Is the Xiaomi 15 the Best Non-Ultra Flagship?

Review Verdict: The Xiaomi 15 delivers on its commitment to improve camera performance, a commitment solidified by their partnership with Leica a few years ago. It offers flagship performance across the board, and, as someone who has exclusively used Ultra-sized phones for the past couple of years, the form factor was a welcome surprise. However, HyperOS remains one of Xiaomi’s shortcomings, though it has improved in many ways.

Pros

Excellent form factor for those who prefer a smaller flagship
Great overall performance
Best cameras on a Xiaomi phone to date

Cons

HyperOS and its quirks persist

We’re only a few days removed from Xiaomi’s global launch of its latest flagship phone, but I had the privilege of testing it early. My experience with a previous device, the Xiaomi 14T, was less than stellar, so I was curious to see if the Xiaomi 15 would win me back. Spoiler alert: it did, but there are a few points to note about my experience.

Xiaomi 15 Review Philippines: Design

As mentioned above, my experience with Android devices has primarily involved larger Ultra devices or book-type foldables, requiring some hand gymnastics even with my larger-than-average hands. Downsizing to the Xiaomi 15 has been an unexpected pleasure, as I had forgotten what a truly pocketable phone felt like. In terms of design, yes, it resembles the Xiaomi 14, but the design tweaks make a significant difference, contributing to a premium experience. The back is now better integrated into the frame, improving ergonomics. The camera shelf present on the Xiaomi 14 has also been eliminated for a more unified look.

Xiaomi 15 Review Philippines: Display

One of the key contributors to the Xiaomi 15’s petite size is its 6.36″ CrystalRes Display. For those unfamiliar with their marketing jargon, this essentially means you have an LTPO OLED panel with fantastic pixel density, delivering a great experience whether you’re reading an article (hopefully from our website), scrolling through your feeds, or binge-watching shows on your streaming platform of choice. It checks all the boxes with Widevine L1 certification, HDR10+ support, Dolby Vision, and all the other bells and whistles expected of a flagship device. The Xiaomi 15 also features an adaptive refresh rate, ranging from 1 to 120Hz depending on your activity, which helps with battery life.

One detail I didn’t notice until Xiaomi’s presentation was the incredibly thin bezels across the entire screen. According to them, this is a first for the Xiaomi 15, and this attention to detail adds to the device’s flagship appeal. The speakers on this device are sufficiently loud, but, as always, try to keep the volume below 80% to avoid distortion. Beyond that point, you’ll definitely want to pair it with their new TWS earbuds to fully enjoy your audio or video content without disturbing others.

Xiaomi 15 Review Philippines: Perfromance and Battery Life

In terms of internals, the Xiaomi 15 utilizes the flagship processor of 2025, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite. This is paired with a generous 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and our unit has 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage, with a 512GB version available for those needing more space. Given the specifications, it’s no surprise that it ranks among the latest flagships we’ve tested recently. It handled everything I threw at it with ease, primarily consisting of messaging with the team, browsing social media, watching videos, and using the cameras.

Xiaomi is also very proud of the device’s cooling system, but since we’re currently in Spain, where the average temperature has been 10°C, we’ll reserve the gaming portion of our review for when we return to the Philippines.

Regarding battery life, the Xiaomi 15 performs admirably for my usage. I’ve been averaging 6 hours or more of screen-on time, often with 30% battery remaining at the end of the day. The Xiaomi 15 also supports 90W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. It’s worth noting that our review unit is the EU version, which doesn’t include a charger, but all units sold by Xiaomi in the Philippines will include one in the box.

For software, the Xiaomi 15 runs on Android 15 with the latest version of HyperOS. Sadly, the quirks and downsides of HyperOS persist, remaining one of the brand’s Achilles’ heels. I still encounter occasional ads within system apps and some bloatware, though less than before.

Like many recent flagships, the inclusion of Gemini Live has been a significant plus. I’ve used it to navigate Madrid and Barcelona and to research devices for our reels and YouTube videos. We’ve also utilized the Interpreter functions to communicate with shop attendants who don’t speak English.

Xiaomi 15 Review Philippines: Camera Performance

Undoubtedly, the Xiaomi 15’s cameras are a major selling point. The partnership between Xiaomi and Leica continues to thrive, potentially resulting in their best smartphone cameras yet. To recap, the Xiaomi 15 features a triple camera system—all 50-megapixel, co-engineered with Leica—but only the main camera has the VARIO-SUMMILUX lens. Nevertheless, all the cameras produce fantastic results.

We’ve been using a mix of the Leica Authentic and Leica Vibrant presets, as well as the Scarlet and Cinematic filters, to capture stunning images with the Xiaomi 15. However, there are instances where the post-processing pushes a bit too much, especially with the sky in certain photos. I also found that exposure can be tricky at times, so using exposure compensation is recommended to achieve the desired look, especially if you prefer not to use full manual mode in Pro mode.

For video, the main camera can shoot up to 8K, but I’ve primarily used it at 4K30p. My first impressions video for the Xiaomi 15 features a lot of commuting footage shot on this phone, which produced very stable results. Like most phones, low-light performance is a challenge, but I’ve been able to vlog with this device with minimal issues.

Xiaomi 15 Review Philippines: Wrap Up and Conclusion

The Xiaomi 15 is a great flagship overall, delivering on performance, battery endurance, display quality, and, of course, excellent cameras. From my experience, the main drawback is HyperOS. While it’s cleaner than before, its quirks remain. Nonetheless, I would still recommend considering the Xiaomi 15 if you’re looking for a new flagship this year, especially if you prefer a pocketable device that delivers on all flagship expectations.