Xiaomi is a growing force in Android smartphones and the company has announced two new handsets with lots of power features for photographers, the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
The Xiaomi 15 Utra is an update of last year’s Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which we named as the best advanced phone for smartphone photography and a genuine iPhone killer.
As with the 14 Ultra, the 15 Ultra features a one-inch sensor and Leica Summilux-branded sensor.
The Leica partnership seems as strong as ever, with Leica Camera CEO Matthias Harsch turning up in person for the phone’s official launch in Barcelona today.
Update: Xiaomi has also just announced a new modular lens for the 15 series phones! More details to be announced at the Mobile World Congress show tomorrow….
The new Xiaomi 15 Ultra in more detail
While the Xiaomi 15 Ultra contains the same 50MP Sony LYT-900 sensor as the 14 Ultra, the main camera now has a fixed aperture of f/1.63, compared to the variable f/1.63-f/4.0 aperture of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s main lens.
Other key changes include an extension of the equivalent focal length on the 50MP ultrawide camera to 14mm from 12mm. The aperture has also been narrowed to f/2.2 from f/1.8.
There are two zoom lenses, the first being a 50MP / 70mm equivalent floating telephoto camera, with an f/1.8 maximum aperture, the second being a 4.3x periscope lens, which, although slightly ‘shorter’ at 100mm is now 200MP rather than 50MP.
Video features include 8K recording at up to 30fps and 4K at up to 120fps, with neat extras such as Dolby Vision and ultra-image stabilisation. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is powered by an upgraded Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and bigger 5410 mAh battery which enables over 14 hours of constant use.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra key features
• 50MP f/1.63 23mm equivalent camera with one-inch Sony LYT-900 sensor
• 50MP f/2.2 14mm equivalent ultrawide camera
• 50MP f/1.8 70mm equivalent 3x floating telephoto camera
• 200MP f/2.6 100mm 4.3x periscope telephoto camera
• 8K video at up to 30fps
• 4K video at up to 120fps
• 6.73-inch, 3200x1400pixel, 3200 nits peak brightness, 120Hz AMOLED screen
• 5410mAh battery with fast and wireless charging
• Xiaomi Hyper OS 2 operating system, based on Android 15
• Snapdragon 8 Elite processor
• £,1,499 (16GB, 1TB of storage)
• £1,299 (16GB, 512GB of storage)
See our smartphone editor Amy Davies’ in-depth review of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
The new Xiaomi 15
Xiaomi has also updated this phone, which sits below the 15 Ultra in the company’s higher-end flagship range.
As with the Xiaomi 14, there is a triple Leica Summilux-branded camera set-up. The main difference between the 14 and 15 is a slightly larger aperture on the main lens, but a lot of back-end AI algorithms have also been improved.
A key example is an AI program designed to enhance images of the golden hour around sunrise and sunset.
While the new golden hour mode works in the background, the best way to access it is to use Portrait mode on the phone app, with ‘HDR’ activated in the settings, according to Xiaomi.
The 15 also gets a bigger battery.
Xiaomi 15 key features
- 50MP f/1.63 23mm equivalent camera with 1/1.3” Light Fusion 900 sensor
- 50MP f/2.2 14mm equivalent ultrawide camera
- 50MP f/2.0 60mm equivalent 2.6x floating telephoto camera
- 32MP f/2.0 selfie camera, 21mm equivalent
- 8K video at up to 30fps
- 4K video at up to 60fps
- 6.36-inch, 2670x1200pixel, 3200 nits peak brightness, 120Hz AMOLED screen
- 5240mAh battery with fast and wireless charging
- Xiaomi Hyper OS 2 operating system, based on Android 15
- Snapdragon 8 Elite processor
- £899 (12GB and 256GB of storage).
- £999 (12GB and 512GB of storage).
Again, see Amy Davies’s in-depth review of the Xiaomi 15, and check out our review of the more mid-range Xiaomi 14T Pro if you want the benefit of Leica-branded lenses but also want to save a bit of cash.
