Xiaomi has just unleashed its newest flagship on the global stage here in Barcelona.

We’ve been lucky enough to be able to try it in advance and, while embargoes prevent us from going on a deep dive, the experience has been spectacular. It’s a device that proves that, yes, phones that have been dubbed with the “Ultra” names have their place, but we’re also in need of phones that pack massive power in compact form factors.

I’ve been using an Ultra phone as my daily driver for the longest time and making the switch to the Xiaomi 15 was a welcome surprise to me. It might look a little off in my hands but I like the fit and I like how it was very easy to grip. The frame of the phone is flat but the edges have a gentle curve to them that doesn’t bite into your palms. The size also fits into my EDC sling well and, when it’s not in my bag, its form factor plus weight make it extremely pocketable.

The Xiaomi 15 has a 6.36″ CrystalRes Display—marketing jargon for LTPO OLED panel. I can’t complain about the picture quality of the screen on this phone. There was an adjustment for me, yes, given that I’ve been using much larger devices and my eyesight is at Tito-levels these days, but it does check all the boxes.

It has a solid pixel density of 460 pixels per inch and a 2670×1200 resolution. You’re also getting variable refresh rates with the Xiaomi 15 at a maximum of 120Hz so that the display helps out with battery endurance. You’re also getting Widevine L1 certification for Netflix binges plus Dolby Vision, HDR10+, plus a ton of TUV Rheinland Certifications for eye care.

Long story short: It’s a flagship display. It’s a smaller one but definitely a flagship display.

Since this is a flagship phone, Xiaomi also pull out all the stops when it comes to its internals; kitting out the Xiaomi 15 with the latest processor or choice—the Snapdragon 8 Elite. This is paired with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. As mentioned, we do have embargoes to follow, which prevents us from showing you benchmarks for now, but trust me when I say that it’s fast and will handle basically everything you throw at it.

Xiaomi is also touting their cooling solution for the Xiaomi 15–their IceLoop System. We haven’t had the chance to stretch out the Xiaomi 15’s leg in terms of gaming yet so expect a breakdown of its thermal performance once we get to the full review.

The only thing bogging down my experience with the Xiaomi 15 so far is the OS. Don’t get me wrong, HyperOS has improved a ton but still has the usual downsides we’ve come to expect i.e. random ad pop-ups, a bit of bloatware, and some quirks that will hopefully get solved with more updates.

As for battery life, you’re getting 5240 mAh battery on the Xiaomi 15 with support for 90W HyperCharge and 50W wireless charging capabilities as well. We were able to do a quick day tour around Madrid, taking a lot of photos and videos along the way, and the phone lasted long enough for us to retreat back into our BNB before it got too cold out so check boxes for its initial run as well.

But, really, the star of the show for the Xiaomi 15 has to be its camera system. Yes, they are still partnered with Leica for this and its clearly been working for them. It has three cameras on the back—all at 50-megapixels—that are co-engineered by the camera giant with the main shooter at a 23mm equivalent, the ultrawide at a 14mm equivalent with 105-degree FOV, and the telephoto at a 60mm equivalent that also support macro photography.

You can choose between Leica Vibrant and Leica Standard modes depending on your preference when it comes to colors but there are also a bunch of filters that we’ve played with that really add a great to the shots we were able to take around Madrid. We primarily used the Cinematic FIlter and the Scarlet Filter for the shots shown above.

The Xiaomi 15 starts at 999 Euros(~Php 61k) in Europe. Xiaomi will be holding a separate launch in the Philippines on November 6, so stay tuned for the official local pricing and availability of the Xiaomi 15. We do hope that Xiaomi gives it a very competitive price to make this device easy to recommend once our full review comes out.