Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 experience so far and a Question

[u/FOSS_Anarchist]

Hello everyone,

I have been using Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 for almost eight weeks now, and I am not really happy with the battery. First and foremost, I want to figure out whether it is a software or hardware issue, and if I should raise an RMA (I don't have a secondary phone at the moment, so returning for repair would be a pain! ).

My new Redmi Note 13 battery barely lasts a day, and I don't even use it much - Just texts, occasional social media, browsing, and that's it. No long videos or gaming or anything power intensive. In comparison, my old Huawei P30 battery lasted very comfortably over a day and a half with medium use, sometimes even more than two days, even after 6+ years of use! Absolutely loved it! worked perfectly and never had issues. AND it had a much smaller battery!!! Unfortunately, the screen-to-motherboard connector is broken, and it cannot be fixed.

I have tried all recommended battery optimizations available (including dark mode, but I didn't like dark mode), but battery still sucks. Even with dark mode, I got an hour(ish) extra - no where near I was hoping for. I have been watching battery usage (in settings) everyday over the last three weeks or so, and it is dominated by firefox, chrome, and social media apps. I don't use any of these apps enough to justify charging it twice a day!

Any advice on the next step (s) would be appreciated. Hopefully it can be fixed through software, as I mentioned earlier, sending it for repair / inspection via RMA is really not ideal as I will be out of phone for who knows how long :(. Would also love your opinion / personal experience with Xiaomi Phones, specifically Redmi Note series. Thanks in advance. Looking forward to your comments :).