Xiaomi 15 Ultra review
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- Inedian
- L2r
- 04 Mar 2025
Aierlan, 04 Mar 2025Based on this review it seems that the cameras are outstand... moreI think it's just a matter of updates and it will improve greatly in video.
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- Inedian
- L2r
- 04 Mar 2025
153 on dxomark, would have a higher score if not among lowest score in video in a last few years for a flagship (lower than 13 Ultra, 14 Ultra and also Mi 11 Ultra). Video also wasn't praised here on GSM.
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- Aierlan
- Eaj
- 04 Mar 2025
Based on this review it seems that the cameras are outstanding for photos but not so hot for videos. The review of the video quality on the Xiaomi 15 seemed a lot more positive than the Xiaomi 15 ultra at least for the main camera. I think the larger sensors don't always translate to better video quality in the same way as they do for photos. It would be interesting to know if the team here feel that the video quality is actually better on the main camera of the Xiaomi 15 compared to the ultra. DXOMARK's camera review is fairly consistent with gsmarenas as the phone is number one for telephoto on the Dxomark ranking and one of the best for photos but the video score is not very good and drags down the overall mark. Maybe they will improve it with future OTAs though. IMO having watched numerous comparisons and played round with it myself, I still think the OPPO find x7 ultra is the top android phone I've tried for video (although maybe not as strong as some others for photos). The OPPO find x8 series also has top notch video quality despite the not so large sensors so I'm hopeful that the OPPO find x8 ultra should also be great for video quality. I'd expect the Xiaomi 15 ultra to improve with OTAs though as the Xiaomi 15 had a few updates for video which improved it and it's already been on the market for over 4 months China with quite a few updates and camera optimisations so the global model has already benefited from the optimisations they've done on the Chinese model before its launch. The Xiaomi 15 ultra has basically been launched simultaneously in China and globally so it'll probably be a couple of months before its had most of the major camera updates as typically camera updates tend to be not very common after the first few months.
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- Anonymous
- t@S
- 04 Mar 2025
Anonymous, 03 Mar 2025I just tried the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's periscope camera in... moreAmazing this guy keeps writing an absolute wall of texts that nobody is gonna read, bro we get that you do not care about photography and just wanna fixate on technical details
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- Anonymous
- PxV
- 04 Mar 2025
Anonymous, 03 Mar 2025I was waiting for this phone but apperantly thief xiaomi al... moreoh man. stealing charger before shipping is bad. LOL
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- Anonymous
- 4Zh
- 04 Mar 2025
Anonymous, 03 Mar 2025I just looked again at the photos I took with the Xiaomi 15... moreIt seems that Xiaomi does as Samsung - the camera app recognizes the number even if blurry and replace it with the same number as a text. This is not photography - it is glue.
There must be an option in the camera settings to prohibit this.
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- Anonymous
- JH0
- 03 Mar 2025
Anonymous, 03 Mar 2025I just tried the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's periscope camera in... moreI just looked again at the photos I took with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and I have to say that it would be very frustrating for me when I couldn't trust my own photos. On one photo, the 18x photo of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra displayed the number "300" and then I took the photo again and then it was rather "900". On the Pixel 7 Pro it was either so blurry that one couldn't recognize it or it was always a blurry 300 (300 was correct). So I can trust the results of the 7 Pro, but I can't trust the results of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. That's why it is so extremely important that one can save full resolution dng files (of course without machine learning baked in), but I guess that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's periscope only lets you save periscope dng files with 4-1 analog binning or 16-1 analog binning (not tested yet). By the way, the Pixel 9 Pro is more artificial as well (in comparison with the Pixel 7 Pro).
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- Anonymous
- JH0
- 03 Mar 2025
I just tried the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's periscope camera in a store. I don't have any previous experience with Xiaomi smartphones.
I compared it with my Pixel 7 Pro. The Pixel 7 Pro was at 15x in Night Sight mode. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra was at approximately 18x (400mm). The Xiaomi 15 Ultra had less noise, more contrast and some words could be read slightly easier, but it also looked slightly more artificial. For example the Xiaomi 15 Ultra displayed the number "4.05" even though it was in reality 4.35.
I had the impression that the main advantage of Xiaomi's periscope camera was the better signal to noise ratio of the periscope camera because the light conditions were not perfect in the store. And even then it wasn't a huge difference (and as I said the 15 Ultra was sometimes even more artificial).
I am not sure whether the Xiaomi 15 Ultra 's periscope would outperform the Pixel 7 Pro's 15x performance in perfect light conditions.
I noticed that apparently the Xiaomi 15 Ultra doesn't let you save dng files with a pixel size of 0.56 micrometer? One can not save 200 megapixel dng files and I guess (not tested yet) that even at 100x you can't save dng files with a 0.56 micrometer pixel size? So one would need to test how good the performance of the dng files is. It seems that the periscope camera is only a 50 megapixel camera when you shoot in raw.
I also noticed that apparently there is no dedicated night mode? So I don't know how good astrophotography would be.
By the way, I also compared the Pixel 7 Pro's periscope camera with the Honor Magic7 Pro (Magic7 Pro at 12x) and the Pixel 7 Pro definitely outperformed the Magic7 Pro, it was far less artificial. The difference between the Pixel 7 Pro and Magic7 Pro was bigger than the difference between the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Pixel 7 Pro.
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- Catrespecter
- nhq
- 03 Mar 2025
Will this phone camera capture the detail of cat fur better than competitors??
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- Anonymous
- nBh
- 03 Mar 2025
I was waiting for this phone but apperantly thief xiaomi also steals charger while sky rocketing price.
Time to go for oppo
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- Anonymous
- IYw
- 03 Mar 2025
I'm still wondering what the point of the 3x lens is. The sensor is so small you may as well just crop from the main sensor, or just use slightly deeper zoom at 4.3x and use the much larger periscope sensor.
- David 040882
- srr
- 03 Mar 2025
jiyen235, 03 Mar 2025sorry mr xiaomi sales rep, but im not gonna go for a phone ... moreHow dare you, Mr. Jiyen! Hurting Xiaomi's feelings like that! I'm sure they are rethinking their life choices just because of your comment. I did not expect something like that from you, Mr. Jiyen.... (🤣🤣🤣)
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- Aierlan
- XT1
- 03 Mar 2025
David 040882, 02 Mar 2025Xiaomi's flagships do not have ads as their entry-leve... moreAndroid authority's review mentions the system ads in the review and cons of the regular Xiaomi 15
What we like
Great main camera
Pocket-friendly size
Flat, bright screen
Plenty of base storage
Good update policy
Solid zoom camera
What we don't like
Overheats under heavy load
No protective glass on the back
HyperOS bloat and system ads
90W charging requires Xiaomi adapter
Middling ultrawide camera
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- Anonymous
- 0p}
- 03 Mar 2025
jiyen235, 03 Mar 2025sorry mr xiaomi sales rep, but im not gonna go for a phone ... moreIt's surprising that you say this, Mr. Jiyen. I've known you on this site for quite a while as a camera enthusiast. I know Xiaomi made up the focal length (according to my calculations, it's a 95mm lens, or 94.3mm lens, according to "Aierlan" yesterday), but that doesn't mean it's a bad camera setup.
Well, I'm not trying to change your mind though. But I don't think you should call Xiaomi "scammy" just for a 5mm (0.2x, 4.1x to 4.3x zoom) focal length zoom, that still produces details that are far more sharper than what the S25 Ultra can produce; meaning it's making use of some advanced algorithms to prevent a blotchy presentation.
Anyways, thanks, Mr. Jiyen! It was nice talking with you!
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- Anonymous
- xjH
- 03 Mar 2025
Some of the camera complaints GSMArena has will definitely be resolved via software updates.
For anyone still considering this beast, I'd say go for it. Your photos will thank you!
- jiyen235
- XQQ
- 03 Mar 2025
Anonymous, 03 Mar 2025You may be over thinking, Mr. Jiyen!
Give it a shot. Yes I... moresorry mr xiaomi sales rep, but im not gonna go for a phone that's trying to scam me. I make fun of Scamsung and im gonna hate on Xiaomi for that too.
Xiaomi? More like Scam mi lmao
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- Anonymous
- 0p}
- 03 Mar 2025
jiyen235, 03 Mar 2025was thinking of buying this phone but this sort of practice... moreYou may be over thinking, Mr. Jiyen!
Give it a shot. Yes I know it's a 94/95mm perisocpe being marketed as 100mm, but I'm fine with that, as long as it has decent image quality, which this one has!
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- Anonymous
- dMT
- 03 Mar 2025
jiyen235, 03 Mar 2025was thinking of buying this phone but this sort of practice... moreYou may be over thinking, distinguished Mr. Jiyen!
Give it a shot and I convince you; you'll love it!
Yes, I frown in disappointment with Xiaomi's poor marketing of a 94-95mm zoom lens, but it's fine, as long as the images aren't filled with tons of piss poor details!
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- ASL
- mDu
- 03 Mar 2025
"Two-way satellite communication" is this available for the European market model?