While Xiaomi is well-known among hardcore fans thanks to its budget-friendly smartphones and tablets, the Chinese tech veteran also produces some of the best Android flagships available, which even manage to give competing devices from brands like Samsung and Apple a run for their money. One good example is the Xiaomi 15, which was recently announced for Chinese markets, although it’s expected to make its global debut in a number of months.
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Main Highlights
With that in mind, one of the biggest highlights of Xiaomi’s new flagship device is the chip inside – it’s running on the Snapdragon 8 Elite, Qualcomm’s most impressive mobile chipset to date. In addition to this though, there are a lot of other elements which elevate the Xiaomi 15 to flagship smartphone status. In terms of looks, the Xiaomi 15 doesn’t stray too much from the hardware design seen on the Xiaomi 14. You still get the flat metal sides and glass back, with the camera island located on the upper-left corner of the rear panel. It’s a design that works well, and we can’t really fault Xiaomi for going with a tried-and-true aesthetic on its new phone.
Interestingly, Xiaomi is also offering a “custom edition” which gives buyers the option of choosing from 20 different colours. As for the display, the Xiaomi 15 comes with a 6.36-inch OLED panel, which is protected by a layer of Xiaomi’s “Dragon Crystal Glass” (no Gorilla Glass action on here). The screen gets super bright at up to 3,200 nits of peak brightness, with a 120Hz refresh rate in tow. Again, nothing revolutionary, although the high brightness and somewhat “compact” size are nice features to have.
Internal Specs, Cameras and Pricing
Let’s talk about the phone’s internals – the Xiaomi 15 is available in several different storage and memory configurations which max out at 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Powering the phone is a fairly-large 5,400 mAh battery, and there’s also fast-charging support with 90W wired charging speeds, and 50W wireless charging. In terms of software, you’re getting Android layered with Xiaomi’s own HyperOS 2.0, the second iteration of its revamped user interface after the company moved away from MIUI. HyperOS 2.0 gets you access to exclusive Xiaomi apps (and some third-party software), as well as AI features from Xiaomi.
For imaging hardware, the Xiaomi 15 comes with a triple camera system that packs all 50-megapixel sensors, and was co-developed with veteran camera brand Leica. Also onboard is OIS, 5x lossless zoom, and even 10cm macro photography capabilities. For video, the Xiaomi 15 can record clips at a maximum of 8K resolution, with Dolby Vision HDR. As mentioned earlier, the phone is currently only available for Chinese markets, with an international launch to follow. It’s priced starting at around £515 (when converted).
