The Xiaomi 15 Ultra reignited my love for slab phones with its nostalgic design

I’ve been writing about smartphones for nearly a decade now, and at no point have I become bored with them. I still love playing with “shiny new things” even when they aren’t actually shiny, because I’ve always been the kind of person who slaps their phone in a case, anyway. So when my colleagues tell me they think smartphones have become boring, I shrug my shoulders as I’ve never valued smartphone design as much as they do. After spending some time with the new Xiaomi 15 Ultra, though, I’m starting to agree with them about how lazy and uninspired many modern smartphones are.

My history with phones isn’t as storied as that of some of my colleagues, but I’ve reviewed my fair share of what people consider unique or beautiful smartphones. I’ve seen phones with transparent or color-changing backs, bold and vibrant colors, sleek and hard-to-etch materials, and so on. I wouldn’t say the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is the best-looking of all the phones I’ve seen, but there’s something about its design that just resonated with me, despite not being a photography enthusiast or even having used a vintage camera. Yes, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra makes me feel nostalgic for something I shouldn’t have nostalgia for, a sensation that people call “anemoia” — a feeling of nostalgia for a time you’ve never known.

I think the moment my opinion on smartphone design started to shift was when I had a brief interaction with a stranger last month. I was visiting an antiques store in Houston with my brother and sister-in-law, and while I was taking photos with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra for a review, a lovely elderly lady stopped me to ask what camera I was using. Not what phone I was using; what camera I was using. She quickly realized that what I was holding was a phone and not a vintage camera when she saw it up close, but that moment really stuck with me.

The setting for this interaction being an antiques store wasn’t lost on me, and it further solidified my feeling of anemoia. I think that Xiaomi absolutely nailed the classic camera-like look of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and it’s a shame that so few flagship phones even attempt to do something different with their design.

As I was leaving the antiques store, I thought to myself, “When was the last time a random person was actually interested in what phone I was using?” The answer to that is when I took my first book-style foldable out for camera testing a few years ago, when foldable phones were still novel. New foldable phones were the only devices to truly pique my interest in the last few years. Their form factor made it comfortable for me to multitask, but more importantly, actually read manga on my phone. I had become bored with the traditional slab phone form factor, so I was surprised by how much the Xiaomi 15 Ultra made me not want to go back to a book-style foldable after the review period ended.

None of the slab phones I’ve used in the past year have captured my interest nearly as much as the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. I think that’s in large part due to how it doesn’t place function over form or form over function. Many uniquely designed phones are mid-range devices that compromise on performance. Conversely, many top-tier Android flagships with premium hardware look bland. In contrast, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s classic camera design is not just for show; it’s genuinely one of the best camera phones, if not one of the best phones overall, I’ve ever used.

My feelings about the Xiaomi 15 Ultra echo much of what Rob said in his review, but I wanted to share some of my own camera samples that demonstrate why I love its cameras so much. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s cameras handle lighting, color reproduction, and dynamic range superbly. Its main 50MP camera has a large 1-inch sensor that does particularly well at producing a natural bokeh effect and capturing details in low-lighting conditions.

Its strongest suit, though, is its zoom capabilities. This is thanks to its two telephoto cameras: a 50MP 3X optical zoom lens and a 200MP 4.3X periscope zoom lens. These two cameras excel at capturing fine details from a distance. I’ve especially enjoyed using them to take close-up shots of animals, which are traditionally tough subjects to capture.

While the Xiaomi 15 Ultra might not be the absolute pinnacle in every aspect of photography, as Rob noted, it excels in all the areas that matter to me. That’s why I’m going to make it my primary camera phone. It enables me to take stunning photos of picturesque locations like Barcelona, stellar everyday photos of friends, family, and pets, and excellent close-up product shots.

What else makes the Xiaomi 15 Ultra a great phone?

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra costs a substantial €1,499 (approximately $1,556), so I think it’s fair to expect it to excel at more than just taking photos. Fortunately, Xiaomi spared no expense when making this phone. It has a top-tier build, display, battery, processor, and even software experience, much to my pleasant surprise.

The dual-tone design of the Silver Chrome variant not only looks great but also feels great to hold. The chrome lining is smooth to the touch, while the faux-leather portion has a decent bit of grip, largely eliminating my need for a case. The frame is made of aluminum, which not only makes it sturdy but also feels great in my hand.

On the front of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is a large 6.73-inch OLED panel with a crisp quad HD resolution (1440p) that reaches a peak brightness of 3200 nits. The display refreshes at up to 120Hz, and it can be tuned with multiple eye care features. This phone boasts one of the best displays I’ve ever used; text, images, and videos are crisp and vibrant, even under direct sunlight. The built-in reading mode makes it super comfortable to use at night. The AI display features — super-resolution, HDR enhancement, and MEMC — are meant to enhance video playback, but I haven’t noticed a significant difference compared to my TV.

Xiaomi has finally transitioned from optical to ultrasonic fingerprint scanners with the 15 series. The ultrasonic scanner is fast, accurate, reliably works with wet fingers, and most importantly, doesn’t light up the screen at night.

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, complemented by up to 16GB of memory and up to 1TB of storage. I haven’t noticed any slowdowns or hiccups during daily use. However, as Rob noted in his review, the phone may throttle during intense gaming sessions, so keep that in mind.

Fortunately, the phone’s chipset ensures it can handle most games. And its beefy 5410mAh battery ensures it’ll do so all day long. The battery lasts me over a day to almost two days on average, which is further enhanced by its fast charging capabilities. Xiaomi has equipped the 15 Ultra with 90W wired and 80W wireless charging support, which, in my experience, translates to hours of use from just a few minutes of charging.

You might be surprised to hear that I quite enjoy using HyperOS 2.0 on the Xiaomi 15 series. Whenever I review a phone, I always start a list of things I enjoy and things I don’t, regardless of how minor the positive or negative. Apart from a rare orientation bug, I haven’t encountered many issues while using HyperOS 2.0 for the past month. It takes some getting used to, especially if you’re more familiar with a more stock-like Android experience, but there’s nothing that really annoys me about Xiaomi’s take on Android. It’s just different, and that’s okay.

Had HyperOS 2.0 lacked essential features, I’d have more criticisms. Fortunately, it’s quite comprehensive, as Xiaomi consistently adds new features with each release. The Xiaomi 15 now supports Google Gemini out of the box, Circle to Search, and a range of useful AI tools for writing, image editing, and text.

Essentially, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra leaves me with very little to criticize. It’s a premium flagship phone that justifies its high price and can truly be called “ultra,” and it’s so compelling that it’s made me seriously reconsider daily driving slab phones instead of foldables.