The Xiaomi 15 has officially gone global, and it’s ready to compete with big names like the Samsung Galaxy S25 and iPhone 16 Pro. Xiaomi has packed this compact flagship with top-tier features, including a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, a stunning 6.36-inch LTPO OLED display, and an impressive triple-camera system. It also boasts fast charging, AI-powered enhancements, and long-term software support, making it a strong contender in 2024’s premium smartphone market.
With an IP68-rated aerospace-grade fiberglass design, the Xiaomi 15 ensures durability while maintaining a sleek, comfortable feel in hand. Its stereo speakers, ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, and bright OLED display elevate the user experience, making it ideal for multimedia consumption. Plus, Xiaomi’s latest HyperOS 2 brings improved aesthetics, optimizations, and AI tools like Circle to Search, AI-enhanced photos, and real-time translation.
Camera lovers will appreciate the versatile 50MP triple-camera setup, offering high-quality daylight and nighttime shots, portrait photography, and even 8K video recording. Meanwhile, its 5,240mAh battery delivers one of the best endurance scores in the segment, complemented by 90W wired and 50W wireless charging.
But does the Xiaomi 15 truly live up to its flagship status? And how does it stack up against the competition? Let’s dive into the full review!
Design & Build Quality
The Xiaomi 15 follows a sleek, minimalist design that keeps things compact and premium. At first glance, it looks similar to its predecessor, but subtle refinements make it even more comfortable to use. The phone’s 6.36-inch form factor makes it one of the most compact flagship devices on the market, catering to those who prefer one-handed usability without compromising on high-end features.
One of the biggest design upgrades this year is the aerospace-grade fiberglass back, which replaces last year’s glass construction. This material is not only lightweight and durable, but it also offers better scratch and fingerprint resistance, keeping the phone looking clean and polished even after extended use. The aluminum frame has been slightly curved inward, providing a comfortable grip without sharp edges.
On the durability front, Xiaomi retains the IP68 rating, ensuring full protection against dust and water submersion. This means the phone can survive being submerged in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes, giving users extra peace of mind. The Xiaomi Shield Glass on the front also enhances drop resistance, making the device more resilient to everyday wear and tear.
At just 194g, the Xiaomi 15 remains lightweight compared to many flagships, making it easy to carry around. The camera module on the back retains its square layout, but the new telephoto sensor brings a 2.6x zoom instead of last year’s longer reach. While the design remains familiar, the subtle refinements in materials and ergonomics make it a solid evolution from last year’s model.
- Read also:
- Honor Watch 5 Ultra – Tough Titanium Build, AMOLED Display & Pro-Level Health Tracking!
- Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro: A Power-Packed Tablet with 144Hz Display, AI Features & Flagship Performance!
- Garmin Tactix 8 Review: The Ultimate Tactical Smartwatch with Advanced Military Features
Display Specs & Features
The Xiaomi 15 comes with a 6.36-inch LTPO OLED display, continuing Xiaomi’s tradition of offering flagship-grade screen technology. The 120Hz adaptive refresh rate ensures a smooth experience, adjusting dynamically from 1Hz to 120Hz depending on what’s on the screen, which helps conserve battery life when static content is displayed.
A major improvement this year is the enhanced brightness levels. The Xiaomi 15 reaches 550 nits manually and can boost up to 1,500 nits in auto mode, making it 30% brighter than its predecessor. This ensures excellent visibility outdoors, even in bright sunlight. HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support further enhance the content viewing experience, delivering deep blacks, vibrant colors, and high contrast for movies, games, and videos.
Another notable upgrade is Xiaomi Shield Glass, which provides enhanced drop resistance compared to standard Gorilla Glass. While it’s not invincible, it does add an extra layer of protection against accidental drops and scratches.
One unique feature this year is the new ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner, replacing the previous optical one. The ultrasonic sensor is significantly faster and more reliable, even when your fingers are wet or dirty. However, if you use a glass screen protector, it may slightly affect performance.
For audio, the Xiaomi 15 retains its stereo speaker setup, delivering very good loudness with crisp mids and clear vocals. While the bass is somewhat lacking, the overall audio quality remains impressive, especially for a compact flagship.
The Xiaomi 15 also includes an IR blaster, allowing users to control appliances like TVs and air conditioners directly from the phone—a feature that remains popular in many markets.
Overall, the Xiaomi 15’s display is an excellent compact flagship screen, with top-tier brightness, smooth refresh rates, and great HDR support, making it ideal for both work and entertainment.
Performance & Chipsets
At the heart of the Xiaomi 15 is the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Elite chipset, making it one of the most powerful compact flagships available. This 4nm processor brings significant improvements in CPU and GPU performance, ensuring smooth multitasking, efficient power consumption, and excellent gaming capabilities.
Compared to last year’s Xiaomi 14, the new chipset delivers higher benchmark scores and better real-world performance. In Geekbench 6, the Xiaomi 15 outperforms its predecessor in both single-core and multi-core scores, making tasks like web browsing, app launching, and photo editing noticeably faster.
The Adreno GPU provides a strong gaming experience, capable of running demanding titles like Genshin Impact, Call of Duty: Mobile, and PUBG Mobile at high settings with stable frame rates. While the Xiaomi 15’s compact size means it can get warm under heavy loads, Xiaomi has incorporated an improved vapor chamber cooling system to help manage temperatures more efficiently.
However, one downside is thermal throttling. During prolonged stress tests, the Xiaomi 15 experienced noticeable performance dips due to heat buildup. This is more prominent in GPU-intensive tasks, meaning hardcore gamers may experience occasional slowdowns in extended gaming sessions.
For RAM and storage, the global Xiaomi 15 comes in 256GB or 512GB variants with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage, ensuring lightning-fast app loading times and smooth multitasking. Unfortunately, there’s no microSD card slot, so choose your storage option wisely.
AI-Powered Features
Xiaomi has also packed plenty of AI-driven features into the Xiaomi 15, including:
- AI-based image processing in the camera app
- AI text summarization and translation
- AI-powered real-time subtitles and interpretation
- Circle to Search, a Google-powered feature that allows users to search anything on their screen instantly
Final Thoughts on Performance
The Xiaomi 15 is a powerhouse, offering flagship-level performance in a compact form. It easily handles everyday tasks, productivity apps, and high-end gaming. However, thermal management could be better, and extended gaming sessions may cause noticeable slowdowns.
Software & Ecosystem
The Xiaomi 15 comes with Android 15 out of the box, running Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2.0 on top. HyperOS replaces the older MIUI, bringing a more refined, fluid, and intuitive experience that is optimized for performance, efficiency, and AI-driven enhancements.
A Cleaner, Smoother UI Experience
HyperOS 2.0 refines Xiaomi’s UI, offering smoother animations, better power management, and deeper AI integration. Compared to MIUI, it feels more lightweight with less bloatware, and system navigation is faster and more fluid. The interface resembles Stock Android but retains Xiaomi’s unique customization features.
AI Features & Google Integration
A major highlight of HyperOS 2.0 is the deep AI integration, offering features such as:
- Circle to Search – A Google-powered AI tool that lets you search for anything on your screen instantly.
- AI Text Summarization & Translation – Helps convert and summarize long texts in multiple languages.
- AI-Based Subtitles & Interpretation – Real-time subtitles for videos and audio, great for meetings and lectures.
- AI Sky & Image Editing – Allows users to replace skies in photos, enhance images, and remove objects.
These AI-driven features make the Xiaomi 15 a smart companion for productivity, creativity, and everyday use.
Long-Term Software Support
Xiaomi promises 4 years of major Android updates and 6 years of security patches, which is on par with major competitors like Samsung and Google. While it doesn’t quite match Samsung’s 7-year promise, it’s still a solid commitment, ensuring the Xiaomi 15 stays updated with the latest features for years to come.
Seamless Ecosystem Connectivity
The Xiaomi 15 integrates well within Xiaomi’s ecosystem, allowing users to easily connect with:
- Xiaomi Tablets (for multi-screen collaboration)
- Xiaomi Laptops (for file sharing and notifications)
- Xiaomi Smart Home Devices (like Mi Smart Air Purifiers, cameras, and lights)
- Xiaomi Wearables (for health tracking and notifications)
HyperOS 2.0 brings improved cross-device syncing, making it easier to transfer files, answer calls, and control smart devices within the Xiaomi ecosystem.
Final Thoughts on Software
The Xiaomi 15’s software experience is refined, fast, and intelligent. HyperOS 2.0 delivers a smooth UI, advanced AI features, and a reliable update promise, making it one of Xiaomi’s best software versions yet. However, Xiaomi’s software still includes some pre-installed apps, and while there’s less bloatware than before, some users may still find it unnecessary.
- SmartWatches’ Comparisons:
- Garmin Fenix 8 vs. Amazfit T-Rex 3: The Ultimate Rugged Smartwatch Battle!
- Garmin Instinct 3 vs. Instinct 2/2X: Is the Upgrade Worth It?
- Garmin Instinct 3 vs Instinct 2 Solar: | Which One Should You Get?
Battery Life & Charging
The Xiaomi 15 brings a significant upgrade in battery capacity, making it one of the best compact flagships in terms of endurance. Compared to its predecessor, the battery size has increased from 4,610mAh to 5,240mAh, offering longer screen-on time and better overall efficiency.
All-Day Battery Performance
With HyperOS 2.0 optimizations and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Elite’s improved power efficiency, the Xiaomi 15 delivers:
- 16 hours and 28 minutes of active use – One of the best results in its class.
- Better endurance than the Xiaomi 14, despite the more powerful chipset.
- Smooth battery management, ensuring power efficiency for daily tasks, gaming, and multimedia.
Users can expect all-day battery life, even with heavy use. Lighter users could easily push it to 1.5 days on a single charge.
Fast Wired & Wireless Charging
Xiaomi maintains its 90W wired charging from the previous generation, allowing for super-fast top-ups:
- 0% to 83% in just 30 minutes
- Fully charges in 45 minutes
This is faster than Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S25 series, which maxes out at 45W wired charging.
Wireless Charging & Reverse Charging
Another standout feature is 50W wireless charging, making it one of the fastest wireless charging speeds in a compact flagship. Additionally, it supports 10W reverse wireless charging, letting you charge accessories like earbuds or smartwatches on the go.
No Charger in the Box
One downside is that Xiaomi no longer includes a charger in the box, a trend followed by many flagship brands. To take full advantage of 90W charging, you’ll need to purchase Xiaomi’s official charger separately.
Final Thoughts on Battery & Charging
The Xiaomi 15 excels in battery life, providing one of the best endurance scores for a compact phone. Super-fast wired and wireless charging make it stand out, although the lack of a charger in the box may be a downside for some users.
Cameras: Flagship-Level Photography and Videography
The Xiaomi 15 is equipped with a triple 50MP camera system, covering main, telephoto, and ultrawide lenses. This setup ensures high-quality images and videos, making it a solid choice for photography enthusiasts.
The main camera captures sharp and detailed photos with accurate colors and wide dynamic range. It performs well in both bright and low-light conditions, thanks to Xiaomi’s improved night mode processing. Even 2x digital zoom maintains excellent clarity, making it a practical option for close-up shots.
The telephoto camera, now with a 60mm equivalent lens, offers 2.6x optical zoom. While this is slightly shorter than last year’s model, the new sensor provides crisp and detailed images. It also has macro capabilities, allowing you to take close-up shots as near as 10cm. In low-light conditions, the telephoto camera still performs well, though some areas may appear slightly soft due to noise reduction.
The ultrawide camera, while useful for capturing expansive scenes, is the weakest of the three. It delivers decent color reproduction but lacks sharpness, especially near the edges. The dynamic range is limited, which can lead to overexposed highlights in certain conditions. In low light, the ultrawide struggles with more noise and reduced clarity, making it less reliable compared to the main and telephoto cameras.
For selfies, the 32MP front camera produces sharp and well-exposed images with good skin tones and wide-angle coverage. However, despite the high resolution, the level of detail could be better when zoomed in.
On the video side, 4K recording is supported across all cameras, while the main camera can shoot in 8K at 30fps. Video quality is excellent, with vibrant colors, effective stabilization, and clear details. Even in low-light conditions, footage remains sharp and well-balanced, though some noise may be visible in very dark environments.
Overall, the Xiaomi 15’s camera system is one of its strongest features. The main and telephoto cameras deliver flagship-quality images and videos, while the ultrawide camera is decent but not exceptional. If you’re looking for a compact flagship with strong photography performance, this phone is a great option.
Pros and Cons of Xiaomi 15
Pros:
- Compact Yet Premium Design – The 6.36-inch display makes it easy to handle, while the aerospace-grade fiberglass back adds durability.
- Bright and Smooth Display – LTPO OLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate and high peak brightness ensures an immersive viewing experience.
- Powerful Performance – The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Elite chipset delivers excellent performance for gaming, multitasking, and AI tasks.
- Great Battery Life & Fast Charging – 5,240mAh battery with 90W wired charging and 50W wireless charging keeps the phone running all day.
- Flagship-Grade Camera System – 50MP main, 50MP telephoto, and 50MP ultrawide cameras produce sharp and detailed images with great color accuracy.
- AI-Powered Software Features – HyperOS 2 on Android 15 introduces advanced AI tools like Circle to Search, AI Interpreter, and AI-powered editing tools.
Cons:
- Thermal Throttling Under Load – Extended gaming sessions or stress tests show noticeable heat buildup and performance dips.
- No Charger in the Box – While it supports 90W fast charging, Xiaomi does not include a charger, requiring an additional purchase.
- Ultrawide Camera Needs Improvement – While decent in daylight, it lacks the detail and dynamic range found in the main and telephoto cameras.
Conclusion: A Compact Flagship That Delivers
The Xiaomi 15 proves to be a strong contender in the flagship market, especially for those who prefer a compact yet powerful smartphone. It brings top-tier hardware, an upgraded camera system, and impressive battery life, making it a well-rounded choice.
One of the biggest highlights is its brilliant 6.36-inch OLED display, which offers vibrant colors, high brightness, and smooth refresh rates. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Elite chipset ensures flagship-level performance, whether for gaming, multitasking, or AI-powered features.
The camera system is another standout feature, delivering flagship-quality photos and videos across different lighting conditions. While the main and telephoto lenses excel, the ultrawide camera could use some improvements in detail and dynamic range.
Battery life is a major win, with the 5,240mAh battery providing excellent endurance. The 90W wired and 50W wireless charging make recharging fast and convenient, though the lack of a charger in the box may be a downside for some users.
On the software front, HyperOS 2 based on Android 15 introduces AI-powered tools, enhanced customization, and long-term software support with 4 years of major updates and 6 years of security patches.
However, thermal management could be better, as we noticed some throttling in prolonged performance tests. Additionally, while the ultrawide camera is decent, it doesn’t match the quality of the main and telephoto lenses.
That said, Xiaomi 15 remains one of the best compact flagship phones available, offering premium features at a competitive price. If you’re looking for a small yet powerful device that delivers great performance, a flagship camera, and excellent battery life, this phone is definitely worth considering.
Let us know what you think—is the Xiaomi 15 your next smartphone upgrade?
Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)
1. How does the Xiaomi 15 compare to the Galaxy S25?
The Xiaomi 15 and Galaxy S25 are both compact flagships, but they have some differences:
- Xiaomi 15 has a higher peak brightness (1,500 nits vs. 1,200 nits on S25)
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Elite vs. Exynos 2400 (depending on region for the S25)
- Xiaomi 15 charges faster (90W vs. 45W on the S25)
- S25 offers 7 years of software support, Xiaomi 15 has 4 years of major OS updates
If you prefer longer software support and better durability, go for the S25. If you want faster charging and slightly better performance, choose Xiaomi 15.
2. Does the Xiaomi 15 support wireless charging?
- Yes! The Xiaomi 15 supports 50W wireless charging, making it one of the fastest wirelessly charging compact flagships available.
3. Is the Xiaomi 15 good for gaming?
- Yes! The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Elite chipset and high refresh rate display make gaming smooth. However, thermal management could be better, as it throttles under extended gaming sessions.
4. How good is the Xiaomi 15 camera?
- The 50MP main and 50MP telephoto lenses are excellent, producing sharp, vibrant, and well-balanced photos. However, the ultrawide camera lacks some detail, making it the weakest link in the camera setup.
5. Does the Xiaomi 15 have expandable storage?
- No. Like many other flagship phones, the Xiaomi 15 does not have a microSD card slot, so you’re limited to built-in storage options (256GB or 512GB).
6. How long will Xiaomi 15 receive software updates?
- Xiaomi promises 4 years of major Android updates and 6 years of security patches, which is great but not as long as Samsung’s 7-year policy.
7. Should I upgrade to the Xiaomi 15 if I have the Xiaomi 14?
- If you already have the Xiaomi 14, the Xiaomi 15 brings some upgrades like:
- Brighter display (1,500 nits vs. 1,200 nits)
- Bigger battery (5,240mAh vs. 4,610mAh)
- Smoother AI-powered software
- Improved telephoto camera (2.6x vs. 3.2x on Xiaomi 14)
However, if battery life and minor upgrades aren’t a priority, you can stick with your Xiaomi 14.
8. Does the Xiaomi 15 come with a charger?
- No, Xiaomi does not include a charger in the box, so you’ll have to purchase a 90W charger separately to take full advantage of its fast charging.
9. Is the Xiaomi 15 waterproof?
- Yes! The Xiaomi 15 has an IP68 rating, which means it’s dust-tight and can survive submersion in water up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes.
10. Is the Xiaomi 15 worth buying?
- Absolutely! If you’re looking for a compact flagship with great cameras, long battery life, fast charging, and AI-powered features, the Xiaomi 15 is a solid choice. However, if you need longer software support, better thermals, or an improved ultrawide camera, you might want to look at alternatives like the Galaxy S25 or iPhone 16 Pro.
