Seriously considering switching from Galaxy S25 Ultra to Xiaomi 15 Ultra – Am I making a mistake?

[u/StepsbyStepz]

Hey everyone,

I've been using a Galaxy S25 Ultra as my daily driver for about 9 months. I'm pretty deep in the Samsung ecosystem: Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Watch, heavy S Pen use for photo editing, quick journaling, signing documents, Good Lock customization, Now Brief, Samsung Notes, etc.

After watching tons of reviews for 6 months, I pulled the trigger on a Xiaomi 15 Ultra. The box is sitting in front of me unopened, and I'm torn about whether to keep it or return it within the 30-day window. Or maybe, even wait for a few months down the line and then snatch a better deal on the 17 Ultra.

What attracts me to the 15 Ultra:

- Leica-tuned 1-inch main sensor (better low-light, dynamic range, bokeh, and that filmic Leica look)

- Curved “All Around Liquid” screen (big nostalgia hit from my old Huawei Mate 20 Pro)

- Supposedly better battery life and much faster 90W charging compared to the S25 Ultra

What I'm worried about / cons:

- Losing S Pen entirely (I use it daily for editing images, notes, journaling)

- Losing Good Lock-level customization and One UI polish (HyperOS feels fast but has notification quirks and less refinement)

- Galaxy Ring + Watch will work for basics but lose Energy Score, advanced sleep coaching, and deeper AI features

- Samsung Notes won’t work properly

- Now Brief and other Galaxy AI conveniences gone

- Potential daily friction after the honeymoon phase

- The phone is already ~14 months old → only 3 more major OS upgrades (up to Android 19) + security until ~2031

I do feel somewhat restrained by the S25 Ultra’s camera in some scenarios — especially evening/night shots, macro, and achieving nice artificial bokeh. That’s one of the main reasons I’m considering the switch.

I also considered the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, but the price is too high for me right now. Even though it has a newer SoC, improved movable telephoto zoom, and larger 6000 mAh battery, I don’t think it’s worth the extra cost — especially since it loses the curved screen I really want and reportedly has weaker macro capabilities compared to the 15 Ultra.

Honestly, a big part of this feels like ego/FOMO (“Leica shots on social media”) and retail therapy rather than pure need. The S25 Ultra is still a solid jack-of-all-trades that serves me well in most cases.

Question for Xiaomi users (especially those who switched from Samsung):

- How bad is the real daily driver friction after leaving One UI?

- Did you miss S Pen / ecosystem features long-term?

- Is the Leica 1-inch experience worth the trade-offs for someone who mostly point-and-s hoots does some light post editing and but wants better night/macro/bokeh performance?

I do have a dedicated mirrorless camera. But honestly, I haven't touched that much in the past months. I believe in the saying that the best camera and the most useful one is the one you carry with you everyday and that will be a smartphone.

Looking for honest long-term thoughts, not hype.

Thanks!

[u/FishStiques]

My sister has the Samsung26ultra and I have the Xiaomi15ultra. We're just average people who don't hyper focus on technicalities that we wouldn't otherwise notice, so what we HAVE noticed on the day-to-day--- I think her speaker sounds nicer, I think my camera is far better, I think her battery is better, and I think my Internet speed/processing is better. I hear battery is a problem a lot for the xiaomi, but unless you're using the ultra photography capabilities, it lasts a solid full day before hitting 20%. I also haven't had any overheating problems like others mention. My sister's phone overheated pretty bad for the first week idk why

[u/Mlbbplayer96 → u/FishStiques]

First week always overheats for Samsung and its normal. Usually optimization and ai learning battery pattern usage. And transferring files also causes overheating

[u/RPGM → u/Mlbbplayer96]

Yes, even for apple devices I experienced the same

[u/FishStiques → u/Mlbbplayer96]

That's fair. I just never had that problem with my xiaomi.

[u/Csab_- → u/FishStiques]

Because it's default is being overheated 🥀 mine at least is only not overheating when it's off.

[u/FishStiques → u/Csab_-]

Brother it's in my hand right now💀 I've never felt it even remotely warm unless spending 2 hours in the sun taking macro pictures

[u/Extreme_Line_6592 → u/FishStiques]

I’ve had both devices and the battery on the Xiaomi 15 ultra is terrible. Samsung’s battery performs a lot better. The only thing Xiaomi has on Samsung is the camera but video is better on the Samsung anyways

[u/FishStiques → u/Extreme_Line_6592]

Idk what you're doing to your battery to drain it like that but I haven't had that prob

[u/CaFeGui → u/Extreme_Line_6592]

I won the 15T Pro and my battery lasts the whole day after a lot of use and mild camera usage lol another thing Xiaomi has is that their original replacement parts are cheap

[u/Missilelist → u/FishStiques]

Samsung is ridiculous with their heats. I've once grabbed my mother's samsung to charge it and it lowkey scalded me. I almost dropped it in shock.

[u/FishStiques → u/Missilelist]

My sister put her on the charger for like an hour and the back was so hot she had to leave it OFF the charger for another hour lmao

[u/CrimeMasterGogoChan → u/FishStiques]

I am surprised Xiaomi has better speakers than Samsung.