Xiaomi 15 Ultra review: It almost meets our very high expectations

It’s fair to say I had high expectations for the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. It’s the follow-up to my favorite camera phone of 2024, and the latest from one of the most interesting partnerships in mobile photography — Xiaomi and Leica. My expectations aren’t the only challenged faced by the phone, as how will Xiaomi go about making it even better in the first place? After a while with the phone, I realized I should have kept my exceptions in check, but this isn’t a knock against the phone itself. Let me explain.

Specs

Xiaomi 15 Ultra: design

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra looks like a camera from the back, and I think it’s a fantastic design. The top section (viewed in landscape) is made of metal and the lower section is covered with a vegan leather, but it’s a panel of leather, meaning the metal chassis surrounds it. It’s as classic, stylish design which tells you everything you need to know about what makes the phone special.

The camera module is huge, but at least its sensibly and symmetrically laid out, so size-aside it doesn’t overwhelm the otherwise simple design of the phone. I like the “Ultra” logo in the corner, the proud Leica branding, and the coin-edge bezel around the camera module. If you’d prefer something a bit less camera-like, Xiaomi makes the 15 Ultra in black and white too.

There’s no getting away from the size and weight of the phone though. It’s quite top heavy in portrait orientation, thick at 9.5mm, and you know it’s in your pocket due to the 229 gram weight. The screen has a neat 3D curve around the edge, so the phone doesn’t dig into your hand. A happy coincidence is the huge camera module rests against the top of your fingers, which can help with balance. I really like the way the phone looks, and it’s a big improvement over the 14 Ultra, plus it’s durable with an IP68 dust and water resistance rating too.

Xiaomi 15 Ultra: screen and performance

I’ve not had any issues seeing the big 6.73-inch AMOLED screen even in bright sunlight, and I don’t think it has even reached its 3,200 nits peak either. It has a 1 to 120Hz refresh rate, and I’ve had it set to the maximum 3200 x 1440 pixel resolution through my test, a factor important to know when we get to the battery. Like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the OnePlus 13, the screen is practically faultless, whether I’m watching videos or playing games.

The same can be said for the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. It’s so powerful I question whether anyone will reach its limits, and certainly not on a regular basis. There’s not a stutter from the software under normal use, but I have found a few issues with app compatibility. For example, some games have almost locked up during first use, with the screen becoming unresponsive apart from exiting the app. Restarting the phone cures the problem, and it doesn’t seem to reoccur either. Very odd.

I’ve used the phone in the U.K. and connectivity has been excellent, with the phone pulling in 5G signals where others sometimes fail, and calls have all sounded great. The phone supports Wi-Fi 7, and it has happily stayed connected to my home Wi-Fi 6 router without a problem. The stereo speakers are really loud, face unlock has a really wide field-of-view, and the in-display fingerprint sensor works properly, even if it’s not the fastest I’ve used. What I’m saying is that as a phone, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is excellent, and all you want from a flagship. However, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra looks a lot like a camera, so has it got the photographic ability to back up the style?

Xiaomi 15 Ultra: camera

The spec list for the Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s camera is ridiculous. The main camera is a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-900 with an f/1.63 aperture, electronic and optical image stabilization (EIS and OIS), and a 23mm focal length. The 50MP wide-angle Samsung JN5 camera has a modest 115-degree field of view and an f/2.2 aperture. There are two telephoto cameras, a 200MP periscope and a 50MP floating telephoto. All are covered by a Leica’s Vario Summilux lens, there’s a host of AI work behind the scenes, and some interesting editing features including a take on Apple and Samsung’s photographic styles.

I adore the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, so the 15 Ultra has a lot to live up to. The spec list is almost too extensive and there are a host of promises about what it can do, but it’s a little disappointing to see Xiaomi abandon the manually variable aperture for the 15 Ultra, a feature that gave the 14 Ultra considerable photographic credibility. Would this set the tone for a more consumer-friendly approach, and perhaps diminish some of the 14 Ultra’s wonderful character?

I think it may have done. The 15 Ultra’s camera is still excellent, but it does seem to have lost that special something. Some of Xiaomi’s old habits have crept back in, where colors are amped up just a little too much, especially when using the Leica Vibrant mode which is set as default, with the option to choose Leica Authentic as an option. There’s good consistency between the main and wide-angle cameras, but the zoom modes are all over the place.

Shots taken with the 3x zoom lack color and punch, while the 4.3x zoom (a default setting in the app) photos can appear heavily processed. On the more positive side, the main camera has a lovely natural depth of field and its photos have lots of detail. But there’s nothing here that made me really keen to use it over the OnePlus 13 for example. It’s still really good, and I like the photos I’ve taken, but there’s some frustrating inconsistency, and I’m not sure as much time has been spent on the tuning as there was with the 14 Ultra.

One final thing to note is I haven’t used a “Photography Kit” for the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and haven’t heard whether one will be released. There’s a strong chance the Photography Kit and its hardware filters helped make the 14 Ultra such a winner. After several hundred photos with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, it hasn’t instantly become my go-to camera phone, something I did expect. That doesn’t make it bad, far from it, but I can’t help but feel it should be a little more consistent, and for its versatility to encourage me to really get out and use it more.

Xiaomi 15 Ultra: software

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra has the company’s HyperOS 2 software over Android 15 installed. I came to the phone after using the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and the OnePlus 13, and all have better, more reliable, easier to quickly learn software than the Xiaomi. It’s the little things that make a huge amount of difference here.

Notifications have been unreliable, especially over the first few days of use, where none appeared at all. When they magically did start, not all of them show up all the time. Apps don’t always refresh correctly either, and my Microsoft Teams app doesn’t update chats until you manually go into each one. I’m sure there’s some kind of power management system at work here, but I shouldn’t have to go searching for ways to disable it.

I’m not a fan of the default split notification shade either, where a downward swipe on the left of the screen shows notifications and one on the right shows quick settings. It’s awkward and annoying, but can be changed in the settings menu. There’s a lot of customization in HyperOS, which some may enjoy, but it’s all usually hard work. If you want to change the wallpaper, the usual shortcut takes you to a massive Theme store, where some are free, some cost money, and the choice is overwhelming. Sometimes I just want to use my own photo, and these are selected in the Gallery app. It’s messy and annoying compared to One UI 7 and OxygenOS 15.

At the time of writing the 3DMark benchmarking app seems to be blocked on the 15 Ultra which is unfortunate. There’s a slight hint the phone will get quite warm when playing games, and 3DMark would expose any shortcomings in cooling. A short session on Asphalt Legends: Unite introduces more heat into the chassis than I experience on other phones with the same processor. It’s not a problem as such, but if you’re a hardcore mobile gamer, the phone may warm your hands a bit after a while.

Xiaomi 15 Ultra: battery and charging

The size of the phone reflects the size of the battery inside, and it’s a 5,410mAh whopper. The phone supports the 90W HyperCharge proprietary wire charging system, and 80W wireless charging. There’s no charging block in the box, and unusually it’s a USB A to USB C cable, rather than a USB C to USB C supplied with many other devices.

For my approximately three hours per day screen time use, without gaming, the battery mostly ends a full day with 60% remaining. Getting two days use from the battery, for a total of six hours screen time, is effortless. It’s efficient too, with a 40-minute YouTube video in 1080p taking just 4%.

Xiaomi 15 Ultra: price and availability

Xiaomi does not sell its smartphones in the U.S., but it will release the Xiaomi 15 Ultra in the U.K. in the near future. When it does, the 16GB/512GB version will cost 1,299 British pounds, which is around $1,640, and the top 16GB/1TB version will be 1,499 pounds, or about $1,895.

This puts it in direct competition with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max, leaving the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Oppo Find 8 Pro looking like comparative bargains next to it, and the OnePlus 13 appearing decidedly cheap.

Does the Xiaomi 15 Ultra live up to expectations?

Perhaps my expectations for the Xiaomi 15 Ultra were too high. This is by no means a bad phone — it’s a high performance, supremely capable, and superbly usable every day partner. However, because the camera hasn’t blown me away, the device’s idiosyncrasies frustrate more. Whether it’s the software or the overall size, you have to accept those compromises. Before, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra’s camera made them easier to accept.

It reminds me a lot of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. It’s very good and you probably won’t regret buying it, but will you want to buy it? The camera’s amazing specification will tempt you, but at this point, it hasn’t quite lived up to its promise. It’s very good indeed, but it’s not quite as stellar as I hoped it would be. At least for now.

I’ll end the review by saying I haven’t finished with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. I do think there’s more to come from the camera, as I refuse to believe Xiaomi and Leica have take a step back from the 14 Ultra. I’ll take more photos with it, play with the many new features I haven’t fully explored yet, wait for a possible Photography Kit accessory, and really look for the magic that I’m sure is there somewhere. I think that’s a recommendation, just maybe not a wholehearted one.