Xiaomi 15 Ultra review: ugly phone, beautiful camera

After two years telling anybody who’d hear that Chinese language producer Vivo made the very best cameras in any smartphone, final 12 months’s Xiaomi 14 Extremely modified my tune. It turned my favourite cellphone and digicam, dealing with all the pieces from vacation snaps to product evaluation photoshoots.

With the 15 Extremely, Xiaomi took the very best and made it higher with a brand new 200-megapixel periscope lens to enhance the opposite (largely unchanged) cameras.

The draw back? The 14 Extremely was by no means a lot of a looker, and the 15 Extremely’s monumental, asymmetrical digicam module has taken a nasty design and made it worse. I’m prepared to place up with the awkward aesthetic when the digicam is that this good, however I’d be fairly understanding should you went the opposite method.

I haven’t talked about a lot about this cellphone’s specs but past the digicam. That’s intentional. Sure, this can be a flagship cellphone by and thru, however yow will discover most of what it gives on different telephones for half the value. For those who’re prepared to drop £1,299 / €1,499 (round $1,600) on the 15 Extremely, the digicam would be the cause why.

Very similar to the 14 Extremely, Xiaomi’s new flagship has a quadruple rear digicam specified by a big, spherical module that dominates the design. Charitably, you could possibly say this evokes the basic Leica aesthetic that Xiaomi can be nodding to with this silver and black end, additional accentuated by the non-compulsory Images Equipment accent. Much less charitably, you could possibly say it’s fairly ugly, not helped by a much less symmetrical lens structure than final 12 months, including to the sense that Xiaomi is desperately making an attempt to cram the {hardware} in.

That structure might be compelled by the brand new 4.3x periscope lens, which makes use of a 200-megapixel 1/1.4-inch-type sensor and a quick f/2.6 aperture. That is an improve on final 12 months’s in each respect besides the zoom distance, down barely from 5x, and the outcomes actually are spectacular.

On the 14 Extremely, I discovered myself making an attempt to make use of the three.2x telephoto as usually as attainable, and this 12 months, the periscope had the identical charming impact on me. I preserve stepping again from topics to present me the excuse to make use of it as an alternative of the primary lens, preferring its pure depth and bokeh in comparison with the flattening impact that any cellphone’s major lens tends to supply. In good lighting, you’ll get stunning, pure photographs at as much as 10x, with respectable outcomes at 30x. Past that — going all the best way as much as 120x — some aggressive sharpening kicks in. I wouldn’t contemplate this something particular at excessive vary, however for mid-distance, it’s fairly excellent.

The opposite three lenses — all 50-megapixel — are not any slouches, both. The primary digicam makes use of the identical one-inch-type Sony LYT-900 sensor as final 12 months, however Xiaomi has ditched the variable aperture in favor of a set f/1.63 strategy. In concept, it makes this lens rather less versatile, however I don’t assume a lot is misplaced in apply. Nonetheless, it’s an odd downgrade.

The common telephoto makes use of the identical spec as final 12 months’s equal however with 3x zoom moderately than 3.2x. This was my favourite lens final 12 months, and I believe it’s nonetheless probably the most helpful right here. 3x is a extra sensible distance than 4.3x a lot of the time, and that is additionally the lens used routinely for macro photographs, permitting you to take close-ups with out really getting shut. The ultrawide and selfie lenses are probably the most forgettable: they’re good however unremarkable. It could be somewhat unfair to name them afterthoughts, however they’re clearly not the place Xiaomi’s focus lies.

Past merely slapping an unlimited periscope in, Xiaomi’s different focus has been bettering pictures efficiency in low gentle. I run a meals e-newsletter on the facet, so I spend a whole lot of time making an attempt to {photograph} dishes in dimly lit eating places, precisely the place most telephones battle. I cherished the 14 Extremely, partly as a result of it excels in these situations, even on its telephoto. And on the 15 Extremely, the identical is true, although I’m unsure this cellphone marks a big step ahead. The brand new periscope’s efficiency is spectacular, although: it’s a slight drop-off from the 3x lens, being barely extra prone to glare from vibrant lights in darkish environment and requiring a steadier hand to get a crisp shot.

The largest criticism I might muster about this digicam is that it’s not that completely different from final 12 months’s. For those who don’t personal the 14 Extremely, then that gained’t be a problem for you, but it surely is perhaps one for Xiaomi. Competitors at this finish of the market is intense, particularly in China, and I’m wondering if rivals like Vivo and Oppo are about to usurp the throne.

Get past the digicam, and the 15 Extremely nonetheless impresses, but it surely feels just like different flagships. The specs all sound acquainted: a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset with 16GB of RAM and as much as 1TB of storage; a big 6.73-inch 120Hz LTPO OLED show; an IP68 ranking with bolstered glass for the show. I don’t wish to recommend any of that is dangerous — it’s high of the road. There are only a lot of different telephones crowding for house on the high with it.

Battery life is nice. The 5,410mAh capability is beneficiant, and it took a journey day with plenty of pictures and a few hours hotspotting my laptop computer earlier than I began to fret about it dying. 90W wired charging will high it up shortly, with 80W wi-fi speeds should you put money into the official charger and considerably slower speeds on a normal Qi pad. Like virtually each different Android OEM, Xiaomi nonetheless hasn’t felt the necessity to put money into Qi2.

The software program is the place you’ll discover downsides. HyperOS — Xiaomi’s Android pores and skin — runs on high of Android 15 and shares annoyances in widespread with different takes on Android from Chinese language OEMs. You’ll discover a whole lot of Xiaomi-branded apps preinstalled, a couple of of which you’ll’t take away, plus a smattering of different apps you may not need, like AliExpress.

Xiaomi eliminated a number of the OS’s customizability in its newest model. If there’s a approach to have 5 apps on a homescreen row moderately than 4, I haven’t discovered it, regardless of having precisely that enabled on my 14 Extremely. Just a few different duties simply really feel cumbersome and aggravating — altering the wallpaper means forcing your method by a Themes app intent on promoting you new ringtones and naff graphics.

Nearly all of this may be ignored. I’d most likely say I desire HyperOS to Samsung’s Galaxy UI, however you’ll have to reside with rather less polish. The promise of 4 generations of Android OS updates and 6 years of safety assist additionally lags a couple of years behind Samsung and Google, although it’s nonetheless a good run.

One of the best and worst issues in regards to the 15 Extremely come all the way down to its digicam. I believe the one factor most definitely to place anybody off shopping for this cellphone — worth apart — is that the lens module is a little bit of an eyesore. It’s the very first thing anybody I’ve seen prior to now week has observed in regards to the cellphone, and never in a great way.

However then you definately begin utilizing the digicam, and also you get it. Sure, it’s ugly. However there was most likely no different approach to make it this rattling good.

Images by Dominic Preston / The Verge