Xiaomi 15 Ultra review

02 March 2025


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  • 02 Mar 2025

As always, Xiaomi has shit on their global pricing. 🤦

The 512 15 Ultra costs €927 in China

    xslvrxslwt, 02 Mar 2025> Xiaomi's gonna have better bug fixes and better o... moreI said better than the Redmi Note/Poco phones. You can't deny the fact that Xiaomi has better software for its Ultra than their midrangers. I was just pointing that fact out.

    Oppo/Oneplus still have the best android OS and Vivo's OriginOS is a close second, that's how i feel about stuff but im never going to knock on xiaomi for poor software as i dont really care about software. I've always been more about the hardware and what I have NOW and what i can do with the product, it's what i used to love about samsung phones in the past and now chinese phones have my interest due to that exact reason. They're just simply better.

    Forgive me for speaking facts and being objectively correct, i don't really see how im a paid bot/fanboy when i have only 2 xiaomi phones in my favorite page and both are 5 year old. I used to vehemently fight against xiaomi fanboys till today cus of the battery life AND the software, now that one's fixed, the other doesn't hurt as much. And it's not like people really care, they're fine with Apple/Google/Samsung bugs and call em perfect so does it really matter? Think about that.

    I'm not ever going to shill for companies, im only going to point out absolutes and the Xiaomi is absolutely the best pro-photographer cameraphone in the market whereas the Vivo X200 ultra is going to be the best cameraphone on the market. Mark my words, that's how it's been for 2 years and this trend will continue. Xiaomi has more pro features whereas Vivo is more reliable, consistent, pleasing in terms of "balance" and just nicer to look at for "the average person".

    I don't choose companies, i choose products as companies don't see me as an individual, just as another dollar sign. So why should i really care about companies in general? Admittedly even after having a thought process like this i still have a soft spot for Vivo and forgive most of their issues but i hope you understand why i think the way i think now and it clears up what i think about these phones better.

      Wow that battery life improvement is substantial even with just a 5400mah battery, it somehow surpasesses the x200 pro? Well done xiaomi.

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        • Anonymous
        • 0p}
        • 02 Mar 2025

        Darth Caesium, 02 Mar 2025They should've just used a 96mm focal length (assuming... moreEven if photos had the true FL, still space taken by the system would be same.
        System to allow variable aperture increases space used.
        Obviously, xiaomi had to sacrifice this in order to provide huge module with hp9.

        Unless brands start to make phones larger ( like 17.2cm height x 8.2 cm width) , there are physical limitations of what can be done.

        Cam system is not entirely within cam bump.

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          • Anonymous
          • E5h
          • 02 Mar 2025

          Anonymous, 02 Mar 2025It is ridiculous to complain about not having IP69 when it ... moreAnd aside from Apple (they claim IP68 because they didn't test for water jets, but depth wise it is same as IP69) and OnePlus nobody uses anything above standard IP68.

          Honestly we should be happy there is IP68, enough phones that lacked that in the past, even expensive models.

            jiyen235, 02 Mar 2025what is being compared in the first and second shots? The 1... moreim not reading alldat, there are 3 more similar scenarios where ximeme fails even worse than the 3rd pic.

              David 040882, 02 Mar 2025Xiaomi's flagships do not have ads as their entry-leve... moreFunny you mentioned ads. It was never about that. This is a matter of overall aesthetics or rather the lack of. This is the most soul-less generic soup of an OS I've ever seen.

              It's trying so hard to be something it's not, kinda sad really.
              And cheap too.

              Of course you’d be nitpicking hard to complain about such things on a $100 entry level smartphone. But on a thousand dollar flagship ? Boy I’d be offended.

              But as a Mi12 owner yourself I guess you must be biased ?

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                • Anonymous
                • E5h
                • 02 Mar 2025

                So it overheats in games again

                Why, the cooling is there so why Xiaomi.

                A fine phone for the rest

                  xslvrxslwt, 02 Mar 2025https://ibb.co/album/y0t9DQ there's a few more but ... morewhat is being compared in the first and second shots? The 14 ultra against the Find X7 Ultra? If yes then keep in mind that the 15 ultra has a more aggressive NR pass and so noise is non-existent at the cost of details, just like Oppo.

                  And where did you get the 3rd shot from? Anyways, I must admit, the Xiaomi doesn't look all that great here in isolation but what also must be considered is the mode. Firstly, Is it shot in Leica Authentic or Leica Vibrant? Secondly, why is the 3x of the xiaomi being compared to the 3.7x behemoth of the Vivo? Thirdly, the Xiaomi is going to have better processing with less artifacts/digital-ness compared to Vivo as well, it's just how it is with Xiaomi since the 13 Ultra from what I've seen.

                  So yeah, it's all personal preference anyways but in absolute objective terms Xiaomi wins as you can just get an UltraRAW and easily lower the highlights on the Xiaomi but you can't bring the proper tone of the shot as easily as you can with the Xiaomi on the Vivo. I'm a Vivo fanboy but I always admit where some company wins.

                  Vivo's the GOAT of HDR/"perfect processing", they perfectly balance the dxomark-esque "perfect shot" that Google/Apple/Samsung want to produce with the soul of normal cameras still somewhat intact. Yet Xiaomi just has MORE soul, it's less phone and more camera whereas the Vivo X200 Pro is the perfect phone camera. Oh btw, till now the X200 Pro's stabilization sucked and that's an immense con. The X200 Pro is also far too artificial for me. The X100 Ultra struck the perfect balance. Imo the X200 Pro is a downgrade in every camera-centric way but due to the price, global availability and improvements in every other department, i consider it a better phone than the X100 Ultra.

                  So yeah, again, the X200 Ultra will be the proper competitor to the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. It'll have more soul than the X200 Pro, like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has more soul than the Xiaomi 15. Just you wait. After the X200 Ultra comes the X200 Pro will seem antiquated and if you like super processed stuff you're still going to prefer the Pro but if you like nicer photos that look good despite having flaws/photos that just embrace their flaws then the Ultra will be more your cup of tea.

                  Anyways, all that does not matter much as the X200 Ultra won't go global whereas this phone is global. And for a cheaper price the X200 Pro is easily the better deal compared to the 15 Ultra, but it's not the better cameraphone. The only place the Vivo easily wins is in consistency, it's outrageously good on Vivo now and mediocre on Xiaomi still. But that's it, photography, videography AND pro features are all significantly better on Xiaomi. Xiaomi's log can both be pushed farther and also be edited more easily in a different mode, the master cinema mode, there's just a huge number of tools at your disposal.

                    Wait, no AF on the selfie camera in a $1.5k phone?!?!

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                      • Anonymous
                      • 0p}
                      • 02 Mar 2025

                      It is ridiculous to complain about not having IP69 when it is useless for cellphones. That is protection against high pressure water jets.
                      Person is not gonna clean phone with those machines used to clean tiles.

                        They wasted the HP9 sensor, by giving the tele macro capabilities to smaller sensor, what a shame.

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                          • Anonymous
                          • uum
                          • 02 Mar 2025

                          Waiting

                            jiyen235, 02 Mar 2025Even if it's the same basic OS. Xiaomi's gonna ha... more> Xiaomi's gonna have better bug fixes and better optimisation for the Ultra

                            Lmao. The phone with the most-late updates of all the ultras was 14 Ultra. This guy is either paid or a fanbot.

                            Literally if you search "14 ultra software updates" you'll see people selling it purely due to lack of them.

                              Wesker, 02 Mar 2025I wonder if my fellow car enthusiasts noticed that they use... moreEven if it's the same basic OS. Xiaomi's gonna have better bug fixes and better optimisation for the Ultra. Samsung does the same. They nuke the lower range phones but since the name is the same people think it's as good as the top ones.

                              Besides, for a cameraphone that's global AND has a feature set this big? The OS is a worthy sacrifice. Not to mention the better than Samsung battery life that won't get nuked with updates alongside the class leading speakers. I don't really see what the problem is here because if the product im using does its job well i dont care about its looks/its presentation. Yeah you'd want that for this price but if it does something no one else can i don't think there's much room for complaint.

                              Besides if they fix everything now how'll they sell you in the future? LOL, companies are always gonna want to protect their back end.

                                Anonymous, 02 Mar 2025It worth?No.

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • 0p}
                                  • 02 Mar 2025

                                  It worth?

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                                    • Oliver
                                    • 2WD
                                    • 02 Mar 2025

                                    That battery alone is worthy of an upgrade for a 14 Ultra owner like me. I love everything about my 14 Ultra except the battery life being mediocre as hell. I was a bit hesitant knowing ut is 5410 instead of 6000 for the Chinese model. But I trust GSM, most reviewers said the 14 Ultra has good batter life 5 to 6 hours of SOT and ending with 30% is all non sense to me. GSM reported mediocre battery from the start. It is a major go for me

                                      Eduard33, 02 Mar 2025Not sure why you're so against the Oppo. It will have ... moreFind X7 Ultra's 3x already has the best portraits, not even next-gen ultras will beat it - except for FX8U. Not a single phone performed as good as FX7U (i tested it myself) when it comes to the depth of the face - it was unbeatable despite the nerfed selfie sensor. And saying OV32B is better lmao

                                      FX7U's 6x f/4.3 and camera software was catastrophic but FX8U should be better. They did reduce the denoise in fx7u but not the smoothing, that hopefully gets fixed too as they said it would..

                                        Wesker, 02 Mar 2025I wonder if my fellow car enthusiasts noticed that they use... moreXiaomi's flagships do not have ads as their entry-level propositions, so the UI experience is logically much better than on their cheaper models. And genuinely, people have just remained with this idea that Xiaomi's UI is bad. Yeah, it might not be to the level of Samsung's OneUI or Apple's iOS in terms of optimization and overall feel, but it's been greatly improved, especially with HyperOS. I see that on my Xiaomi 12

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