The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is there to face Samsung and Apple and although like many flagship phones of 2025, it is an iterative edition, there are key upgrades, as well as demotion.
A large new camera
As you probably already know, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is a phone focused on the camera and it is not surprising that the company has kept things relatively similar to the incredible 14 ultra of this department.
You always get four rear cameras, but a new 200mp periscope lens made its debut, replacing the 50MP of 14 Ultra.
Although the length of the zoom has been reduced from 5x to 4.3x, the camera has all this additional resolution as well as other specific upgrades which cause 136% more light capture, according to Xiaomi.
It is worth noting briefly on the front of the camera that the main camera has no variable opening, which is a shame.
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A big performance jump
Although this means that the 15 Ultra correspond to many competitors from other phones manufacturers, the Snapdragon 8 elite has proven to be a large step in mobile chipset prowess.
Not only is the chip much more powerful than the 8 Gen 3 found in its predecessor, but it is also much more economical in power.
In our usual references, the 15 Ultra obtained a score of 42% better in Geekbench 6, which is a huge increase and no less than four hours and 35 minutes more in the PCMARK battery test – it's 37%!
Chris Martin / Foundry
Larger battery, same space
Something Xiaomi has managed to do is increase the battery capacity without increasing the size of the phone itself (although as a side note, the Silver Chrome model is a little larger than white or black).
This, like the OnePlus 13, is carried out using a 10%silicone carbide technology, so the battery increased from 5000 to 5410MAH.
However, it is a shame that we do not have the 6000mah cell in the Chinese version.
As mentioned above, the Snapdragon 8 elite is very efficient in power, so these two result in a much stronger battery life.
A design backstep
This is more subjective, but the design of the 15 ultra, although similar, has taken a step back. The rear cover has no vegetable leather finish that I particularly liked. It was great and was really adhesive.
This year, as you can see, Xiaomi has changed it into a composition in glass fibers and my black sample is a little too sparkling for my taste, but more importantly, it is really slippery.
I imagine that the same is true for the white model, which also has an effect for my taste. The slight saving grace here is the new Silver Chrome coloring that has vegan leather.
Chris Martin / Foundry
However, several peers testing this model indicate that the glass fibers section feels plasticky. If you get the photography kit for the 15 Ultra, this has a vegan leather finish as opposed to the woven fabric of the previous model.
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