Xiaomi 15 Ultra

A Leica-inspired two-tone design with a titanium frame and textured-glass or eco-leather back, dominated by a massive circular camera island that 'screams this phone means business'. It's solid, hefty and unmistakably a camera — but the bump is divisive and blocks many wireless chargers.

• It's designed to resemble Leica's dedicated camera hardware, right down to the two-tone silver-and-black finish and compact 'Ultra' corner logo.— The Verge
• Metal frame, a textured glass or eco-leather back, and a massive circular camera bump — in the hand it's solid and hefty, no getting around that.— Xuu5YzoApfU
• The titanium frame rounds off toward the edges making it comfortable and grippy, though it's more squared-off than the iPhone — comfort goes iPhone 16 Pro Max, then S25 Ultra, then the Xiaomi.— ZONEofTECH
• Because of how far the camera unit protrudes, it doesn't charge on a Pixel Stand or many wireless chargers unless you balance the camera bump on the pad.— Mrwhosetheboss
• The colourway and finish make it look like a camera — Leica on the lens, 'Ultra' lighting on the side — Xiaomi is openly selling this as a camera with a phone attached.— 4Q2_qRtLhJg
• Build quality is still very solid 8–10 months in with an IP68 rating, with zero slowdown in general use.— wm6B6adjv-c long-term

The whole point of the phone: a Leica Summicron quad system — a 1-inch-type 50MP main, a 50MP 3x telephoto, a 200MP 4.3x periscope and a 50MP ultrawide. Reviewers overwhelmingly rate it the best phone camera of its generation, with the only soft spots being the ultrawide and a missing variable aperture.

• A Leica Summicron system: a 1-inch-type 50MP main (23mm), a 50MP 3x telephoto, a 200MP periscope (4.3x optical, ~100mm) and a 50MP ultrawide — the 1-inch main is an unexpected differentiator no one else uses in a globally available model.— GSMArena
• As far as phones personally used, this is the best camera experience bar none — if cameras are your top priority you cannot get better than the 15 Ultra.— Mrwhosetheboss
• Main camera-wise the Xiaomi is the best overall, especially for daytime shots and depth of field; at 3x it captures the most detail and at 5x it has the least noise versus the S25 Ultra and iPhone.— ZONEofTECH
• Xiaomi did get the best camera hardware, but the leather-camera look is mostly aesthetic — what makes a real camera good is a far bigger lens, and this is still a small smartphone sensor.— Ars Technica
• The only slightly underwhelming lens is the ultrawide — still better than most competitors, but a noticeable dip versus the other three excellent rear lenses, especially in video.— Mrwhosetheboss
• Long-term, it can still be inconsistent and struggles with skin tones; some shooters miss the Xiaomi 14 Ultra's variable aperture and prefer its colour and mood.— myCsuEBGVJU long-term

A 6.73-inch 2K AMOLED with curved edges, 120Hz, a 3,200-nit peak and 1,920Hz PWM dimming. Reviewers call it gorgeous and one of the brightest screens around, with the lone caveat that real-world auto-brightness measured lower than the headline number.

• The 6.73-inch display is gorgeous, super sharp and crazy bright — fantastic indoors and out, second only to the Galaxy S25 Ultra in direct sunlight thanks to Samsung's anti-glare tech.— MKBHD
• On paper it has the brightest screen at 3,200 nits (vs 2,600 on the Samsung, 2,000 on the iPhone) and supports 1,920Hz PWM dimming so it flickers much less than its rivals.— ZONEofTECH
• Lab testing clocked ~3,175 nits at 20% APL — basically stare-at-the-sun-and-still-see-your-screen territory.— Notebookcheck
• The maximum achievable auto-brightness is only around 1,150 nits, which is rather disappointing for this level of phone, though still usable under sunlight.— -1BDJGLftZs long-term
• It has 3,200 nits peak brightness across a 25% area rather than the usual 1% window — a genuinely usable peak.— Unbox Therapy
• Watching YouTube, Netflix or gaming, the display still feels flagship-level 10 months in.— wm6B6adjv-c long-term

Snapdragon 8 Elite with up to 16GB RAM and UFS 4.1 — flagship-grade and still excellent a year on. Real-world gaming holds ~57–60fps with acceptable power draw, though heavy synthetic stress tests show meaningful throttling.

• Runs Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite with up to 16GB RAM and 1TB UFS 4.1; 10 months on it's still an extremely well-balanced phone that feels like a true flagship.— wm6B6adjv-c long-term
• In ~50 minutes of gaming it held a stable ~57–60fps with 4–8W draw — acceptable for the 8 Elite — where some rivals throttle hard and drop to 30fps after 30 minutes.— zMr-Ieu0Cuw gaming
• After 30 minutes of real gaming with apps closing/reopening the CPU sat around 47°C with no overheating — heat only appears in synthetic 3DMark/throttle benchmarks, not realistic use.— _GA1WnoDm3Y gaming
• In a 3DMark stability run it scored ~70–76% stability (lowest loop ~4,335–4,542), holding 20–43fps.— rthjozrRrz0 stress test
• Under a punishing 60-minute 100-thread CPU throttle test it dropped roughly 40–50% in sustained performance, recovering only slightly better than the S25 Ultra.— ErKidWoLSGc stress test
• Out of the box it gives a very iPhone-like feel and you have to dig in and change things, but performance itself is amazing alongside the camera, battery and display.— Linus Tech Tips

The global model's ~5,410mAh cell (vs 6,000mAh in China) is the phone's weakest area — many reviewers end the day under 30%, with a notable idle drain — though 90W wired charging fully refills it in roughly an hour and Chinese-variant users report much better longevity.

• The global variant has a smaller 5,410mAh cell vs the 6,000mAh China variant, and most days the phone is around or under 30% by the end of the day — it could have done with a bigger battery.— Mrwhosetheboss
• With always-on display, 120Hz and intensive camera use it consistently achieved over 15 hours of usage on a single charge in real-world testing.— MKBHD
• On the global/Indian 5,410mAh battery, the in-box 90W charger refills it roughly: 18% in 5 min, 67% in 30 min, 90% in 45 min, and a full charge in about an hour.— Ige4zXDdFDY charge test
• On the Chinese 6,000mAh variant with a power-efficient chip, the battery was still at 78% after not charging for three nights.— myCsuEBGVJU battery
• There's a real idle-drain issue — 20 minutes of light morning use can drop 5–6%, and it persists even with extra-dim settings enabled.— MLfVaD_s574 long-term
• After 6 months of careful charging, battery health held at 97% with 191 cycles — degradation isn't a concern with sensible habits.— wVcNFZLLKqY long-term

HyperOS (now on the Android 16 / HyperOS 3 track) is the phone's most criticized aspect: it heavily mimics iOS, ships with quirks you must tweak, and carries small persistent bugs — though it adds genuinely useful touches like a Super Island and AI features, and Xiaomi has improved it via updates.

• Out of the box it gives a really iPhone-like feel and you have to go in and change things before it behaves how you want.— Linus Tech Tips
• Long-standing requests are still ignored — no combined notification/control center, removed options like front-camera switching while recording video, and the dropped variable aperture.— xw6m384LQYM long-term
• HyperOS adds a useful Super Island (tap to expand or switch to a floating window) and direct drag-and-drop into chats, with OS 3 refining the control center.— 6WE2WCkLLaU
• Xiaomi's animations are nearly iOS-level and arguably better than stock Android, but the software is still seen as subpar for the Western market.— Reddit r/Apple
• Xiaomi now offers a longer software-update commitment (reported up to 6 years) — a meaningful improvement for long-term buyers.— txr7o2Rt564 long-term
• HyperOS contained a lot of small bugs and one user's battery health dropped to 70% in two years of light use before they switched to Samsung.— Reddit r/Samsung

Xiaomi leans into pro creators — an ACES partner with Xiaomi Log, Leica optics and 8K capture, and this generation extends log recording to all lenses. But the headline 8K is over-sharpened and Log is capped at 4K, so the serious-filmmaker case is weaker than the spec sheet implies.

• Log recording now works on all lenses (it was main-camera-only at 4K60 last year), so you can colour-grade footage from every camera in post.— 4Q2_qRtLhJg video
• On paper the 15 Ultra wins with 8K vs the iPhone's 4K, but in reality Xiaomi Log is only supported in 4K, rendering 8K useless for grading.— p4M8FtJq4-c video
• Xiaomi fires back as an official ACES partner with Xiaomi Log, Leica optics, 8K recording and a 1-inch sensor — strong pro credentials versus the iPhone's ProRes and Apple Log.— p4M8FtJq4-c pro
• The 8K video is aggressively over-sharpened and highly compressed with visible artefacts — not something a serious filmmaker would ever actually use.— p4M8FtJq4-c 8k
• The main camera records 8K30 plus 4K 30/60/120fps slow-motion with EIS and 10-bit HDR, and colours come out close to natural.— IyWUTfOMRrU video
• iPhone ProRes RAW log still looks the best of the lot even though the 15 Ultra has its own log mode — Xiaomi is close but not ahead for video.— Mrwhosetheboss video

Roughly $893 in China and ~$1,220+ imported globally, it undercuts the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone while comfortably winning the camera comparison. The catch is it's an import with no official US presence — a phone you 'probably can't buy' but the camera benchmark to beat.

• It launched at 6,499 yuan (around $893) in China; Xiaomi's Ultra line has always been more camera-centric than Samsung or Apple's top models.— The Verge
• It combines top-tier hardware, excellent cameras and strong performance at a more competitive price point than its rivals.— MKBHD
• The Xiaomi wins the camera part comfortably, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra may be the better all-rounder — a 'maybe' that hangs on whether the S Pen matters to you.— GSMArena
• It's 'an excellent phone you probably can't buy' — one of the best devices that simply isn't officially sold in the US.— Tom's Guide
• The camera is absolutely phenomenal, but everything else about it sort of falls short for some owners coming from a Pixel.— Reddit r/gadgets
• If you care about US carrier support or ecosystem features like iMessage/FaceTime, or want something lighter and simpler, you may still be happier with an iPhone or Galaxy.— Xuu5YzoApfU value