Virgilio Lorenzo Jr

REVIEW: Xiaomi 15's big battery, standout cameras raise the bar

Article (news)

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741611150564xiaomi 15 back.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Xiaomi 15 compact flagship. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Xiaomi 15 is a phone that packs almost all the features you want in a flagship in a compact form factor, and then some.</p><p>It has the latest and fastest chipset, generous amounts of memory and storage, a bright and vibrant screen, a large capacity battery, and excellent Leica-branded cameras--all in a package that&#x27;s easier to hold than a typical midrange range or even entry-level phone.</p><p>If you need details, here you go:</p><ul><li>• Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, </li><li style="line-height:1">• 12 GB of RAM</li><li style="line-height:1">• up to 512 GB of storage</li><li style="line-height:1">• 6.36 AMOLED screen, with 3200 nits ultra-bright, 2670 x 1200, 460 ppi (1.5k resolution) and a 120Hz refresh rate</li><li style="line-height:1">• 5,240 mAh battery</li></ul><div><br/></div><p>I like how &quot;big&quot; the battery is on this phone. Compact phones always seem have this problem of not having enough power to last through the day. I know, because I&#x27;ve been using one for several years now -- I like how easy it is to put in a pocket. But the Xiaomi 15 seems to have solved this problem with a high capacity 5,240 mAh battery.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741614494401xiaomi 15 camera 2.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Leica-branded cameras on the Xiaomi 15 compact flagship. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>To give you an idea, the much larger Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra only has a battery with a 5,000 mAh capacity. And just to be clear, the battery is not itself physically big, the silicon carbon battery is just able to store more power.</p><p>A higher-capacity battery coupled with a smaller screen that needs less power means the Xiaomi 15 can last much longer without needing to be recharged.</p><p>I&#x27;ve been using this as a daily driver for the last few days, and I&#x27;ve been unable to kill it with normal use. Shooting photos and videos, browsing social media, watching videos, listening to music, using several messaging apps, and even using it as a wifi hotspot for several hours-- I did all of this in one typical day and the phone still had more than enough juice at the end of the day to keep going.  </p><p>The other secret weapon of this compact phone is its imaging capabilities. Compact phones, even flagship series compact phones, are sometimes kitted with lower-spec cameras. But on the Xiaomi 15, the cameras are just excellent.</p><p>If you need the details, here you go again:</p><ul><li style="line-height:1">• 50 MP Leica main camera, f/1.6  with OIS, 23mm equivalent focal length</li><li style="line-height:1">• 50 MP Leica 60mm telephoto f/2</li><li style="line-height:1">• 50 MP Leica ultra-wide camera f/2.2 14mm equivalent </li></ul><div><br/></div><p>Yes, all those cameras are 50 megapixels and all were co-developed with Leica.</p><p>Here are some sample shots.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741611895515xiaomi 15 night shot 2.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="true" style="text-align:left">Pasig River Espalanade photo taken with the Xiaomi 15. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741611988532xiaomi 15 night shot.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="true" style="text-align:left">Pasig River Espalanade photo taken with the Xiaomi 15. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741612050872xiaomi 15 night shot wide.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">Intramuros photo taken with the Xiaomi 15. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741612106653xiaomi 15 day.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">UP Diliman photo taken with the Xiaomi 15. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741612146612xiaomi 15 sunset.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Sunset photo taken with the Xiaomi 15. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741612192811xiaomi 15 macro.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Macro photo taken with the Xiaomi 15. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741612228790xioami 15 cat.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">Cat photo taken with the Xiaomi 15. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News<br/></span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1741613035639xiaomi 15 night selfie.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Selfie taken with the Xiaomi 15. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>I was surprised at how good the photos came out, especially the night shots. Even the 5x zoomed shots of the Binondo welcome arch captured from the Pasig River Esplanade were good. Xiaomi also packed in a lot of photography presets like &#x27;long exposure&#x27; and &#x27;supermoon&#x27; to make shooting more fun.</p><p>The rear cameras can also record 8K videos at 24fps for that cinematic look, or a more standard 30 fps. They can also capture 4K at up to 60 fps.</p><p>Up front meanwhile, is a 32MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture and 21mm focal length. Selfie shots were also very good, even those taken at night.</p><p>In terms of design, however, the Xiaomi 15 looks practically the same as the Xiaomi 14. This is not necessarily bad, as the previous generation was already a very good looking device. Samsung and Apple have also taken this path in their smartphone designs, opting to upgrade the innards and the software, while keeping the design similar to the previous generation.</p><p>The biggest changes from the 14 to the 15 were the battery and the cameras. The Xiaomi 14 had a smaller capacity 4610 mAh powerpack. Xiaomi also switched from a 75mm telephoto lens with a 3x zoom rating on the 14 to a shorter 60mm lens with a 2.6x zoom rating on the 15. Despite this, the 5x zoom pics on the 15 still look very good.</p><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABVVMf13ZZk57wg9"></script><p>No phone in 2025 (or laptop for that matter) seems complete without packing something called AI, and the Xiaomi 15 is no exception. </p><p>Aside from the usual Gemini features that all new Android phones have been shipped with, Xiaomi also touts its &quot;HyperAI,&quot; which helps users write and generate text, transcribe audio into text, translate face-to-face conversations, interpret calls and conferences, generate subtitles, and much more.</p><p>I honestly have not been able to find any occasion to actually test any of these features on the phone, as I prefer to use AI apps on the desktop. I don&#x27;t really write anything on the phone or rely on it to transcribe interviews — I use Turboscribe for that.</p><p>However, many users will find the AI photo shooting and editing features in Xiaomi&#x27;s HyperOS 2 useful and even fun.  </p><p>I found the blur function, which lets you adjust the amount of background blurring on a portrait, useful. The sky function lets you change the sky into something more vibrant or add some wonky faux &#x27;Milky Way&#x27; into your shot--yeah like you really could take something like that. The extend function, which lets you expand the frame of your photo, is useful for extending simple things like clouds and trees but could result in creepy stuff when you&#x27;re extending hands, limbs and even people.</p><p>For those who already own a 14, there is not much reason to upgrade to the 15. Sure, the 15 has a better processor and a beefed-up battery, but that&#x27;s basically it. The Xiaomi 14 recently got software updates, and it now also has the AI goodies of the 15.</p><p>People who are looking to get a new compact flagship meanwhile will have a lot to like about the Xiaomi 15. It&#x27;s a great looking phone; it&#x27;s light and compact but doesn&#x27;t compromise on power and features. And the new battery also makes it a solid performer — you can use it all day and it won&#x27;t die on you—unless maybe you&#x27;re a hardcore gamer or you shoot hours-long videos.</p><p>The<a href="https://s.shopee.ph/9UoMzuPJ0U" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Xiaomi 15 is available on Shopee</a>.</p>

<p>The Xiaomi 15 is a phone that packs almost all the features you want in a flagship in a package that's easier to hold and stash in your pocket.</p>

The Xiaomi 15 is a phone that packs almost all the features you want in a flagship in a package that's easier to hold and stash in your pocket.

REVIEW: Xiaomi 15's big battery, standout cameras raise the bar for compact flagships

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REVIEW: Xiaomi 15's big battery, standout cameras raise the bar for compact flagships

Arthur Fuentes,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 11, 2025 08:15 AM PHT

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Updated Apr 23, 2025 07:46 PM PHT

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