My Xiaomi 15 Ultra Review: The perfect replacement for a camera

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is the top of the range phone by Xiaomi. It was released just last February 2025, and has earned a lot of attention from smartphone users.

Thanks to Xiaomi, I was loaned a the Silver Chrome unit for this review and here’s my personal take on the phone they dub as offering ‘Pinnacle photography’.

Main highlights

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra main highlights is in its camera system which is headlined by a Leica Summilux optical lens.

The lens brings along impressive image quality, exceptional detail, dynamic range, and low-light performance.

It is co-engineered with Leica, and is a key contributor to the camera’s ability to capture stunning, professional-grade photos.

Beyond the camera, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra boasts a premium look and feel, made with a combination of metal and glass that results in a solid and luxurious in-hand experience.

The inclusion of Xiaomi Shield Glass adds another layer of durability, enhancing the phone’s resistance to scratches and impacts.

The software experience is also a major talking point, with HyperOS 2 and its integrated AI features.

HyperOS 2 is a significant step forward for Xiaomi, as it offers a smooth and intuitive user interface.

The AI capabilities and integration into the camera system are also major highlights with features like scene recognition, object tracking, and advanced computational photography, all which play a crucial role in delivering exceptional image quality.

Design, Build Quality and Durability

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra presents a striking design that emphasizes both premium materials and functional camera capabilities.

The device features a large, circular camera module that dominates the rear, signaling its focus on photography, and indirectly helps ‘hold’ the device in place when I scroll or use the phone in portrait style.

This module houses multiple lenses, including a periscope telephoto, and is constructed with high-quality materials like ceramic or titanium, contributing to a luxurious feel.

The front of the phone is dominated by a curved 6.73″ AMOLED display with minimal bezels.

The design of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra dual tone silver chrome comes with a ‘leather-like’ black finish half which is not only a very nice touch, but something I love to see as it resembles a classic camera.

In fact, out of all smartphones featuring a massive circular camera module, this is the one that looks most attractive to the extend it’s a pitty to hide the back behind any casing.

Despite being on the heavy side (at 226g) compared to most of today’s smartphones, the phone comes with reinforced glass and metal frames to ensure it can withstand daily wear and tear.

It also boasts an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, offering additional protection against environmental hazards and ensures I am not worried when I travel to places which may get it wet.

Xiaomi also bundled me the Xiaomi 15 Ultra Photography Kit for this review, and it not only enhances the look of the phone by adding in a very neat looking case, decorative adapter ring, but also included a special Detachable Thumb Support, and Photography Grip which automatically improves photography handling with the phone by a huge margin.

Screen & Display

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra 6.7-inch AMOLED screen has an exceptional display that produces vibrant colors and deep blacks.

The curved screen allows immersive visual experience when watching videos of movies thanks to its consistent color accuracy and calibration as well as HDR10+ and Dolby Vission support.

An ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is housed under the screeen, allowing instant unlocking of the phone upon touch regardless of lighting conditions. It also comes with Always-active Display which feature a full lock screen content.

Scrolling and animations are very smooth with its peak 120Hz refresh rate, enhancing overall usability. It’s clear under sunlight thanks to the 3200 nits multi-scenario peak brigtness, and offers immersive viewing experience for both video watching as well as gaming.

The screen also has Wet touch technology which allows me to use the phone even when my fingers are wet. – This tech proved very handy when I brough the phone to a waterpark last weekend.

In addition, the display also comes TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light (Hardware Solution) Certified, TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free Certified, TÜV Rheinland Circadian Friendly Certified and has 1920Hz PWM dimming for added eye protection.

Audio System

In the audio department, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra delivers robust audio experience with its stereo speaker setup.

The sound produced is clear and balance with a decent representation of bass, mids, and highs.

The bass isn’t exceptionally deep, but it’s sufficient for me. Like most smartphones however, the rear speakers can experience accidental blockage during usage due to its location.

Beyond the speakers, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra also supports Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res & Hi-Res Wireless, allowing impressive sound quality even when using wireless devices.

Processor, RAM & Storage

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is powered by the latest flagship Snapdragon® 8 Elite Mobile Platform processor.

The processors translates to the device being able to handle demanding tasks like gaming, video editing, and multitasking with ease.

Its capabilities is shown as the phone is able to maintain sustained performance without significant thermal throttling which is often noted in smartphones.

I was made to undertand that Xiaomi implemendted the next-genration Wing-Shaped 3D Dual-Channel IceLoop cooling system which boast a massive 5100mm square cooling area.

I tried making a couple TikTok videos using this phone, and I was pleasently happy with how fast each video was finalized as compared to my iPhone.

Storage options for the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is also generous with 512GB UFS 4.1 storage provided at hand.

If you need more than that, there’s no microSD card so you need to turn to cloud storage to increase capacity.

Software

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra runs on Xiaomi HyperOS 2, built on top of the latest Android operating system, with tonnes of AI capabalities activated via the Xiaomi HyperOS 2.

The extensive customization options this HyperOS 2 offers allow me to personalize my device to my liking.

The availability of pre-installed apps and services however remain my major annoyance with Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2.

Nonetheles, there’s advanced gesture controls, a robust file manager, and and a built-in screen recording tools. There’s also no less than 40 toggle options to choose from, allowing fast access to key and important features.

The integration of Xiaomi’s ecosystem of devices and services is also a key aspect of the software, as it allows seamless interaction with other Xiaomi products such as the Mi Pad 7 I was also reviewing at the same time.

This integration meant I could ditch my smaller screen Xiaomi 15 Ultra for the bigger sized Mi Pad 7 if I needed more space, a proper keyboard as well as a pen to finish up my work, or finish my task on the Xioami 15 Ultra if I needed to run with limited space to carry the tab.

In addition, there’s also Quick Share which works like Apple’s Air Drop, allowing me to share documents and files with ease.

To top it off, Xiaomi made it a point to make both Gemini Overlay and Gemini Live available in the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, making conversation with Gemini and information finding more seamless when using the phone.

Also available through Xiaomi HyperOS 2 is AI Dynamic Wallpaper and AI Cinematic Lock Screen, both making greater impression for the phone’s wallpaper and lock screen, with other AI functions like an upgraded AI Writing, AI Recorder, AI Interpreter, AI Photo Edit and AI Film also being among the few AI features in this premium phone.

The abundance of AI functions mean more task can be completed with the phone, allowing me to optimize the use of AI in my daily life.

Camera Capabilities

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s camera system is undoubtedly its headline feature, aiming to redefine mobile photography and surely it did.

I won’t get into the technical details of the camera here because I’m not really a huge buzz on those numbers and figures, but suffice to say that overall, the multi-lens setup which includes a ultra-wide, telephoto, and periscope telephoto lens, offers versatility for various shooting scenarios that makes this phone the phone to beat when it comes to photography.

The telephoto lens, particularly the periscope have impressive zoom capabilities, allowing for clear and detailed shots at significant distances. It is so impressive that almost every shot I took came out to my liking; including the ones which were taken while I was on the move!

This can be seen though the photo below, arranged from 0.6X up to 120X zoom.

In addition, Xiaomi’s image processing, co-engineered with Leica, delivers vibrant and natural-looking images, with accurate color reproduction and minimal noise.

Daylight shots come out very strong with vibrant and accurate colours captured very neatly even despite a lot of movement. This can be seen in the photos below which I shot during a recent trip to a local waterpark. – The fact the phone is also IP68 meant I didn’t have to worry about the phone getting wet as well.

Potrait shots also come out strongly good, equally what you expect from a DSLR camera, minus the need to re-touch the photos afterwards as you can see below.

Here, the improved Xiaomi AISP 2.0 can really be felt as potrait photos are quickly processed even after taking the photo. I think I’ve never enjoyed taking potrait photos as much with a smartphone until I used the Xiaomi 15 Ultra because its so easy to get the desired results despite being quite far from an object, and not using any tripod.

For animal shots, details are equally impressive, despite not using any tripod, and using the zoom when taken using the Xiaomi 15 Ultra as seen below.

At night, results also appear significantly better than smartphones I’ve used prior to this, reflecting impressive images without any or much grain in every shot.

In addition, that need to wait for night photos to be taken or processed is also much reduced with night photos coming out as seen below.

Food shots also come out great with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra as you can notice below. Shooting was very easy as I just had to point and shoot.

If any photo was shot with imperfections, the availability of AI functions through Xiaomi HyperAi such as AI Erase Pro, AI Remove Reflection, AI Image Enhancement and AI Image Expansion would help fix these photos as the sample below shows.

Video recording is also a strong point, with high-resolution recording and excellent stabilization. To see how the Xiaomi 15 Ultra performs for vlogging, check the VIDEO HERE.

I noted that during the recording of the video, AI helped improve recording with Smart noise reduction.

However, the camera system isn’t without its quirks. Image processing can sometimes be overly aggressive, leading to artificial-looking results in certain situations.

The zoom capabilities are excellent but transition between lenses can sometimes be noticeable. I also noticed that getting macro shots was easier from a distance as moving too close to the object sometimes failed to get the desired results.

Despite these drawbacks, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s camera performance is undeniably top-tier, making it highly recommended for those seeking camera-grade results through a smartphone.

In fact, I would think that this could easily replace any DSLR out there.

Battery Life and Charging

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra generally delivers commendable battery life, thanks to a combination of a large-capacity battery and software optimizations.

During my use, the 5,419mAh battery lasted through a full day of moderate to heavy use which includes tasks like browsing, video streaming, and gaming.

When out of juice, the 90W HyperCharge charging block which accompanies the phone in he packages charges the phone rather instantly. The phone also supports 80W of wireless HyperCharge.

And in case you are wondering, Xiaomi ships the Xiomi 15 Ultra with the 90W charging block in Malaysia. If you opt to get the Photography Kit as well, the Grip can also acts as a battery.

Final Verdict

In case you are wondering the Xiaomi 15 Ultra comes in two separate pricing, depending on which variant is bought.

The 16GB + 1TB variant is priced at RM5,699 while the 16GB + 512GB variant is RM500 less at RM5,199.

Personally, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is a smartphone designed for users who prioritize exceptional mobile photography above all else an is truly ideal for photography enthusiasts and even professionals looking for a versatile camera in their pocket.

Beyond photography, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra also caters to users who appreciate a premium flagship experience which comes in its powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform, luxurious design and vibrant AMOLED display.

Personally, I would love to own one and would instanly make it my main photography camera.

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