Xiaomi 15T review
Display
Xiaomi rarely skimps on display technology, and the Xiaomi 15T is no exception. It features a large 6.83-inch AMOLED display with 12-bit color depth, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision certification, and an advertised peak brightness of 3200 nits. All of these traits are actually shared with the Xiaomi 15T Pro. The one thing the Pro model does better, so to speak, is the 144Hz refresh rate. That only matters in a very limited capacity, specifically in certain gaming scenarios. So, we don't actually think you are missing much.
Naturally, we conducted our standardized brightness testing, achieving approximately 618 nits of brightness by maxing out the slider with brightness boost enabled. In automatic mode with a bright light source, the phone managed a very respectable 1525 nits.
In practice, we found that the Xiaomi 15T is perfectly usable even in bright sunlight.
Max display brightness test
White test pattern, 75% fill (nits)
- Manual mode
- Auto mode
Infinix GT 30 Pro
Motorola Edge 60 Pro
Honor 400
Xiaomi 15T
Xiaomi 15
Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G
Oppo F7
As already mentioned, the Xiaomi 15T can refresh at up to 120Hz. It uses standard LTPS tech and not LTPO, so there is no truly dynamic adjustment. In software, the phone reports that it can refresh at 30Hz, 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz. In terms of settings, you can either leave the phone in its "default" mode, which features an adaptive refresh rate, or you can set a custom refresh rate - 60Hz or 120Hz. 60Hz simply locks the phone at 60Hz, while 120Hz acts much like the default mode.
In practice, the Xiaomi 15T appears to refresh at 120Hz when something is happening on the screen or you are interacting with it. In all other circumstances, the phone seems to drop down to 60Hz. Certain apps, such as YouTube, run at 60Hz to conserve power. We never actually saw the Xiaomi 15T work at either 30Hz or 90Hz.
As mentioned, the Xiaomi 15T is certified for Dolby Vision and HDR10+. In software, it reports decoder support for all four major HDR formats, including HDR10, HDR10+, HLG and Dolby Vision.
Battery life
The Xiaomi 15T features a relatively large 5,500 mAh battery. Still, the capacity is not extreme or anything to phone home about.
In our standardized testing, the phone achieved a commendable Active Use Score of nearly 15 hours. It still fell a bit short of the 16.5 hours managed by the Xiaomi 15T Pro. Even so, the Xiaomi 15T managed admirable battery endurance that should last comfortably throughout the day.
Charging speed
Seeing how the Xiaomi 15T is not a flagship device, some cutbacks are inevitable here and there, and one such example is the 67W fast charging tech. Xiaomi has already surpassed this standard on many of its devices, not just flagship-caliber ones. For example, the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ features 120W HyperCharge support, resulting in significantly faster charge times.
The Xiaomi 15T holds its own, but falls short in the charging department. Fifteen minutes on the charger resulted in a 39% charge, and thirty minutes yielded a 69% charge. A full charge took approximately fifty-one minutes.
Charging speed
- in 15 min
- in 30 min
- Time to full charge (from 0%)
Redmi Note 14 Pro+ (Global)
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
vivo v60
Xiaomi 15T
Galaxy A56
Realme 15 Pro
Infinix GT 30 Pro
Speakers - loudness and quality
The Xiaomi 15T offers a typical hybrid stereo speaker setup. It's comprised of two speakers placed on the top and bottom sides behind dedicated grilles. The top speaker also acts as an earpiece, which is why it has an additional front-facing outlet.
The balance is great, even though the bottom speaker naturally produces louder and richer output.
The speakers scored a Very Good mark on our test. The audio quality is good, with a well-presented high range and sufficient bass for its size, but the vocals could have been improved.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Connectivity
The Xiaomi 15T supports SA/NSA Sub-6 5G connectivity. It is a dual-SIM device with two physical Nano-SIM slots on the same tray. In case you were wondering, there are no other slots on the tray, so it does not offer expandable storage. You do get eSIM support. You can have a maximum of two active SIM cards at a time, whether physical, eSIM, or a combination of the two.
The Xiaomi 15T features robust location services, including GPS (L1+L5), BDS (B1I+B1c+B2a), Galileo (E1+E5a), QZSS (L1+L5), NavIC (L5), and GLONASS. Tri-band Wi-Fi 6E handles local connectivity. That means you get access to the still pretty vacant 6GHz band.
There is Bluetooth 6.0 with LE support, also NFC in some markets and an IR blaster, hidden in the rear camera island. No FM radio or a 3.5mm audio jack. The Type-C port is backed up by a simple USB 2.0 data connection, which means a theoretical data transfer cap of 480 Mbps. There are no additional fancy features, such as video output over USB Alt mode. You do still get USB Host/OTG.
In terms of sensors, the Xiaomi 15T features a TDK ICM45621 accelerometer and gyroscope combo, a MEMSIC MMC5603 magnetometer and compass combo, and an AMS TSL2522 light sensor. Unfortunately, there is no hardware proximity sensor. You just get a virtual Elliptic Labs implementation, which works decently well for turning off the display during calls, but is still not perfect. It's somewhat unfortunate that Xiaomi skimped on a hardware proximity sensor for an otherwise feature-rich device.
Reader comments
- Tim
- 31 Oct 2025
- D6J
Thank you for the really comprehensive review. I am travelling to spain this week. Please provide recommendation on the free tablet option ?
- CQ
- 31 Oct 2025
- Kg1
Xiaomi official site confirms it has a hardware proximity sensor, though the review mentions otherwise, anyone else can confirm?