At this point, most people are paying attention to the Xiaomi 15 Ultra which holds a significant Leica-Polaroid style design to differentiate itself from the rest of the market, and we love that. It's got an astounding 200MP camera set up, a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and a nice, big screen. It's also commanding a RM5,199 price tag.
With that, we'd like to interest you in the Xiaomi 15 5G as another Xiaomi flagship alternative, building upon the foundation laid by its predecessor, the Xiaomi 14.
The Xiaomi 15 5G is claimed to offer premium experience at a price tag of just RM3,699. Not to mention, its compact size would be a star for many seeking a small and slim phone.
Xiaomi 15 5G Highlights Include:
- Display: Features a 6.36-inch OLED screen with a 1.5K resolution, offering a 120Hz refresh rate and peak brightness of 3200 nits (for outdoor use with clear visuals).
- Performance: Equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, built on a 3nm process, providing robust performance for multitasking and gaming.
- Camera System: Co-engineered with Leica, the triple 50MP rear cameras (wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto) and a 32MP front camera cater to photography enthusiasts seeking versatility and quality.
- Battery and Charging: Houses a 5400mAh battery supporting 90W wired and 50W wireless charging, ensuring quick recharging and extended usage.
- Design and Build: Boasts an aviation-grade aluminum frame, measuring 152.3 × 71.2 × 8.08 mm, and weighing 191g. It holds an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, offering durability for daily use.
Editor
Jodee Tan chevron_right
Table of Contents
Body & Design: It Looks Simple, But Feels Premium
- Display: 6.77-inch, AMOLED, HDR10+, 120Hz, 1300 nits (HBM), 4500 nits (peak)
- Resolution: 1080 x 2392 pixels
- Protection: Diamond Shield Glass
- Water Resistance: IP68 + IP69 rating
- Dimensions: 163.3 x 76.7 x 7.4
Plastic-looking phones just don't have the same appeal as those made with interesting alloys. And for this price tag, we're glad to see part of what we're spending on, which is the Xiaomi 15's aviation-grade aluminum frame.
While the phone maintains its slim factor—as it is the trend now to have powerful slim phones—the Xiaomi 15, weighing 181g, is on the heavier side for us when compared to other similar phone categories like the Samsung Galaxy S25 5G (162g).
Although spoiled by recent lighter competition, I have to give it to Xiaomi 15 for being designed different too. At 6.3-inch in size, the Xiaomi 15 feels safe and secured in my small feminine hands too. If in big hands (like my husband's), it becomes a very compact sized phone.
The back's body material isn't disclosed, and if we have to guess, it feels like a matte polycarbonate piece—which is quite durable and can stand extreme heat. Rest assured it doesn't feel cheap as it sounds. Instead, the Xiaomi 15 feels premium to the touch.
Plus it looks distinguishable, and the fact that Leica's branding on the square camera notch will definitely raise topics and questions from photography enthusiasts.
Screen
The Xiaomi 15 has a 6.36-inch OLED display with a 1.5K resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 3200 nits, ensuring vibrant visuals. It's got good colour and brightness. Visuals look good with 4k videos on Youtube as well.
Something I couldn't help but to notice and I hate to have point it out, is that the screen also looks long horizontally and can feel disproportionate.
Nevertheless, wide angle visuals will look good but it bothers me slightly that I don't get that edge-to-edge display whereby playing most Youtube videos will show the top status bar. At least the pinhole camera doesn't stand out so much that it becomes distracting against the status bar.
Camera
Here's where Xiaomi gets its edge over its competitors. When compared to other flagship models like the Samsung Galaxy S25 and OnePlus 13, Xiaomi 15's own Leica-engineered camera system for its price is a steal in the eyes of mobile photography lovers. With a triple 50MP camera set up, the Xiaomi 15 5G does fairly well in its image processing.
Briefly comparing, the Xiaomi 15 has consistent results with good amount of details captured, good level of sharpness and fair colour reproduction.
Compared to the Xiaomi 14, the Xiaomi 15's 2x zoom captures subjects better and more accurate with no weird, unnatural image processing. Even portrait mode images have good separation between its subjects and blurred backgrounds.
Moreover, there's built-in AI features as well, though the generative results isn't always the best.
Performance & Battery
The Xiaomi 15 utilises Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and built on a 3 nm process—supposedly granting faster speed and has less energy consumption.
The phone is also fitted with a 12 GB RAM and can come with storage options of 256 GB or 512 GB.
Of course, we gotta download some games and our usual social media app. The first thing I noticed (and was surprised at) is how warm the Xiaomi 15 quickly got when I was using the camera for hardly 3 minutes. I had about 5 other apps including Youtube and Google Playstore opened when I was using the camera.
After clearing and resetting cache, I turned on Youtube to watch a couple of videos, then to play Wuthering Waves on Balanced Graphics mode. No high thermal behaviour at all. Therefore we note that multitasking apps is possible and that they run smoothly, but the phone gets fairly warm when you do about five mid-to-heavy applications and downloads at once.
In terms of battery life, you should be able to easily get a day's worth with average use out of its 5240mAh battery capacity.
UI and OS
On the phone you'd get the Xiaomi HyperOS 2, based on Android 15. For us, we're fine with the neat software as it doesn't come with many bloatware (to our knowledge).
The Xiaomi 15 keeps it easy for anyone to set up by offering the option to transfer either from Android or iPhones, as well as option to set up eSim right away. Of course, the usual email set up is recommended to enjoy the phone fully.
Upon setting up you get to choose between app animations, font sizes and spacing, as well as organization style of apps. Sliding your thumb up and down for adjustment menu during phone use and to pull down menu also feels easy and intuitive to carry out. All in all, navigating around the phone's menu is seamless, though I'd love to have a dedicated pull-down menu that reveals the settings rather than limiting it to showing up as an "app".
Not forgetting, Xiaomi 15 will be getting 4 years worth of major OS updates, along with 6 years worth of security updates, according to GSMArena. This is a step up from past models that barely had 4 years of such updates.
Some things did annoy me; rotating animation wasn't smooth
One thing I noticed was how slow the phone was in its auto-rotate animation. Sometimes I'd actually have to force the rotation with emphasised movement to get it done. Maybe this is due to the fact that I have not updated the OS software?
Minimizing games requires an additional step
No matter what kind of a smartphone user you are, you are definitely multitasking. In this case, it's a tad annoying that I cannot minimise my games right away and instead, am prompted to tap the back button once again to "quit" in order to minimize the game.
Who is this for?
Priced at RM3,699, the Xiaomi 15 is an attractive option for tech-savvy, budget-conscious consumers who wants a compact smartphone that offers a balanced experience in performance, all the while providing advanced camera capabilities. Some things to note before you buy is the lack of expandable storage and the fact that thermal issues can arise with heavier use of the phone.
Pros
- Good visuals even under the sun with its peak brightness
- Nice camera set up with good results
- Multitasking apps is not a problem
Cons
- Thermal control is not the best
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