When it’s time for Apple to release its latest line of smartphones such as the iPhone 16, it’s not uncommon for Gizmo friends to look forward to the previous generation iPhone dropping in price. For 2024 itself, our pick for the best iPhone that is already much more affordable, goes to the iPhone 13 with a starting price of only Rp9 million. Yep, down from Rp14999 million when it was initially released three years ago.
The iPhone 13 was released along with the Pro series, and both bring many updates over the previous generation. Starting from the reduced size of the screen bangs, larger battery, new chipset, to a new video recording mode that can provide cinematic portrait effects with superior stabilization. So it’s natural that there are still many iPhone 13 users who don’t feel the need to upgrade to the latest iPhone.
If Gizmo friends want to find an affordable iPhone either for a secondary phone or a first iPhone, there is no harm in looking at the iPhone 13 which is now increasingly affordable. Here are the impressions when used in 2024.
Design
Arguably, the iPhone 13 became one of Apple’s most iconic smartphone designs, as it continued on to the iPhone 15 (with rumors of the iPhone 16 bringing the camera module back in line like the iPhone 11). This smartphone is also suitable for those of you who are looking for a smartphone in compact dimensions, thanks to its screen dimensions which are not too large for today’s standards.
Although slightly thicker and heavier thanks to the larger battery, the overall dimensions of the iPhone 13 are still relatively compact and comfortable to hold. Flat surfaces on the back and sides make it non-slip-although the corners are sharper than the iPhone 15, it’s still very comfortable in the palm of your hand.
The Midnight color option that I reviewed, looks to have a slight blue tint to it. Easy to get dirty because the surface used is glossy, although it is easy to clean as well. If Gizmo friends want a cleaner iPhone 13 look, you can choose the bright color option, because fingerprint marks will be more faint. So it can continue to look clean without a case.
The front glass is protected by Ceramic Shield, Apple’s protection that is stronger than standard Gorilla Glass and designed to be more resistant to cracking and shattering. The rear has also been reinforced, including the glass of each camera which has used sapphire crystal material. Despite carrying IP68 certification, the iPhone 13 is in fact waterproof to a depth of 6 meters, not just 15 meters.
Because it’s designed as a flagship, even after three years, the iPhone 13 still feels very premium in the hand, with protection that’s also maximized. Of course, these smartphone accessories are very easy to find on e-commerce, ranging from cases, screen protectors, to accessories that utilize the MagSafe mechanism.
Screen
No always-on display, has a refresh rate of 60Hz. Yes, I mentioned these two shortcomings at the beginning. The first one is optional for me personally, but for the refresh rate, I think it’s an absolute shortcoming, especially for the selling price. Indeed, even more expensive ones like the iPhone 15 are still the same. The good news is that only those two points were noted.
The rest? The iPhone 13 display has a very high quality panel, on par with today’s flagships. Its AMOLED panel provides high-accuracy colors, has ultra-thin four-sided bezels, great responsiveness, and a very satisfying vibration motor (haptic). On the top side, there is still a notch, but the size is smaller than before, and it can be forgiven for carrying a prime biometric system.
At 61 inches, it’s a very comfortable size for one-handed use, and still large enough for gaming to video streaming. Supports HDR content, and can be brightly lit up to 800 nits. With auto brightness which is also in my opinion one of the best on smartphones. Yes, that makes “annoying” is just the 60Hz. Because the rest are very good.
Regarding the notch, if I may complain, although it is slimmer than the iPhone 12, the thickness has increased from before. Fortunately, it can work optimally in detecting faces, with and without masks or glasses.
Camera
From the previous generation, the iPhone 13 camera gets a significant upgrade, not only in the hardware sector but also in the software. The two sensors on the back are both 12MP resolution, one serves as the main sensor, the other is an ultra-wide f/2 sensor.2 without autofocus. The main sensor is pretty special.
In addition to the larger sensor dimensions, Apple also provides sensor-shift type hardware stabilization, which is much more effective than conventional solutions for reducing shock or vibration when recording video. Up front, there is a 12MP sensor with a wide viewing angle, and it features a hardware-based portrait mode utilizing the sensor for Face ID.
iPhone 13’s photo results are satisfactory in all lighting conditions. Its night mode will automatically activate when the smartphone detects low lighting, while its dynamic range can compete with competitors in its segment, utilizing Smart HDR. One snap, just right for sharing on social media.
But indeed, in this generation, skin tone is not the best because it is not uncommon for skin color to look slightly different from the original. Similarly, the sharpening effect, which is sometimes too high especially in slightly challenging lighting conditions such as indoors-as long as no zooming is done, is not that noticeable.
For more photos from the iPhone 13 camera, Gizmo friends can access the following albums.
What I think is special about the iPhone 13 is its video recording capability. All camera sensors (yes, all of them) can record in 4K 60fps resolution, and already with excellent stabilization. Gizmo friends can also perform very smooth switching between sensors between the main sensor and the ultra-wide sensor on the rear side.
Not only that, the iPhone 13 is also the first Apple smartphone to be equipped with Cinematic mode. Just like portrait mode in photos, you can apply a bokeh effect when recording videos. The capability is already very optimal in my opinion-even if there is a misfocus, you can adjust it again after the video is saved.
In my opinion, to date, the iPhone 13 could be the best smartphone alternative for video. Of note is the absence of a telephoto sensor (hence limited zoom capabilities), and the use of a Lightning port which makes Gizmo friends more limited in their choice of accessory options such as an external microphone.
Features
The good news is that the iPhone 13 is still among the iPhones getting the iOS 18 update. As long as I used this smartphone with iOS 18 Public Beta, the performance was maintained. It’s just that it doesn’t get all the latest features, including Apple Intelligence which is only for iPhone 15 Pro and above. At least the home screen customization feature can still.
Launching with iOS 15, Apple smartphones usually get 5-6 years of OS update support, so at least it’s still safe for about 2-3 years of use. A number of modern features have also been brought in, such as the ability to control the microphone to provide a noise-canceling effect that works well in all third-party applications including zoom-helpful when the earphones we use don’t have that capability.
The quality of the stereo speakers is also very good for its class, with output that sounds balanced from both the top and bottom of the screen. The NFC feature also works well for banking apps as well as apps for e-money card top-ups. 5G networks can also be well captured in a number of areas in big cities such as Jakarta automatically.
Performance
Although it has been released since 2021, the chipset embedded into the iPhone 13 is quite fast and futuristic. Because the A15 Bionic chip already carries TSMC’s second-generation 5nm fabrication, so it was very efficient when it was launched. Bring a 6-core CPU, 4-core GPU, 4GB of RAM and memory options that are now twice the size of the iPhone 12.
Indeed, in terms of numbers, there is nothing wow, tends to lag behind when compared to the latest Android releases at the same price. But thanks to the use of iOS, the performance is very well maintained and is arguably on par with the latest Android flagship. A slight limitation may be in multitasking, where more apps can be paused if there are already many being accessed.
But thanks to iOS 18, now more applications including Instagram have been updated so that they can continue to run when users access other applications, so that uploaded Stories can still continue. It’s also very smooth to play a number of popular game titles-perhaps thanks to the 60Hz screen.
What is already showing its age, in my opinion, is the temperature of the device. When not using a case, the iPhone 13 feels quite warm easily, both when accessing the camera, editing videos, gaming and more. Slightly warmer than iPhone 14 Pro & 15 Pro Series. Still within safe limits, no overheating.
Battery
Much larger than the previous generation, the iPhone 13 battery is designed with a capacity of 3,240 mAh. Yes, it certainly looks much smaller on paper than the standard battery of today’s Android smartphones, including previous competitors such as the Galaxy S Series. But thanks to the self-designed chipset and operating system, efficiency can be maximized even more.
When using my iPhone 13 as a daily driver, I was able to get almost a full day of use out of it. If you unplug the charger from around 6-7pm and plan to use it intensely until 10-11pm, you need to turn on the power saving mode, or carry a power bank in case after dinner. For its compact size, it is good.
Apple mentions that the iPhone 13 battery can be charged to 50% in 30 minutes, via 20W fast charging sold separately. If you want to reach 100%, it takes about 90 minutes. As for wireless charging, it can be quite fast with Qi2 15W support.
For a smartphone with a price close to Rp10 million, of course the power is much smaller than, for example, smartphones released by Realme to Xiaomi which can reach 120W. But because the battery capacity is smaller, the charging speed is not so lagging behind. Considering that the Galaxy S24 and Samsung’s foldable are also only “limited to” 25W.
The problem, of course, is the use of the Lightning port, aka not yet USB-C. Makes Gizmo friends have to bring their own charging cable for iPhone 13 when traveling, if other devices use other ports such as laptops, Android smartphones, and TWS.
Conclusion
For 2024, the iPhone 13 could be the most suitable choice at a price that is still affordable. Chipset and other specifications are almost identical to the iPhone 14. What about iPhone 12? With a difference of less than Rp2 million, you get a lot of new features, plus twice the memory capacity, considering the iPhone 12 starts at 64GB.
Thank you to Studio Ponsel for lending the iPhone 13 unit so that the Gizmology team can review it again in 2024. For prices of Apple products and other gadgets to accessories, Gizmo friends can visit the Mobile Studio store both on Tokopedia and the official TikTok.
iPhone 13 Specifications
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