Xiaomi 15 is here to take on the likes of Galaxy S25. What the company is delivering on the latest is a friendly size, powerful chipset and a good set of cameras. How did it fare during the review period?

Sturdy flagship

Just like last year’s Xiaomi 14, the new phone is a relatively compact flagship phone that packs helpful features, including a solid set of cameras, a powerful chipset and a large battery.

Xiaomi’s design is straightforward; there is nothing flashy to report. The rear panel has remained free of smudges and scratches during the review period. The aluminum frame curves toward the glass instead of the other way around and the phone is comfortable to hold. Like last year’s model, Xiaomi 15 has IP68 ingress protection against dust and water submersion.

The display is a 6.36-inch high-res CrystalRes AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. It has drop resistance, thanks to Xiaomi Shield Glass, which the company claims to be tougher than regular screen glass panel.

The phone is compact and easy to hold.

The screen brightness has improved since last year, offering peak brightness of 3,200 nits, covering 25 per cent of the display area.

A sharp display with a pixel density of 460 PPI, it has 10-bit colour depth and supports HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision video standards. With LTPO tech, the screen’s high refresh rate is extra adaptive, dialling down to as low as 1Hz while the phone is idling to save energy.

Matching the screen is a good pair of stereo speakers with enough loudness and the bass is just about right when listening to songs like Tubthumping and Another One Bites The Dust. There is an IR Blaster, so you can control other appliances. The fingerprint scanner is ultrasonic rather than optical, allowing for a better response time.

The OS is nimble but…

Xiaomi 15 runs the new HyperOS 2 interface on top of Android 15. Compared to the previous version, it is similar with some refined aesthetics and under-the-hood optimisations. You get Google’s Gemini assistant on board with enough functionality and the useful Circle to Search feature.

The camera system has the ability to capture beautiful light and shadow.

Also, Al comes baked in. For example, within the Notes app there are a bunch of AI functions to transform text. These include summaries, proof reading translation and changing the layout. There are AI-based tools in the gallery as well.

All that’s fine, yet for a flagship phone, it has a number of pre-installed apps, which may impact user experience depending on individual preferences. The strategy somehow hasn’t changed for Xiaomi for a long time. I use Netflix, but let me decide if I want to install it on my phone. I don’t use Agoda, but a few of my friends do. Let users choose what needs to be downloaded.

Xiaomi 15 comes with a triple camera system — main 50MP, 50MP 115-degree ultra-wide angle camera and 50MP telephoto.

Overall, HyperOS is yet to reach the refinement offered by Samsung’s One UI or Apple iOS.

Top-notch performance

The device packs the latest high-powered Qualcomm chipset — Snapdragon 8 Elite. In benchmarks, the Xiaomi 15 performs notably better than the previous model. As expected, the scores are great with the phone holding up well against its competition. The thermal management here is good and there are not many dips and spikes.

Xiaomi has upgraded the battery capacity this year from 4,610 mAH to 5,240 mAH. Battery life is above average compared to similar devices. There’s support for 90W charging and 50W wireless charging.

We were able to charge the phone from zero to 83 per cent in 30 minutes while a full charge took 45 minutes. It’s pretty fast for a large battery.

Camera zone

There’s a 50MP main camera, a 50MP floating telephoto camera and a 50MP ultra-wide. There is a difference from last year.

The camera offers vibrant colours, good exposure and detail.

The main camera delivers high-quality images expected of flagship devices. Photos are sharp, besides offering a wide dynamic range and accurate colour reproduction. The performance outdoors and indoors is consistent. Photos capture decent sharpness and contrast and there is none of that artificial-looking processing. At night, Xiaomi 15 prefers to use automatic night mode. Shots from the main cam are clean, sharp and detailed. The detail in the shadows is impressive and the phone handles highlights and light sources adequately.

Next, telephoto. It has a 60 mm equivalent lens. Photos are definitely flagship quality but something like Samsung Galaxy S25+ offers a slightly better optical zoom. Yet, photos capture enough details, contrast and dynamic range. The colours also look good and match the performance of the main camera. The zoom camera is capable of close focusing at around 10 cm, so it takes decent macro close-up shots. But we have seen better skin colour rendition on other Android phones. At night, the telephoto camera shoots photos with enough detail.

The ultra-wide camera is consistent with the output, and colours almost match that of the main camera.

The main cam can now shoot 8K at 30fps. In 4K, the main camera’s videos are reaching flagship grade. The footage has enough detail, reasonable colour reproduction, a wide dynamic range and very little noise. The telephoto camera also captures decent 4K videos.

Make the call

What Xiaomi needs to evaluate is its partnership with Leica on the camera front. Does it add anything extra to the phone? The company can, on its own, make the camera magic work. Take the case of ultra-wide angle lens. The device does very well to accommodate a wide degree of landscape without resulting in too much of a fisheye.

Second, Xiaomi needs to look at killing bloatware. For a Rs 60,000-plus phone, it needs to be cleaner.

Third, the size of the camera island on the back compared to the size of the phone is slightly off; it could have been a bit smaller.

Xiaomi 15 is a great choice for anybody used to the company’s operating system. In case you are game for other Android phones, there is Samsung Galaxy S25 series. In case your budget is below ₹50,000, there is Vivo V50. In case you want to switch over to iOS, iPhone 16e is a good starting point, especially because of its A18 chip.

Yet, nobody can take away from what Xiaomi is doing: Improvement in every department. The company can now deliver flagship phones like Samsung. Xiaomi 15 is a powerhouse that packs a punch in the camera department.

At a glance

Device: Xiaomi 15

Price: ₹64,999 (12GB+512GB, you can avail a discount for a limited period)

High notes

• Excellent battery life

• Good processor

• Colours appear natural on the camera front

• Comfortable to hold

• Bright screen

Muffled notes

• Does the Leica branding help?

• Low-level bloatware

• The rear camera island could have been smaller