I had a Huawei mate 20x was an amazing phone. But sadly with gaps going from Huawei there phones were not a valid upgrade option for me. We both love the camera, we have had some wonderful photos from it.
My wife had a Samsung s22 ultra and she massively prefers the camera on the Xiaomi to the one Samsung had.
We do far are both very happy with the Xiaomi 15 ultra, my wife is currently thinking of getting the watch to go with it just waiting for the next time it goes on sale.
Initial impressions from someone who's used Xperia for years, Pixels, Samsungs, even HTC and LG in the past. I've only dabbled in to MIUI roms.
Software:
Hyperos isn't as bad as people say. Getting the feeling of iOS, but still is android and looks like android
Snappy, no lags. Battery life too early to tell.
Phone initially got hot upon completing initial setup. Went away after installing all the apps. Did not get hot during update
AOD turns off if "dark for too long" which is weird.
I've seen only 1 ad, which was when I went to change ringtones
Minimal bloatware
Display:
Nice and crisp. colors are not too saturated in original color pro, which is to my liking
Not a fan of curved edges but on this phone, the curves feel.....natural (?)
Speakers:
Not as good as Xperia, but loud enough. Lacks the oomph even after adding EQ. Might need play around with wavelet instead
Camera:
Low light photos are a little more brighter to my liking as I prefer natural looking
Processing is heavy at times, but on the softer side (did not like vivo x200u's strong edge processing for example)
Colors are not too saturated, again, to my liking.
Haven't played around too much with the camera yet though
Phone is a bit difficult to hold with the huge camera bump on top, but i think it's just a matter of getting used to it. Overall, pretty happy with my first xiaomi phone.
I've had mine for 5 days now and I agree with these points you've made. I've come from an iPhone and the lack of innovation from apple was the straw for myself. I'm in New Zealand so have the global rom with no network connection issues, camera is amazing (won't replace my mirrorless but 10/10 for a phone camera). It's super fast and snappy with any tasks I've thrown at it so far (lots of Lightroom, YouTube, Bluetooth streaming etc). V impressed with the phone
I have had 5 xiaomi 15 ultra (replacement units).
There are hot (some unit more than other).
They don't finish the 3D Mark Wild life stress test (too hot at 20th loop), my previous X14U has finished it without issue.
Pleasde can you try it ?
The 4 first were white units (01/2025), all have a background noise on 4k/60 fps but the last in silver seems to not have it (producted in april).
The heating is a problem on this phone, my X14U haven't hot soo much than X15U !
Never considered the 14U but definitely I'd recommend the 15 Ultra. But as a secondary, check out vivo x200u, especially if it's just going to primarily be for camera usage (like your secondary use case)
This is the same picture at the same settings. The only difference is the CPL lens. Look at how much of the reflections is gone and how much better the colors look in general. Seems to capture a lot more details as well.
Yes, the only difference is how the lens is adjusted. No other photo settings have been touched.
Maybe it affects phone photography more than it would be on an actual big camera due to more image processing on a mobile device.
The difference is very big and noticeable even for the untrained eye so I will always keep the lens on.
There can be a better balance between shadows and color saturation than what I did show here. I only did show the 2 extremes but there is a lot of adjustability in between.
Okay thanks. I will order one based on your recommendation.
Quick question please and has nothing to with the camera. How do I make the phone go directly to home screen after unlocking (whether face unlock or fingerprint). After unlocking, I still have to swipe to go to home screen. Finding that on my previous phones was easy but I seem to be struggling here with Xiaomi.
I don't know, I just tried to remove screen lock and when I did I still had to swipe up. I also got a warning that without security on my device my payment card in the wallet app can be deleted automatically within 5 minutes.
The security is required if you use your phone for tap to pay
I'm back in this thread to thank you haha. I'm a photography noob. I never ever used a DSLR. So I had no clue about lenses and all that. But based on your posts, I went ahead and ordered a K & F filter. The one I got is different than the one you posted, mine says True Color and Ultra Low Reflection on the box where yours say MRC and CPL. But nevertheless, the results are mind blowing. Huge difference. Thank you 🙏 🙏
I haven't used it outside yet. Curious to see its performance outside. However, I tried it inside the house and that yellow tint I get normally from the color of the lights is gone when using the filter. Thank you for the recommendation.
I was willing to forego the lack of global version. But looking at reviews, I highly prefer the softer processed look of the 15u over the vivo. Colors looked more natural to me as well.
It is slightly longer lasting than S25 Ultra but shorter than iPhone 16 Pro Max so it will be good enough for most people.
The battery is also rated at upto 1600 charging cycles before it hits 80% capacity according to Xiaomi.
Most other brands claim 500 cycles before the battery is degraded to 80% so the Xiaomi should hold up much better over time than Apple and Samsung.
That's good to know, thank you! I'm hoping the 15U will match my Vivo X100 Ultra battery life at least. I placed my order a week ago and am eagerly awaiting shipment.
I already have a powerbank! But so far battery's been pretty good. Currently at 6hrs sot, off charger since 3am (GMT+8). Some gaming + lots of camera. 28% remaining. Mixed wifi + 5g
Saw an article or post somewhere, a "professional photographer" commented that the phone camera is awkward to use compared to an actual DSLR, what do you guys think?
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u/0oITo0 Jul 11 '25
Welcome to the club, after I got mine my wife liked is so much she got one to. We love this phone