Xiaomi 15 Ultra review

Fancy new 200MP telephoto, the rest remains almost the same

Xiaomi did a lot of things right with the camera hardware on the 14 Ultra and there were limited avenues for improvement on the 15 Ultra. One avenue in particular was quite obvious - those 200MP telephotos we've been seeing here and there had to make their way to Xiaomi's ultimate cameraphone for this year.

Unlike competing efforts with the same sensor from vivo (85mm equivalent lens) and Honor (60/72mm, depending on how you count it), Xiaomi went with a longer lens - it's at 100mm, for a 4.3x zoom ratio from the main camera's 23mm.

You'd think that would make for too wide of a gap between the main camera and the telephoto, and that may be a problem on competitors that only have one zoom camera, but Xiaomi Ultras typically have two. For this generation, with the longer tele switching from 120mm to 100mm, the in-between shorter tele camera has been brought down a little to 70mm, making for a 3x/4.3x combo in place of last year's 3.2x/5x arrangement. We'd say it makes sense.

There's some other nuances here to do with the close-focusing capabilities of the telephoto cameras. The 4.3x module doesn't like anything closer than 40cm and is nowhere as impressive in this regard as the vivos (12cm on the X200 Pro). But the Xiaomi has the 3x unit to fall back on for near subjects and that camera can now go even a little closer than the 14 Ultra's 10cm - to the tune of 8.5-ish cm from the camera island. So the way we see it, Xiaomi went for a bit of extra reach on the big telephoto, sacrificing some close focusing, because they have the other telephoto for those miniature photo ops - vivo's single-tele approach had to find a different balance.

The 15 Ultra also has a main camera that's fancier than most, even if it's actually lost one defining feature this time - the variable aperture. Neither vivo nor Oppo will sell you a phone with a 1-inch ("-type") main sensor outside of China this year, and Huawei's rumored Pura 80 Ultra (if and when that shows up) will be challenged in the usual Google suite-less Android way. So it's looking like this Xiaomi is your best bet for a large-sensor main unit. The variable aperture being gone should't be that huge of a deal in practice.

The ultrawide camera looks like a minor downgrade, with a slightly smaller sensor, slightly dimmer lens and slightly narrower coverage. We'll have to wait and see how that affects the image quality.

• Wide (main): 50MP Sony LYT-900 (1", 1.6µm - 3.2µm), f/1.63, 23mm, dual-pixel PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; 8K@30fps/4K@120fps
• Ultrawide: 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JN5 (S5KJN5, 1/2.76", 0.64µm-1.128µm), f/2.2, 14mm, multi-directional PDAF; 8K@30fps/4K@60fps
• Telephoto 1, 3x: 50MP Sony IMX858 (1/2.51", 0.7µm-1.4µm), f/1.8, 70mm, dual-pixel PDAF (9cm - ∞), OIS; 8K@30fps/4K@60fps
• Telephoto 2, 4.3x: 200MP Samsung ISOCELL HP9 (S5KHP9, 1/1.4", 0.56µm-2.24µm), f/2.6, 100mm, multi-directional PDAF (40cm - ∞), OIS; 8K@30fps/4K@120fps
• Front camera: 32MP OmniVision OV32B40 (1/3.14", 0.7µm-1.4µm), f/2.0, 22mm, fixed focus; 4K@60fps

Daylight photo quality

Main camera

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra captures wonderful photos with its main camera in daylight. Dynamic range is excellent, the auto white balance is dependable, colors are vivid without going to extremes. Detail is nice and crisp, it's rendered naturally, and there's no noise spoiling shadows or areas of uniform color.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

People shots are pretty great too. Skin tones are lively and there's some natural blur from the large sensor/bright lens combo even without going into Portrait mode. Portrait mode itself is good too, though we're not so sure we understand the sort-of graininess of the now-blurred backgrounds.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), Photo mode

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), Portrait mode

The full-res mode on the main camera doesn't bring out any extra detail, we reckon.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP

On the other hand, the 15 Ultra's 2x results are truly excellent as well - there are no obvious signs of any digital trickery, and pixel-level detail is essentially as good as it is at 1x.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x)

2x shots of people are also great. The 46mm equivalent focal length is a lot better for general 'portraiture' than the 23mm native focal length of the main camera - it helps with framing, subject distance, facial proportions. The Portrait mode's rendition adds a bit of that film-like quality to the blurred backgrounds too.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x), Photo mode

Daylight samples, main camera (2x), Portrait mode

Telephoto camera, 3x

The shorter of the two telephotos delivers another round of excellent shots. The images have great detail and no noise at base/low ISOs (some grain can be seen at higher sensitivities, as expected). Colors and dynamic range are on point as well. The close focusing capability is another huge plus of this camera.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x)

The 70mm equivalent focal length is even better for shots of people and the camera does a solid job of it.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), Photo mode

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), Portrait mode

Here's how the same scenes look when shot at the full resolution - we're not seeing extra detail, but you can look for yourselves.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (3x), 50MP

Telephoto camera, 4.3x

The new 4.3x telephoto comes next and it's predictably wonderful. It captures excellent detail and keeps noise at bay. Colors are looking great as well, and we have no complaints about dynamic range either.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (4.3x)

Sure enough, the 100mm focal length works great for photos of people, and at this point the Portrait mode's added blur seems almost redundant.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (4.3x), Photo mode

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (4.3x), Portrait mode

The telephoto offers two higher resolution levels. The 50MP mode is actually quite alright and you can use it to try and extract more detail out of a scene - depending on scene and lighting. The 200MP mode doesn't typically bring anything on top of that, though there might be scenes where you could convince yourselves there's more in those shots.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (4.3x), 50MP

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (4.3x), 200MP

You can go ahead and tap on the 4.3x button and the Xiaomi will go to 8.6x zoom, or 200mm equivalent. These shots also maintain an excellent level of detail.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (8.6x)

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide will not be letting you down either. It captures great-looking shots with nicely rendered detail, wide dynamic range and pleasing colors.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

That said, the 50MP mode isn't very useful, though we wouldn't be too worried about that.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x), 50MP

Selfies

Selfies on the Xiaomi 15 Ultra aren't getting us all excited, as predicted. They do have nice colors and dynamic range, but we continue to not understand the push for 32MP images. Downsized to, say, 12MP, they do have pretty good detail, so if you can condition yourselves to expect that much resolution, you'll probably be happy. The lack of autofocus means no weird closeups though.

Selfie samples

Low-light photo quality

Main camera

In the dark, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's main camera turns in expert-level results. It exposes well and delivers well developed shadows and highlights, while also managing to maintain pretty high contrast. The auto white balance doesn't mind weird lighting and remains dependable, and color saturation is very well judged (save for that fifth scene that has a bit of bleached vibe to it).

Low-light samples, main camera (1x)

At 2x zoom, the photos aren't nearly as impressive as they were during the day, with a noticeable softness preventing them from truly shining. They're alright, just not great.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x)

Telephoto camera, 3x

The short telephoto will make you happier, its photos having very good sharpness and detail in most scenes. Dynamic range is very good and colors aren't half bad either - that pesky fifth scene is a bit more closely aligned with the truth than the main camera's rendition.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (3x)

Telephoto camera, 4.3x

The longer tele further improves on that impression, bringing dark facades even closer and doing so in nicely fine detail. Colors are great and dynamic range is also quite wide. Perhaps a nudge in the shadows would make these a little better for some folks, but it's not necessarily an objective complaint.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (4.3x)

Zoom in 2x further, and the large sensor is doing a decent job, though examining the shots at 1:1 you see they've gotten noticeably softer. The fourth scene could have been a stop brighter too.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (8.6x)

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide camera of the 15 Ultra is taking nicer shots in the dark than what the old model could do. There's an improvement in dynamic range, and sharpness is also up a notch. Overall, a solid showing.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.6x)

Video recording

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra can record video up to 8K30 with all of its rear cameras. 4K120 is available on the main camera and the 4.3x telephoto, while the ultrawide and the 3x telephoto max out at 4K60, as does the selfie camera.

The usual selection of h.264 and h.265 codecs is available. Dolby Vision capture is on the menu as well - up to 4K60 on all rear cameras and up to 4K30 on the front-facing one.

There's a motion tracking AF toggle in settings (and it can be both automatic and double-tap-to-acquire), and there's a spatial audio capture capability. Sure enough, there's always-on regular video stabilization, and then there's a 'ShootSteady' mode up to 2.8K30.

A Pro video mode is also part of the feature set, with manual exposure controls, LOG recording, LUT support, and a tiny waveform. There's no 24fps mode though, for some reason.

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.

Video sample playlist

Video quality from the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is generally very good. During the day, all cameras capture noise-free footage that's well detailed, but still missing that ultimate edge. Contrast and colors have been toned down a little coming from the previous generation, making for a somewhat more 'mature' rendition, though we may have preferred a slightly more enthusiastic overall vibe. Or it could be the time of the year and the weather we've been having. Either way, the quality is consistent between all cameras, it's just not the absolute best quality - the 14 Ultra somehow looks just a little bit nicer at most zoom levels (2x and 10x are notably better on the 15 Ultra).

In the dark, the 15 Ultra does alright but once again fails to impress. The main camera's quality is quite good, and so too is the 4.3x telephoto, but the rest of it is unremarkable.

Stabilization is in a similar state of being a notch below what's expected - we're getting these slight tremors from walking shake that we've gotten used to not seeing recently. Pans are otherwise smooth and just standing in one place pointing the phone in one direction results in quite stable footage.