Pros
- Powerful cpu.
- Camera can take impressive pictures.
- Six years of software program assistance.
Cons
- Extremely costly.
- Useful electronic camera grasp is an expensive added.
- Camera’s car setting can be underwhelming.
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra was among the most effective phones of 2024, many thanks in no tiny component to an outstanding electronic camera system that took a few of the most effective pictures I’ve ever before seen from a cam phone. The follow-up, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, has a great deal to meet, and in several methods, it does.
It’s an outright giant: It’s obtained a beautiful screen, and its electronic camera configuration takes impressive pictures. You can still get it with the digital photography set that includes a hold and shutter switch to properly transform it right into a small electronic camera, yet there are some cautions holding me back from calling the 15 Ultra an overall success.
After taking control of 1,000 pictures with the phone, I’ve pertained to the verdict that while this phone can take amazing pictures, you require to function tougher to obtain them. Simply capturing in the car setting isn’t the means to obtain the most effective outcomes below. I’ll return to this later on. But in the meantime, feel in one’s bones that this is a phone for devoted professional photographers just– informal snappers will certainly be much better off looking towards the apple iphone 16 Pro and even the Pixel 9 Pro.
The 15 Ultra makes use of the specific very same 1-inch kind photo sensing unit for its primary electronic camera as its precursor, and I am let down to not see an equipment upgrade, particularly taking into consideration the phone’s high rate. Xiaomi additionally chose to ditch the 14 Ultra’s unusual variable aperture– among my favored attributes– for “software-based” options that I can with confidence claim are not an ideal substitute.
I’ll confess, however, that the advantages of the variable aperture are marginal, and lots of people will most likely never ever also see a distinction. Still, it annoys me to see authentic development discarded for software program workarounds. It’s precisely what I grumbled regarding in 2015, with AI being the only location where business are introducing currently. Ironically, because post, I praised Xiaomi for the 14 Ultra’s dependence on equipment for its fantastic pictures, yet I can not claim the exact same regarding this brand-new design.
MWC 2025: Xiaomi’s Photography-Focused 15 Ultra Is a Powerhouse
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There’s no doubt though that the 15 Ultra is a giant Android mobile in general. Its solid efficiency, suitable battery life and lively screen aid warrant its front runner condition. Also, its 6 years of overall software program assistance isn’t regrettable either. But this phone is much from low-cost. It’s for sale in the UK and broader Europe currently for ₤ 1,299 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space, or ₤ 1,499 if you desire 1TB. That’s a lot more costly than both the apple iphone 16 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S25Ultra
Like various other Xiaomi phones, the 15 Ultra will certainly not be offered to get in the United States, however, for recommendation, that base UK rate converts to $1,630 or AU$ 2,630.
Is it worth your money? Let’s have a look.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra electronic camera
I took control of 1,000 examination pictures with the phone up until now, and I anticipate I’ll take much more throughout 2025. I’ve taken it to Scotland and England, to Barcelona, and also to an icy and winterySweden I attempted to record whatever from road digital photography to landscape and traveling images. In short, I’ve actually involve recognize this electronic camera.
I really feel comfy informing you that you can take some genuinely excellent pictures with the phone. I’ve obtained shots that would certainly match what I’d get out of devoted expert cams, and I’d have not a problem with uploading a few of them to my photography portfolio to rest along with pictures from my Canon R5, Leica Q3 43 and various other premium cams. At the heart of the 15 Ultra coincides Sony LYT-900 1 inch-type photo sensing unit located in the 14Ultra It’s literally bigger than the sensing units located in virtually any type of various other phone electronic camera and usually, a bigger photo sensing unit permits much better information and vibrant variety.
The electronic camera’s handling of direct exposure below is area on.
Crisp information and lively shades– an instance of when the typical electronic camera setting toenailed the project.
Using the high comparison black and white setting is just one of my favored methods to fire, particularly for road scenes such as this.
But the 15 Ultra makes you strive to obtain your best efforts. In pure car setting, I was usually underwhelmed. My most significant problem is the white equilibrium, which errs frequently on the trendy side in several scenarios. Sunny scenes that need to be swamped with cozy tones rather looked cool and unexciting.
You can not change the white equilibrium in the typical electronic camera setting, so I fired mainly in the Pro setting to change the white equilibrium and various other setups. I usually warmed up the white equilibrium up and establish the direct exposure settlement to somewhat underexpose the photo, as the default direct exposure usually looked a little bit as well brilliant to my eye.
Taken utilizing the typical electronic camera setting’s car setups, this sundown looks instead boring.
By utilizing the Pro setting, I had the ability to take hands-on control of the white equilibrium, heating this scene up and readjusting the direct exposure to obtain a much much better photo.
When I took handbook control such as this, the pictures considerably boosted. You can alter the setups to make sure that each time you fill the electronic camera, it will certainly maintain your previous capturing setups. Working by doing this really felt a lot more like my procedure when firing on my Leica Q3 43– a slower, a lot more systematic strategy to crafting a picture, instead of just breaking away and wishing for the most effective.
I fired pictures with the 15 Ultra in JPEG and DNG raw, the last enabling me to modify my shots additionally in applications like Adobe Lightroom to obtain exactly the appearance that I desired. Following a firmware upgrade, raw data look fantastic and are extremely editable. I suggest capturing in both JPEG and raw if you wish to press every ounce of top quality you can from these cams.
The straight-out-of-camera JPEG looks really dark below, since I’ve readjusted the direct exposure to record the brilliant skies.
But by additionally firing in DNG raw, I had the ability to draw back a great deal of darkness information, brightening this scene and transforming it right into a far more eye-catching photo.
Taken utilizing the ultra-wide lens, I fired this photo in both JPEG and raw, the last enabling me to use this motion picture edit inAdobe Lightroom
Once I began utilizing the phone such as this, I had the ability to obtain some outstanding pictures. But if you’re trying to find much better fast breaks quickly, after that you would certainly be much better offered with the apple iphone 16 Pro, Galaxy S25 Ultra or Pixel 9 Pro, which can a lot more constantly take much better pictures utilizing completely default setups. The typical electronic camera setting can do an excellent work in some cases, yet I located myself changing to the Pro setting to work out even more imaginative control.
As held true with the 14 Ultra, among my favored methods to fire is utilizing the integrated Leica high comparison black and white filters. It provides a punchy mono appearance, which functions incredibly well for road digital photography, particularly when you combine the phone with the electronic camera grasp.
The 4.3 x optical zoom lens can record pin-sharp pictures, and I particularly like the deepness of area it’s had the ability to attain below in this black and white road scene.
Taken in Pro setting, this scene has a fantastic equilibrium in between the highlights and deep darkness, leading to a punchy, lively sunset scene.
The Portrait setting just functions when it discovers individuals, instead of things or animals, yet it functions well. I enjoy the deepness of area it’s attained below in this image of Senior Editor Abrar Al-Heeti
At evening, the phone can take excellent pictures, particularly when you by hand regulate the white equilibrium. But Xiaomi’s choice to remove the variable aperture troubles me below. The 14 Ultra’s capacity to shut down its aperture enabled it to develop genuine star-burst impacts around factors of light (streetlights, and so on) in evening scenes. The 15 Ultra lacks this variable aperture, so those exact same lights currently simply appear like amorphous balls, long as they do on various other phones.
The large aperture and big photo sensing unit generally electronic camera permits it to take brilliant, sharp pictures as the light begins to discolor.
I enjoy utilizing the high comparison setting for night-time black and white scenes, as well.
I took this in the Pro setting in order to take control of the white equilibrium. I enjoy the appearance of it, yet it’s a pity that the road light does not have a star-burst result.
It was among my favored attributes of the 14 Ultra, and I enjoyed exactly how it changed the appearance of evening pictures. I am really let down Xiaomi has actually eliminated this special attribute. But developing tiny star-bursts on city night-time pictures is particular niche, and I presume I’m in a minority of individuals that had actually genuinely see that it’s no more there.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra digital photography set
You can get the 15 Ultra with the exact same digital photography set that was used with in 2015’s design. It has a situation, a hold with a shutter switch and setups dial, and an attachable ring that permits you to utilize routine 67mm digital photography filters. The filter ring is fantastic for advanced professional photographers that wish to utilize round polarizers, neutral thickness filters or motion picture black or gold haze filters to actually craft their pictures.
The grasp makes the phone a lot easier to hold, particularly when you’re out and regarding firing fast road pictures. It clicks in nicely, includes some added battery life to the phone, and the shutter switch and setups wheel permit you to fire as if you were utilizing a small electronic camera.
The electronic camera grasp makes the phone a lot easier to hold and utilize like a cam.
It currently features a brand-new thumb grasp accessory to make it a little bit much easier to hold. There’s additionally a soft-touch, screw-in shutter launch switch, which is larger and much easier to locate and strike than the initial switch it screws right into. If you like utilizing your phone for road or traveling digital photography, the digital photography set deserves obtaining, though keep in mind that it will certainly include an additional ₤ 250 on your costs, making a currently costly phone much more so.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra cpu, software program and AI
The Snapdragon 8 Elite chip located inside the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has currently satisfied us on phones like the On ePlus 13, and its power is visible below, as well. It set up outstanding ratings on our standard examinations, while day-to-day procedure is quick and lag-free.
It’s fantastic for players, as well, with requiring titles like Genshin Impact playing efficiently at max graphics setups and at 60 structures per secondly. Qualcomm’s 8 Elite chip isn’t simply created for raw power though, it’s developed for much better AI handling. It’s not a surprise then that there’s an entire lot of AI things baked right into the phone.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra cpu efficiency contrasted
Xiaomi 15 Ultra 2,971 9,115 6,378Xiaomi 14 Ultra 2,258 6,864 5,021 apple iphone 16 Pro 3,507 8,750 4,672Galaxy S25 Ultra 3,053 9,707 6,950
- Geekbench 6 (Single core).
- Geekbench 6 (Multicore).
- 3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Google Gemini and Gemini progressed get on board as typical, consisting of the conversational Gemini Live and Circle toSearch But Xiaomi has actually included a few of its very own attributes, as well. There’s a generative message device to develop blocks of message based upon your triggers, in addition to a handy device that produces message transcriptions from voice recordings– fantastic for a hectic technology reporter.
The phone runs Android 15 at its core.
There’s additionally a selection of image-focused AI devices for broadening a picture utilizing generative AI, getting rid of points in a scene or just developing the photo. The AI devices all function along with I’d hope, yet it deserves remembering that every one of them need a web link in order to utilize– consisting of the voice records device, somehow.
The 15 Ultra releases with Android 15 aboard, and Xiaomi guarantees it’ll obtain 4 generations of Android updates in addition to 6 years of protection assistance. It’s much less than the 7 years both Samsung and Google attend to their front runners, and I would certainly’ve suched as to see Xiaomi suit and even defeat its competitors below, particularly taking into consideration the high rate of the phone.
Still, a life span of 6 years is suitable sufficient (a third of individuals maintain their phones for 3 years or longer) and matches what On ePlus supplies for its current On ePlus 13 front runner.
Despite its big 6.7 inch screen, the phone is quite comfy to hold and utilize in one hand.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra battery, screen and style
Battery life is great, yet not superior. On our requiring video clip streaming examination, it held up much better than the On ePlus 13 yet really did not do along with the Galaxy S25Ultra You can securely anticipate a complete day of usage, yet if you’re intending to utilize it as your primary electronic camera for your vacation, it’s most definitely worth lugging a battery pack to offer you comfort.
As with all phones, you’ll most likely wish to bill it totally over night. It sustains 90W wired quick billing, which will certainly aid you pack the power back in much faster, as long as you have a suitable battery charger.
The 6.7-inch screen is brilliant sufficient to utilize under lunchtime Scottish sunlight and it’s lively sufficient to do justice to vivid mobile video games and You Tube video clips. The phone is IP68-rated to aid maintain it secure from splashed beverages, while its glass and steel style really feels pleasing to hold.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra: Should you get it?
There’s no doubt that it’s a phone that ticks basically every box you would certainly get out of among today’s front runners. It’s effective, has a beautiful screen, suitable software program assistance duration and attributes like quick billing and water resistance. But its overpriced cost is difficult to overlook and tough to warrant for anybody that isn’t a die-hard professional photographer.
The electronic camera is the only factor to consider this phone over any one of its competitors.
Like its precursor, the electronic camera is the single factor to consider this phone over its competitors. Those of you desiring a lot more informal photos of your family and friends on days out will likely be much better offered with option Android phones– or the apple iphone– the majority of which can take good-looking breaks in car settings and at reduced costs. But the Xiaomi 15 Ultra can take excellent pictures if you invest the moment to craft them, both in the Pro electronic camera and in post-processing.
I want Xiaomi had actually done a little bit a lot more with its electronic camera over the 14 Ultra– or at the very least not eliminated among my favored attributes. It would certainly make this phone a lot easier for me to suggest a lot more generally to professional photographers. But still, those of you that desire an outstanding everyday-carry electronic camera for traveling and road digital photography will certainly be well-served with the 15Ultra
