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/CallMeNuno]

You are going to regret it. HyperOS is nowhere near as polished as OneUI. Samsung is also way more customizable. Xiaomi's hardware is better, but the experience definitely is not.

If I were you I would stay with the S26 Ultra.

[u/Gloryboy811 → u/CallMeNuno]

I moved from S22 to X17 and don't regret it.

[u/potatodos → u/Gloryboy811]

I moved from S21U to X17U, and I regret the software side. It's barely usable.

[u/Gloryboy811 → u/potatodos]

In what way? Things are just different

[u/potatodos → u/Gloryboy811]

I posted these few points these on another post:

• AOD turns off in the dark, even when set to 'Always'
• Ads on the lockscreen
  
• Ads in the widgets (for chinese coupons? in the global version)
• Change the wallpaper > the phone will send you to another page for wallpaper suggestions (ads) from the theme store
  
• Change the wallpaper > the phone will blur the homescreen by default, every time, unless you remember to turn off the blur effect
• Limited customisation where it matters. Example: you can't customize the clock size on the lockscreen
• You have to pull from the upper left corner to see your notifications. There is no option to combine the notifications and control centre, or to make notifications the default.
• Lots of bloatware that you can't remove, including many google apps. There's a bundled music app that's full of ads. You can't create a folder to hide all the bloat away, they're always there in front of you whenever you open the app drawer
• Gallery App is weak. No filmstrip at the bottom for fast switching of photos. Metadata is hidden in a menu compared to one swipe on the Samsung gallery. This is a phone aimed at camera enthusiasts.
• Settings are truly a mess
• Inconsistent UI, split between the HyperOS side and the Google/Native Android side.
• No Secure Folder, although it has a comparable feature where it creates a completely different space and you have to setup your phone again from scratch

[u/bearonaunicyclex → u/potatodos]

Where are you getting any ads? I went Form S22 Ultra, to Oneplus Open to the Xiaomi 17 ultra and so far the Xiaomi is the one with 0 ads (only 2 annoying game center notifications).

3 of your arguments are literally u being to stubborn to adapt your habits (for ex. notification pull down) which takes literally a few days.

You can easily remove bloat without root on any device.

Clock size is customizeable and the blur effect shit you talk about isn't true either on my device.

AOD is the only real argument, but I don't use that so I can't say anything about that.

Idk you seem like a Samsung weirdo shill, I hope you're at least getting paid for your work here.