Nokia Mobile initiated the rollout of Android 13 update by bringing it to Nokia X20, Nokia X10, Nokia G50 and Nokia XR20 5G. We have used Android 13 on our Nokia XR20 5G for a few days now, post the upgrade installation. Time for new Android 13 features demo and our impressions of the new OS so far.
The Android 13 OS update brings some new features and visual changes, usability enhancements along with security and privacy improvements. Google has provided a list of these new features, changes and improvements in its official changelog. You can check the official changelog for smartphones below.
- Android 13 comes with an evolved look and style that builds on Material You. You can customize non-Google apps to match your phone’s wallpaper theme and colors, making your home screen more cohesive and unique to your style.
- For the many Android users who speak more than one language, we’ve added a top feature request. You can assign specific languages to individual apps so you can keep your phone’s system in one language, and each of your apps in a different language.
- Android 13 features an updated media player that tailors its look and feel based on the music or podcast you’re listening to. For example, when you’re listening to music, the media player spotlights album artwork and has a playback bar that dances as you progress through a song. It even works for media played through Chrome.
- Your wellbeing has been an important theme for Android – and getting enough sleep is key! Android 13 allows you to further customize Bedtime mode with wallpaper dimming and dark theme. These screen options help your eyes adjust to the dark when you’re about to go to bed – and get back to sleep if you wake up and check your phone in the middle of the night.
- Gone are the days when you had to share your entire media library with your apps. In Android 13, you can select only the specific photos and videos they’ll need to access.
- Prevent any unwanted access to your clipboard. If you copy sensitive data like your email address, phone number or login credentials on your device, Android will automatically clear your clipboard history after a period of time.
- Android 13 helps keep your notifications under control and makes sure you only get the alerts you ask for. The apps you download will now need your explicit permission to send notifications, rather than being allowed to send notifications by default.
- Feel like you’re in the middle of the action with Spatial Audio. On supported headphones that enable head tracking, Spatial Audio shifts the source of the sound to adapt with how you turn your head, giving you a more immersive listening experience on your Android phone or tablet.
- Android 13 adopts Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio, a new Bluetooth audio standard that results in lower latency than classic audio. This allows you to hear audio that’s in better sync with the sound’s source, reducing delay. With Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio, you can also enjoy enhanced audio quality and broadcast audio to multiple devices at the same time.
Coming to our hands-on impressions so far, Android 13 on Nokia XR20 provides a polished experience. We didn’t face any performance degradation or freezes or random restarts. All the new features and changes also work flawlessly. Battery life has remained almost the same as compared to Android 12 or you may notice a slight improvement.
Watch our hands-on video of Android 13 on Nokia XR20 5G below.
