Xiaomi 15 review

02 March 2025


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David 040882, 02 Mar 2025Wait, so if the 15 Ultra uses this new, more efficient disp... morei think it's cus of the bigger screen. Larger screens soak up more energy and you also have to keep in mind that the xiaomi 15 is an FHD+ screen whereas the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is a QHD one.

So basically, the 15 Ultra is 0.41 inches larger and has a higher resolution display YET it only has a 170 mah larger battery. Idk man, it seems like the display doing the heavy lifting to me. What do you think?

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    • Anonymous
    • I@H
    • 02 Mar 2025

    jiyen235, 02 Mar 2025interesting that gsmarena put the s25+ instead of the s25 i... moreMaybe because this phone is just as heavy as the S25 Plus and significantly thicker.

    In terms of dimensions among compact phones S25 is by far the lightest, smallest, and thinnest. The Xiaomi 15 is a brick compared to it.

      Darth Caesium, 02 Mar 2025That's fair, but it's still a bad deal as long as... morei don't really see a periscope as a must have. All i care about is sheer quality, idc if a phone has a 20" sensor a 0.2" one, if one has better quality then im choosing that.

      And yeah the find x8 is giving you a better telephoto cam but look at the main cam ;) It's the same size as the A55/S25. And look at the phone's size, it's not as small as the Xiaomi. So yeah bro, Xiaomi's got the lead, they know it, and they're just gonna milk customers. I just wish they made an actually decent phone with a proper selfie cam. It's 2025, why are we still using the Find X3 Pro's, a 2021 phone's, selfie cam?

        jiyen235, 02 Mar 2025TCL and Xiaomi have developed a more efficient display tech... moreWait, so if the 15 Ultra uses this new, more efficient display, how is it that the overall battery endurance is pretty much the same as with the vanilla 15 model? Something doesn't add up. Either the vanilla model also uses this new display tech or GSMArena's results are wrong.

          David 040882, 02 Mar 2025It's great to see battery life being improved finally ... moreTCL and Xiaomi have developed a more efficient display tech and the 15 Ultra is using it but not the Xiaomi 15, or at least the 15 Pro doesn't use it so im assuming the 15 doesn't either. The wattage measurements are as follows (From HuashengTest on YT) :

          0.56 W for the 15 Pro
          0.51 W for the 15 Ultra

          Thus i believe they're holding back with the base models and are looking to truly upgrade next year. Only the gaming test is a true upgrade and that one is not that reliable on gsmarena imo, compared to other tests it just does not match up. But look at the video and web browsing tests, 600 mah more and a new chip yet such a small difference. The display upgrade will bring the real change, and since they already have bigger capacities this year, the display upgrade changes will give them an extra year of "innovations"/"refinements". I think this year is just a stepping stone.

            jiyen235, 02 Mar 2025when there's no proper competition and you're the... moreThat's fair, but it's still a bad deal as long as the telephoto doesn't have a periscope lens and isn't at least as competitive as the Oppo Find X8's 3× periscope. That one's periscope does have lens clarity issues because of the W-style of lens used, and the processing is not always great, but it's still better than this.

              Darth Caesium, 02 Mar 2025The cameras are meh and it's clear that Xiaomi is stag... morewhen there's no proper competition and you're the best already, why bother?

              The X200 Pro Mini aint going global, and people are up in arms over its "mini" naming scheme so the reputation of phones like that aint gonna be the best. So what do you think is gonna happen now? Brands like Xiaomi are going to take advantage of the situation and do the least for the most buck.

              And I don't think the telephoto cam is too bad, I just think the processing is just super hit or miss, they're going too far with the processing at times whereas in other instances it's a perfect balance. As i suspected, they're going for a more artificial/processed look than last year but even then, i find the photos acceptable/good in a few instances but bad in a few others. For example, i have no issues at all with the 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th night mode shots but the others just look horrible. Aggressive NR and a high ISO led to those shots and although they aren't Samsung level bad, they're still bad. If the phone always took shots like the ones i liked, then i think it's good enough for the price but if it takes more shots i think are horrible than the ones i liked then this is just a bad deal. Perhaps updates can fix it.

              Honestly tho, the only things that i can complain about on this phone are the selfie cam, which imo is just not it, the UW cam not being a JN5 and finally this not coming out with 512 GB for 1000 euros. I think 1000+ dollar/euro phones should come with 512 GB as base and we should expect autofocusing selfie cams at a minimum.

              So yeah friend, what do you think?

                The cameras are meh and it's clear that Xiaomi is stagnating with their vanilla and Pro flagships. At the very least, this phone should've gotten a JN5 ultrawide with autofocus and a very close minimum focusing distance for macro; a LYT-600 3× periscope with 8cm minimum focusing distance; and a JN5 selfie. GSMArena is excusing Xiaomi for the inexcusable, and commending them for their "efforts" in putting "good" cameras in a compact space when there is most definitely more space for good cameras.

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                  • marwis
                  • mNn
                  • 02 Mar 2025

                  jiyen235, 02 Mar 2025interesting that gsmarena put the s25+ instead of the s25 i... moreCloser in weight?

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                    • Jab
                    • MNq
                    • 02 Mar 2025

                    Ok. It should even have aptx lossless.

                      interesting that gsmarena put the s25+ instead of the s25 in the battery charts by default, i wonder why

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                        • Anonymous
                        • mAS
                        • 02 Mar 2025

                        Price is THE big problem here. Somehow, Samsung managed to lock down the compact flagship choice since the S24 came out.

                        Firstly, today a comparable S25 can be had for less than this Xiaomi 15 and while the S25 has slightly lesser hardware, it's still very high end, is more compact, has 7! years of updates and a VERY strong brand. That makes the Xiaomi 15 DOA to most.

                        Secondly, as time goes by things only get more in favor of Samsung. We can see it by comparing last year's variants of these phones. Today the 256 GB S24 is less expensive than the 256 GB Xiaomi 14 and the overall comparison between the two is very similar to that of the latest variants except today the S24 still has 6 years of updates ahead while the Xiaomi 14 only has 4 years left. Massive advantage towards the S24 and looks like the trend will apply to the S25 vs Xiaomi 15 relationship going forward.

                        Xiaomi needs to undercut Samsung by a LOT to steer rational people away from that choice.

                        How even is a Samsung flagship the better value choice, after many years of their flagships being lol-overpriced? If I want to get a compact flagship today, it's not even close, I get an S24. It's a year old but still very good, has 6 years of updates left and costs €630 for the 256GB variant, maybe even less if I really hunt for a megadeal or settle for the 128 GB variant.

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                          • Anonymous
                          • I2Y
                          • 02 Mar 2025

                          great device but honestly i'm just surprised it costs that much in Europe considering it's less than 800 bucks in some other markets like SEA (Malaysia and whatnot)

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                            • Al Ex
                            • skx
                            • 02 Mar 2025

                            I wish you guys would test charging with standard charger.
                            If the charger isn't included in the pack, it should either be listed with the price including the charger or with the charging rate with a standard charger.

                              Impressive battery life, but that was known long before. The Chinese version scored very high in reviews.
                              Great compact flagship.

                                It's great to see battery life being improved finally on Xiaomi smartphones. But I still cannot ignore the fact that the Chinese versions get the bigger battery and how much better endurance they probably get

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