Xiaomi presents two new upper class smartphones in Barcelona, which are supposed to represent a “great moment of photography”. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra in particular has a powerful four-time camera with two telephoto lenses on the back. The hardly weaker Xiaomi 15 is a compact alternative.
The biggest show at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona delivered the Chinese technology giant Xiaomi as in the past year. He presented an entire range of devices, which include new tablets and earphones, a smartwatch and an e-scooter. The stars on stage were of course the new smartphone flagships Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra.
Xiaomi 15
Similar to the Samsung Galaxy-S25 devices, Xiaomis looks very similar to the predecessors. There are only small changes in detail in the design that you cannot always see with the naked eye. The Xiaomi 15 with 192 grams weighs a gram less than 14 and with 152.3 x 71.2 x 8.08 millimeters is still a tiny little more compact.
The smartphone, according to IP68, has a 6.36-inch AMOLED screen, which occupies 94 percent of the front as before. It is very sharp with 460 pixels per inch (PPI) and offers refreshment frequencies from 1 to 120 Hertz (Hz). The first impression of the display is excellent.
More strength, larger battery
The smartphone is driven by Qualcomm's current top chip Snapdragon 8 Elite, which has 12 gigabytes (GB) RAM (LPDDR5X) at its side. The flash memory (UFS 4.0) is either 256 or 512 GB. The battery has grown from 4610 to a whopping 5240 millia emice hours (MAH) and can be loaded rapidly with the supplied power supply with up to 90 watts (W). With optional accessories, 50 W are possible inductively. The radio standards are up to date with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0.
Despite a relatively large screen, the Xiaomi 15 is a pleasantly compact smartphone.
(Photo: Xiaomi)
On the back, the Xiaomi 15 has a triple camera that is equipped with Leica-Summilux lenses. The 23 mm main camera dissolves with up to 50 megapixels (MP), is optically stabilized (OIS) and has a bright aperture f/1.62. There is also a triple visually enlarged 60 mm telecamera (50 MP/F/2.0/OIS) as well as a 14 mm ultra-angle camera (50 MP/f/2.2). The front camera offers 32 MP and the aperture f/2.0.
With the main camera, 4K recordings with up to 60 frames per second (FPS) are possible, at 8K it is 30 fps. There is a special cinema mode, automatic focus changes and recordings in Dolby Vision are possible.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
The display of the Ultra is 6.73 inches in size and with 522 PPI even sharper than the screen of the standard model. The dimensions of the smartphone have remained almost unchanged, but the device has become seven grams heavier and now weighs 226 grams. This is largely due to the battery, which now holds 5410 instead of 5000 mAh.
Together with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which should not only be more, but also more efficient than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 of the 14, you can expect a high endurance of both newbies. At the Ultra, the CHIP has 16 GB of RAM and you have the selection between 512 GB and 1 terabyte (TB) large flash memory.
The mighty, round camera island is no longer so blatant from the back, which is due to a gentler transition, which Xiaomi calls “volcanic”. In the Ultra, the 50 MP main camera (f/1.63) has an adjustable focal length, whereby you can choose between 23, 28 and 35 millimeters.
Periscope camera with 200 MP
In addition to a 70 mm telephoto lens (50 MP/F/1.8/OIS), the Xiaomi Ultra also has a 100 mm camera (f/2.6/ois) with periscop lens. With a resolution of up to 200 MP, it has many reserves for the digital zoom. In addition, as with the standard model, there is a 14 mm ultra wake angle camera (50 MP/f/2.2). Both the main and the periscope camera can absorb 4K videos with 120 fps for slow motion.
Here you can see the structure of a periscope camera.
(Photo: Xiaomi)
For photographic kit, Xiaomi also offers a photography kit for the 15 Ultra. It is a case in the classic camera look with additional battery (2000 mAh), removable thumb supports and trigger buttons as well as a 67-millimeter filter adapter ring.
AI should not be missing
Of course, Xiaomi's new flagships also have various AI skills. As with other Android cars, you can call the Google Gemini switch on long pressure. The AI Creativity Assistant provides help for photo and video editing. This includes tools to improve the recording, to expand the image or to remove disruptive elements and reflexes. There are also tools for combining, transcribing or translating text. Further AI functions should follow.
The Xiaomi 15 is now available with 265 GB flash memory for almost 1000 euros, the 512 GB variant costs around 1100 euros. For the Xiaomi 15 Ultra with 512 GB you have to leaf around 1500 euros, for the device with 1 TB the recommended retail price is around 1700 euros.
Offers for early buyers
For early customers, there are some interesting bundle offers in the manufacturer's shop Mi.com by March 16. So you get the 1 TB Ultra for the price of the 512 GB model. “As long as the stock lasts”, there is also a projector worth almost 200 euros. You get it on the same conditions when buying an Xiaomi 15 Ultra with 512 GB.
For the ultra, you can also get a photography kit for around 100 euros during the campaign period, which otherwise costs around 200 euros. Buyers of a standard model with 512 GB receive an Xiaomi Watch S4 (160 euros) in the bundle until March 16. Only the projector is offered for the 256 GB variant. For its new smartphone flagships, Xiaomi grants four years of Android updates and six years of security updates.
