The Xiaomi 15 was announced last October in China. Xiaomi opted to wait with its global launch, as was the case with its predecessor. The global model was announced quite recently, and we’ve had the pleasure of playing with the device for weeks now. There was plenty of time to handle the Xiaomi 15 review, and that’s exactly what you’re getting here.
I like to refer to the Xiaomi 15 as a tiny powerhouse because that’s exactly what it is. This phone is one of the most compact flagship-grade in the market. It feels just right in the hand, while it has plenty of power to get it going, in basically every way. We were left quite impressed with the Xiaomi 15, and that’s something we’ll talk about in this review. There are, of course, some negatives too, so… let’s get to it!
Xiaomi 15 Review: Hardware / Design
The Xiaomi 15 is made out of metal and glass, and it’s very compact. It’s larger than the iPhone 16 Pro and Galaxy S25, but that’s because it also offers a notably larger display… still, it’s only slightly larger, and its bezels are very thin. The frame on the phone is flat, and so are its front and back sides. Xiaomi also curved the back side of the frame so that it seamlessly curves right into the glass on the back. That’s one of my favorite designs I’ve seen lately, as it makes the phone very comfortable to hold. A flat frame is great if it’s implemented properly, and this is the right way to do it.
It has a matte frame, which is good
The frame is not glossy, it’s matte aluminum, so it’s great for repelling fingerprints, and it actually feels better to use. The same goes for the backplate, actually, at least on our model. We’ve received the green model from Xiaomi, by the way, other colors may offer different backplates. Yes, the phone is still slippery, but it could have been even more slippery. Also, considering its size, handling it is much easier than you think, despite its slippery nature. Well, if you’re using a case, it doesn’t really matter, but that’s not something we’re focusing on here. The phone feels immensely nice to hold and use, I was kind of hooked from the get-go and barely used a case… which is included. We’ll talk about that a bit later on.
Its display is flat, and there’s a hole punch at the top, it’s centered. That camera hole is rather small, and the bezels around the display are flat. There’s also a screen protector pre-installed on the phone. The power/lock and volume up and down buttons are on the right-hand side, and they’re in the ideal place. The power/lock button sits below the volume rocker buttons. There is a fingerprint scanner placed under the display, and it’s an ultrasonic one. We’ll talk more about it in the performance section.
It is very compact, and comes with a case
The Xiaomi 15 is 152.3mm tall, 71.2mm wide, and it’s 8.1mm, 8.4mm, or 8.5mm thick, it all depends on the variant. It’s also IP68 water and dust resistant, in case you were wondering. The weight of the device is 189 grams, 191 grams or 192 grams, depending on the model. The Xiaomi 15 is also very pocketable, of course, which will be a relief if you’re annoyed with large devices. Do note that a case is also included in the retail box. You’ll be getting a regular silicone case, but one that provides plenty of protection. That way, you have some peace of mind until you buy something else. Many people may even opt to stick with the included case, though.
Xiaomi 15 Review: Display
The Xiaomi 15 features a 6.36-inch 2670 x 1200 LTPO OLED display. That display is flat, and it has a centered display camera hole up top, which is centered. The refresh rate can go from 1 to 120Hz, and it can show up to 1 billion colors. Dolby Vision is also supported here, as is HDR10+ content. The screen-to-body ratio on the device is around 90%, its bezels are very thin, and they’re also uniform. The display aspect ratio is 20:9, while the resolution you’re getting here is 2670 x 1200, but you can lower that, of course. Shatterproof glass is protecting the display, and the peak brightness the display can push out is 3,200 nits, technically. It also supports high-frequency PWM dimming of well over 3,000Hz.
The display is vibrant, sharp, and has great viewing angles
This panel looks great on paper, and it’s actually great in real-life too, it works great. I really don’t have anything bad to say about it. It ticks all the boxes you’d expect. The display is vibrant, and you do have some additional controls to fine-tune it to your liking. I kept it on its original setting, which is ‘Vivid’, that worked great for me. I never judge camera samples directly on the phone, so that’s not really an issue here. You can even get it to adapt to ambient lighting and change its color tuning automatically, if you want. Reading mode is also available, while you can also customize the refresh rate if that’s something you want.
The viewing angles here are great, and the touch response is really good too. Xiaomi also did a great job adapting the 120Hz refresh rate to One UI 7, everything feels very smooth, especially scrolling. What about brightness? Well, even in direct sunlight, the display was easy to use, it was not too dim or anything like that. There are brighter displays out there, of course, but that was a non-issue. On top of everything, the screen protector is also placed on top of the display itself, a regular plastic one. There’s really not a single complaint I have about this display, Xiaomi nailed it.
Xiaomi 15 Review: Performance
Xiaomi wanted to offer a true flagship performer with this compact phone, and that’s exactly what it did. The Xiaomi 15 comes with the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, Qualcomm’s most powerful chip. This is a 3nm processor, in case you were wondering. Xiaomi opted to pair it with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 flash storage. The storage is not expandable, by the way. So you are, essentially, getting one of the most powerful chips on the market, if not the most powerful one. High-end RAM and storage is also included, so the phone should offer great performance, right? Well, that’s not always the case, if poor optimization is a part of the picture, but thankfully, that’s not the case here.
There’s no lag whatsoever
The Xiaomi 15 is as smooth as you’d expect it to be. HyperOS 2 may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it works great on this handset and Xiaomi’s phones in general. The animations are sublime, and everything just… works. During my usage of this phone, which was well over two weeks, I did not really experience any lag. Like on every phone, you will get a skipped frame here and there, as nothing is perfect, but that’s about it. The performance as is good as it can get for daily use. The Xiaomi 15 can fire up apps real quick and jump between them without a problem.
It can also be a compact gaming machine
Yes, HyperOS 2 is still kind of aggressive when it comes to background processes, but nowhere near as it used to be in the past. You also have options to lock tasks in the background if you want, there are several ways to do it, actually. Gaming is also not a problem whatsoever. I’ve tried out Genshin Impact, Subway Surfers, COD Mobile, and several more less demanding games, it all worked brilliantly. The heat was also a non-issue. Xiaomi did improve cooling on this phone a bit, compared to the Xiaomi 14, but the heat was not really a problem on the Xiaomi 14 either, so… there you go. Yes, the phone will get quite warm if you’re playing something demanding for a long time, but that’s about it. It never got uncomfortably hot or anything of the sort. I also did not have a single in-game crash or anything like that. Xiaomi does use a large vapor chamber here, so that surely helps with overall performance.
The fingerprint scanner is extremely fast & accurate
There are several biometric options available here for you to choose from. The main one is that ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that sits below the display. It is fast, it is accurate, and I don’t really have a single complaint here. It works as well as you’d expect a fingerprint scanner to work in 2025, especially on a flagship smartphone, and that’s saying a lot. I enjoyed using it quite a bit. Now, in addition to this, you also have a somewhat less secure option here, facial scanning.
I’m saying less secure as it’s not 3D facial scanning. The phone utilizes a front-facing camera in order to scan your face, it does not have any additional hardware for it. Still, it’s extremely easy to fool, so you’ll be good either way. I tend not to use regular facial scanning all that much as it doesn’t do a great job in low light. The same is the case here. It’s a hit-and-miss in low light, at least it was that way for me. Just stick to that fingerprint scanner, and you’ll be good to go, though, regardless of the lighting conditions around you.
Benchmarks
There’s always someone interested in benchmarks, so we always do them. Unfortunately, though, we were unable to complete AnTuTu and 3D Mark Extreme WildLife Stress Test this time around. AnTuTu was not available, and the phone wouldn’t allow us to run that specific 3D Mark test. You will find the Geekbench test below, however, and various other benchmarking tests throughout the article in their respective categories. Such as the battery drain test, CapCut video export test, and so on. The phone did as well as you’d expect on Geekbench, given its powerful specifications.
Xiaomi 15 Review: Battery
The Xiaomi 15 is a compact smartphone. Despite that, however, it includes a rather beefy battery. This phone has a 6.36-inch display and comes with a 5,240mAh battery. Quite a few flagship-grade smartphones are still clinging to Li-Ion batteries, which limits them greatly in terms of capacity. A number of phones on the market that are notably larger than this one offer notably less battery capacity. For example, the Galaxy S25 Ultra from Samsung includes a 5,000mAh battery. The Galaxy S25, which is supposed to compete directly with the Xiaomi 15 in the compact smartphone section, includes a 4,000mAh battery. The global variant of the Xiaomi 15 does have a smaller battery that its Chinese counterpart, though, as the Chinese model includes a 5,400mAh unit. The difference is not that big, but it’s worth noting.
Its battery capacity is quite high, considering the screen size
Battery capacity itself does not have to mean much on its own, though. If the optimizations are not in place, it won’t get you far. Well, you’ll be glad to know that the Xiaomi 15 actually offers great battery life. Xiaomi did a good job of combining everything here. Even if you’re a power user and you want a smaller device, the Xiaomi 15 will likely be enough for you in terms of battery endurance. Even on heavy use days I did not need to charge it before bed. I was able to cross the 9-hour screen-on time mark with this phone more than once, and still have some battery backup. That is saying a lot, as not many compact phones offer great battery life. Well… this one does.
Do note that gaming will affect the battery visibly, though. Demanding games, such as Genshin Impact, did change my experience notably. Even if you do delve into some games during the day, however, chances are you’ll have more than enough battery left at the end of the day. With plenty of messaging, browsing, TikTok, YouTube, image editing, and taking pictures, amongst other things, this phone powered through like a champ.
90W wired & 50W wireless charging is on board
If you, however, end up on the short end of the stick and have to charge the phone at an inconvenient time, that’s not a problem either. The Xiaomi 15 supports 90W wired, 50W wireless, and 10W reverse wireless charging. To make things even better, a 90W charger is included in the retail box, at least when it comes to a European unit. The phone can charge in 39 minutes via a wire, which is plenty fast, needless to say.
Xiaomi 15 Review: Camera
The Xiaomi 15’s camera system is inferior to the one on the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, that’s true. However, this phone still has an immensely capable setup on the back. It performed as well as we had hoped. It is not perfect, of course, but… it’s more than good enough for the vast majority of people. Before we get down to camera performance details, let’s take a closer look at the camera specs, shall we?
The device has three cameras on the back, one less than the ‘Ultra’ model. A 50-megapixel main camera (Light Fusion 900 sensor, 1/1.31-inch sensor size, OIS, f/1.62 aperture) sits on the back of the phone. It is backed by a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera (f/2.2 aperture lens, 115-degree FoV), and a 50-megapixel floating telephoto camera (2.6x optical zoom, OIS, 10cm macro photography, f/2.0 aperture). On the front, a 32-megapixel camera (f/2.0 aperture, 0.7um pixel size) is included.
All three cameras do a fine job during the day
Let’s talk about daytime performance first. It is really good on all three cameras. It’s actually great from the main and telephoto cameras, while the ultrawide is a step behind, but not bad. It tends to provide slightly darker images with slightly fewer details. It also performed a bit odd in some HDR situations, but that was a rare occasion. The other two cameras offered outstanding performance during the day. They provided plenty of detail, well-balanced colors and great white balance. The dynamic range was great, especially on the main camera, and the HDR performance was top-notch. We preferred the ‘Leica Vibrant’ settings over ‘Leica Authentic’ one, as the colors were outstanding and vignetting was not a part of an image. Still, if you like that Leica setup, the ‘Authentic’ setting is great too. Despite the fact Xiaomi didn’t use a periscope telephoto camera here, the telephoto shooter did a great job even at 10x, in daytime conditions.
Low-light performance is nothing to scoff at
When the light goes away, things do change. The main camera still offers great performance, actually. That goes for both indoor and outdoor shots, as it even managed to capture my cat properly in conditions that were not perfect. The same goes for some difficult indoor shots with plenty of small details, and so on. The ultrawide camera does offer a noticeable decline in quality in low light, especially indoors. Outdoors it’s a hit and miss, as street lights can affect the outcome at times. The telephoto camera does a generally good job when the light goes away, as long as we’re not talking about truly dark situations. It actually performed better than I had hoped, but forget getting 10x shots in low light. Those default around 3x shots do end up looking quite good, though.
Main camera samples:
Ultrawide camera samples:
Telephoto camera samples:
Xiaomi 15 Review: Software
The Xiaomi 15 comes with the latest version of Android, Android 15. On top of it, you’ll find Xiaomi’s very own skin, HyperOS 2.0. This is basically an evolution of MIUI, even though it’s still very similar to MIUI. Xiaomi did change some things along the way, and the branding, but the feel of it is still very familiar. So, if you loved MIUI back in the day, you’ll like HyperOS too. This version of HyperOS differs from the Chinese one, of course, so just keep in mind that we’re talking about a global unit here.
HyperOS 2.0 offers plenty of customization options
With that being said, HyperOS 2.0 does bring plenty of customization on the table. Before we get to that, however, let’s talk about what’s pre-installed. Compared to the company’s Redmi series smartphones, you’ll see way fewer apps pre-installed here. You won’t see a number of games that come on those phones, plus some others. Still, there is some bloatware here, which you can easily remove. Well, you can remove most of it. For example, the Netflix app comes pre-installed, and you can ditch it if you don’t need it. The same goes for WPS Office, Xiaomi Community, and Mi Mover, amongst others.
Yes, there are also system apps that you cannot remove, which is perfectly normal and something every phone has, basically. There’s Xiaomi’s Gallery app thrown into the mix, the Music app, Mi Browser, and more. Some of these system apps are removable, or you can disable them at least, some not so much. In any case, Xiaomi did not pack this phone with a ton of noise, there’s noticeably less here than on their budget phones, which is much appreciated. It will not really bother you or anything like that, plus you can remove most of it.
Xiaomi’s skin feels great to use and offers nice animations
HyperOS 2.0 feels great to use. It’s very responsive, and the animations are excellent, to say the least. It runs buttery smooth as well, and I really don’t have complaints from that aspect. I also loved all the customization features that Xiaomi offers here. Custom themes are at your disposal here, both free and paid ones. Xiaomi also has a ton of wallpapers you can download from its online theme store. You can even mess around with icons, even though third-party icon packs are not supported.
The company also allows you to personalize the lock screen to quite an extent and also customize the font. You can set notification effects to go off after you receive a notification. For example, the edges of the screen can pulsate, letting you know you have a new notification. Different effects for the in-display fingerprint scanner are also available, and so is the ‘Wallpaper Carousel’, in case you’d like Xiaomi to change your wallpapers for you. For those of you who are wondering, yes, the Always-On Display feature is also enabled here, but you can disable it if you’d like.
I do wish Xiaomi didn’t mess with some core functionality, though
There are also some things that were changed and shouldn’t have been. For example, the maximum number of icons for new notifications that you can see, in the status bar, is three. One is set as the default, though, and you’ll have to change that in the settings. If you have more than three new notifications (from different apps), you’re out of luck. This change was completely unnecessary. You can, at least, choose between colored and black/white icons in the status bar. There are also some additional options at your disposal, such as the ‘Quick ball’, ‘Gesture shortcuts’, and more. The level of customization is quite high, and HyperOS does work really well.
Xiaomi 15 Review: Audio
What about audio? Well, as you might have guessed, stereo speakers are included here, of course. One speaker sits at the bottom of the phone, while the other is placed in the earpiece above the display. So one is bottom-firing, and the other is front-firing. Xiaomi balanced out these speakers really well, though. Dolby Atmos support is also on board, and the speakers are Hi-Res certified.
Yes, this is not a huge phone, and if you’re worried about the audio because of that, don’t be. The speakers are plenty loud, they’re on the same playing field as speakers on larger flagships in terms of sound quality and loudness. This is definitely not the phone’s weak point, not at all. The phone also has a 4-mic array included, and the call quality is very good. The same goes for audio recording, in case you’re planning to use the phone as a sound recording device at some point. They also play a role in audio for video, of course. All in all, the audio aspect of the phone is… on a high level.
Xiaomi 15 Review: Should you buy it?
No matter how you slice it, the Xiaomi 15 is a great smartphone. It is one of the best compact devices that we’ve ever used. Just because it’s more compact than most other high-end offerings out there doesn’t mean it’s not on their level. This smartphone has a great build quality, display, performance, and so on. It also offers good battery life and very, very fast charging, plus more. Even its camera performance is excellent overall, so… there are very few complaints that can be made here. This is definitely a device you should be considering if you’re in the market for a compact, high-end smartphone.
You should buy the Xiaomi 15 if you:
- want a compact flagship
- are annoyed with large devices and want a break
- need a good camera in a compact phone
- don’t want to pay the ‘Ultra’ price
- like Xiaomi and its software
You shouldn’t buy the Xiaomi 15 if you:
- need a periscope telephoto camera
- want a large screen
