurk deeper and dribble, which can appear to be a little understated. At the same time, Ronaldo is all speed and shine, very much in your face, a force of nature aware of his own power and ability.

Xiaomi’s newly released Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G World Champions Edition might be made in association with Argentina, the team that Lionel Messi led to World Cup glory in 2022, but take it from us, it is very Ronaldo in its approach and design – very direct, and although a trifle loud, pretty much perfect for many users.

A box that screams football, Argentina football

The Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G World Champions Edition comes in a package that pretty much puts Argentina football in front and center. The box has Angel di Maria, Emilio Martinez (thankfully holding a football and not the World Cup – no, we have not forgotten), and Rodrigo De Paul with the phone’s name in glittering gold lettering and the legendary blue and white striped Argentina jersey colors in the background.

Opening it reveals a card with 10 in bold gold lettering and Argentina players in a bluish background. The 10 is supposed to show Xiaomi’s ten years in India, but by a very happy coincidence, it also the jersey number of Lionel Messi, the captain of the Argentina team that won the 2022 World Cup, but who we suspect cannot be named and mentioned directly due to commercial restrictions. The No. 10 jersey, incidentally is also considered to be worn by the best player in the team – a tradition started by Pele, who many consider to be the greatest football player of all time.

On the back of the card is a picture of the Argentina football team celebrating the 2022 World Cup victory, a list of tournament wins by the team, and the squad list – a rather token prop, we think, as it adds no real value. There are no autographs, no quotes, no trivia, or anything else that could have added something more to the package.

Below that card cover, however, lies some pretty heavily Argentina-flavoured tech. There is a 120W charger in Argentina’s light blue with two white stripes on it, a USB Type C to Type A cable again in Argentina blue, and in a super cool touch, a SIM ejector tool that has the Argentina Football Association (AFA) logo on one side and a football on another.

Lots of football in the design and some in the UI, too

Then there is the phone itself. Yes, it is essentially a 12 GB/ 512GB variant of the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G, released a few months ago. And while it retains the Gorilla Glass Victus and IP68 dust and water resistance of the OG device, it looks nothing like it. The back is glass rather than vegan leather (which was seen in some Redmi Note 13 Pro+ units) and has the legendary light blue and white Argentina stripes on it with a shiny gold 10 in digits on it, with a blue panel on the upper part with metal accented cameras on the left and a shiny AFA logo on the top right.

It is a slightly loud design, a little crowded and full of glitter and glow, thanks to that shining number 10, the metal rims around the cameras and the Argentina logo. The sides are shiny blue, and while the front has the same curved 6.67-inch 1.5K Super AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, now you have Di Maria, Martinez, and De Paul on the lock screen, with the AFA logo as the in-display fingerprint scanner.

The UI inside has a slight football flavor, with round-ish football-like icons and an AFA logo on a football field as the wallpaper. We could not find any other touches of football of Argentina or football within our unit, but take it from us. Anyone who knows football will recognize it as a special football edition device. Not everyone will like its slightly crowded and shiny design (make that super shiny. Shades of Ronaldo, we say), but there is no doubt that it stands out from the regular smartphone crowd.

Basically a Redmi Note 13 Pro+, even down to Android 13, and THAT back cover

It also retains all the specs of that phone – the Dimensity 7200 Ultra processor, the 200-megapixel main sensor with OIS, the 5000 mAh battery with 120 W fast charging, and a 120W fast charger in the box that can get the phone from 0-100 percent in about 25 minutes, stereo speakers and the works. This is a 12 GB/ 512 GB variant of the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ in an Argentina football avatar and works exactly like that very good phone did (you can read our review of it).

Unfortunately, also on board are the same MIUI 14 and Android 13 that came on the original phone (which has since been updated to HyperOS and Android 14) – even an update to HyperOS was not available at the time of writing. The phone also comes with the same rather basic black cover as its original variant did. In fact, it is the only accessory in the box that does not have an Argentina football theme and should have been given a red card! A case with classic stripes or even the Argentina blue would have been so much more appropriate in a special edition. Xiaomi could take a page out of iQOO and OnePlus’ special edition books in this regard, where the case is as much about design as functionality.

A must-have for those who love shiny soccer smartphones (and Argentina)!

All of this, rather surprisingly, comes with a price tag that is only slightly higher than the OG Redmi Note 13 Pro+. The 12 GB/ 512 GB variant of that phone is priced at Rs 34,999. The Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G World Champions Edition is priced at Rs 37,999. So, for the extra Rs 3,000, you end up getting a lot of Argentinian football in phone terms, right from the packaging to the phone and most of the accessories. This is pretty decent value for money if you are a football fan in general and an Argentina fan in particular and want a phone that reflects your loyalty or even just stands out from the general crowd.

It might not be too subtle about its soccer, but the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G World Champions Edition ticks all premium mid-segment phone boxes and most football ones too. Some might not approve of all aspects of the package, but the phone does everything that you expect it to. And does it very well, too.

Just like Lionel Messi’s famous rival. The number on the back of the phone is Messi, and the jersey is Messi, but the phone and its package are really more Ronaldo in style. The result is a goal, albeit scored slightly differently. We do not see too many complaints, though.

Buy Redmi Note 13 Pro+ World Champions Edition