Xiaomi 15 Smartphone Review

Xiaomi 15 Smartphone Review

Small Package, Big Features

Xiaomi 15 Smartphone Review
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Xiaomi 15

Brutalist Review Style (Version 2)

Mobile World Congress 2025 is here, and with it comes a pile of Xiaomi announcements and reviews. While checking out the Xiaomi Pad 7 Pro, I was lucky enough to test out the Xiaomi 15 smartphone as well, and I have to say, being all Xiaomi all the time has been pretty nice. Though the 15 does not compete with the likes of flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, it is still a handy smartphone that manages to keep up with my day-to-day tasks.

The Xiaomi 15 smartphone has not been my first foray into the brand’s phones, as I reviewed the 13 Pro back in 2023. OnePlus has remained my daily device since then, but with the Xiaomi 15, something about the size of the device has been calling my name. Many of the internals of the Xiaomi 15 are identical to that of the OnePlus 13. Though the OnePlus looks like a flagship device with its flashy camera design, size and style, the Xiaomi 15 smartphone is on par with it, just stuffed in a tinier package. As a woman with small hands, it just fits.

Xiaomi 15 Smartphone Review

The Xiaomi 15 comes in four colours: White (the version tested), Black, Green and Liquid Silver. The Leica camera bump is much less prominent than that of flagships today, like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra or even the OnePlus 13. However, because it is smaller, but still thick, it sets your phone on a strange angle when you lay it on the table. The Xiaomi 15 smartphone features a 6.36″, 2670 x 1200, AMOLED, 3200 nits, ultra-bright display, which is where it falls behind the OnePlus 13 but rises above all of the Samsung Galaxy S25 lineup.

To be fair, however, unless you have these devices side-by-side, noticing the differences would be very slim. The Xiaomi 15 is still clear and vibrant, and there are no issues seeing the screen in direct sunlight. The size of the phone, though great to carry, does leave something to be desired when gaming or watching media beyond TikTok and YouTube videos.

You will find the same 120 Hz refresh rate found on the other devices, 460 ppi, and 68 billion colours, and it is also TÜV Rheinland certified across the board. Paired with an ultra-thin bezel and 191g weight, there isn’t much else to want in terms of design, so long as you are happy with the size. 

Xiaomi 15 Smartphone Review

While playing Diablo Immortal and Age of Empires Mobile, the Xiaomi 15 held excellent framerates, and the picture quality showed plenty of detail in the water, trees and reflections. A great display is one thing, but the phone needs to be strong under the hood to keep things running well, and the Xiaomi 15 smartphone held up surprisingly well under pressure.

Running Xiaomi HyperOS, the 15 is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and Adreno 830 GPU. My version had 512 GB of storage and 12 GB of RAM, though there is a 256 GB version as well. This is also mostly on par with the other big smartphone players this year, including the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. The only place the 15 has been beat out is by the RAM in OnePlus 13. 

I can’t say it enough: the Xiaomi 15 is small but mighty. It looks like a lesser device because it isn’t as showy, and the display isn’t massive, but it’s extremely similar on the inside. The only place I noticed a difference when the 15 was compared to the 25 Ultra or OnePlus 13 was in its heat dissipation. Both during setup and while charging, the Xiaomi 15 got very warm. Never warm enough to crash, etc, and I didn’t notice an issue while gaming, but every morning when I woke up, the phone was hot.

Xiaomi 15 Smartphone Review

In terms of cameras, the phone still remains competitive, blowing the Galaxy S25 and S25+ out of the water. Partnering with Leica, the device prompts you to choose from Leica Vibrant or Authentic, allowing you to control how you want your photos to look. The Xiaomi 15 features a 50 MP main camera, a 50MP telephoto camera and a 50MP ultra-wide camera. It also features a 32MP selfie camera, which should be the minimum standard by now in smartphones, so I hope other big brands, including Apple, start to take notice.

Again, for the bottom of the line in the Xiaomi 15 series line-up, this device is still worlds above bigger brands. Pictures of drinks were sparkling, my desk set-up was glowing and close-up details really shone through. The photos taken with the Leica lenses on the Xiaomi 15 were beautiful, especially for the lowest phone on the series totem pole, if you will.

Camera settings include Fastshot, which allows you to take a series of photos in 0.6 seconds. Sliding your camera button to the side will take a ton of pictures really quickly, allowing you to capture the right moment. I was able to get some great shots of my daughter on a trampoline, and looking through them was hilarious, to say the least.

I will say that I didn’t love Xiaomi’s AI photo features as much as other brands. Samsung is the company to beat in that department, and no one even comes close to the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The Xiaomi 15 features a slew of AI options, like AI Reflection Removal, AI Erase Pro, AI Imaged Enhancement and AI Image Expansion. Reflection removal worked very well and matched the OnePlus 13, which I raved about. 

Erase Pro, however, left a lot to be desired. Removing simple items from a solid colour surface was passable but noticeable. Anything outside that may look okay to the passing eye, but on closer inspection, things were clearly amiss. The same goes for Image Expansion. At first glance, I thought things looked okay when really it just matched the colour scheme, but when you looked closer, it was mostly shapes and blobs.

The Xiaomi 15 smartphone also had a few quirks I just didn’t love. For one, there is a constant App Updater that lets you know when updates become available, no matter how many times you clear it. It really wants you to update everything. Also, the Always on Display wouldn’t update overnight while it was being wirelessly charged. I would look at the clock and think I had more time before my alarm, only to touch the screen and have the time jump, sometimes minutes, even up to almost an hour. I couldn’t find any settings to fix this, and even if there were, staying up to date should be the default.

Where I was pretty happy was with battery life. The Xiaomi 15 features a 5240mAh battery. Though the company boasts 25 hours of video playback, I wasn’t quite that successful. In testing, I would end a day of consistent usage between 30 and 15 percent, depending on what kind of things I did. On a particularly heavy day of scrolling I ended at 17 percent after 15 hours of being unplugged.

Xiaomi 15 Smartphone Review

As for charging, with a OnePlus SUPERVOOC charger—because Xiaomi doesn’t include them in the box—I was able to gain about a 30 percent charge in 15 minutes. Enough to keep you going if you are getting low midday, but still not the fastest on the market. Again, this is another win for Xiaomi, as a phone this size is still capable of getting me through to the end of the day without needing any real top-ups.

Overall, the Xiaomi 15 is a pretty impressive device, not only just for its size, but for the market it is in. Though we don’t have a price yet, the current Xiaomi 14 is $755 USD, and we can assume we will see similar pricing on the 15. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S25  has smaller storage, less impressive cameras and a smaller battery, and starts at $829 on Amazon.

Though I am not reviewing the flagship “blow your mind” version of the 15 series, this device went above my expectations. Aside from thermal issues, subpar AI, and some small quality-of-life issues, the Xiaomi 15 is a smartphone that can beat out most entry-level devices. If you don’t need top-of-the-line or are looking for the best bang for your buck, start with the Xiaomi 15.

Final Thoughts

REVIEW SCORE
Dayna Eileen
Dayna Eileen

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