Xiaomi 15 Ultra
An exceptional piece of design and hardware for an equally exceptional price, with particular appeal to photographers
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is a well-designed phone with a stunning display and cameras
SCORE
PRICE
512GB, £1,083 (£1,299 inc VAT)
from
mi.com
X
iaomi’s Ultra smartphones are always eye-catching, but this update takes things to a new level: the Silver Chrome edition of the 15 Ultra is designed to look like a classic Leica camera, complete with faux leather coating, and looks spectacular. I’m not normally a fan of Xiaomi’s large circular camera units, but for this inventive design it works perfectly. If you prefer something less showy, there are also plain black and white versions.
The other side of the phone has its own visual charms. The 15 Ultra packs a 6.73in AMOLED display with an adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate, a huge 3,200cd/m2 peak brightness, support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and a fingerprint sensor under the display.
The screen quality is immediately apparent whether you’re scrolling through apps or browsing the web. Watching films is even better, with rich colours and perfect sharpness; the 20:9 aspect ratio means black bars at the sides of the picture, but that’s an occupational pitfall of watching movies on a phone.
My other caveat is that you have to watch from the right angle. As bright as the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is, catching it from the side can turn the glossy screen into a mirror. This isn’t a problem with head-on viewing, though.
Xiaomi’s Shield Glass purportedly gives the screen up to 16 times better drop resistance than 2023’s Xiaomi 13 Ultra, and there’s IP68 water and dust resistance too. An aerospace-grade glass fibre backplate reduces the weight, though at 229g the phone still feels solid in your hand. The 9.5mm thickness means this is also far from the skinniest phone on the market.