Host introduces the Xiaomi 15 Ultra roundup and highlights early reviewer reactions to its photography focus. Along the way it covers First Impressions: Design & Build, Camera Magic: Leica Lenses & Zoom and Performance: Snapdragon 8 Elite & HyperOS, and more. Summarizing overall pros and cons to conclude whether the camera-centric flagship is worth buying.
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Host introduces the Xiaomi 15 Ultra roundup and highlights early reviewer reactions to its photography focus.
On screen: A man with short brown hair and a brown shirt speaks directly to the camera, while a smartphone's camera array appears and disappears as a blurred background element.
Reviewers analyze the massive camera module, dual-tone leather finish, Shield Glass, and camera kit accessory.
On screen: A person's hand holds a silver and black smartphone with a large circular camera module featuring Leica branding, rotating it slightly against a dark tiled background.
A deep dive into the 1-inch main sensor, 200MP telephoto zoom, photo processing, and low-light performance.
On screen: A man in an orange button-up shirt over a white t-shirt speaks directly to the camera against a dark, metallic, and abstract background that features the 'LEICA' brand and camera lens specifications.
Evaluating gaming thermal management, smooth frame rates, HyperOS 2.0 features, and Hyper AI capabilities.
On screen: A close-up shot shows a person's hands holding a silver smartphone horizontally, actively playing an action-adventure video game on its screen, with a blue leather watch visible on their left wrist, all set against a…
Reviewers share real-world experience regarding battery endurance, charging, haptics, and stereo speaker quality.
On screen: A man wearing a light green hoodie sits at a desk, speaking directly to the camera, with a TV screen behind him displaying "15 ULTRA" alongside decorative items like Lego structures and a colorful Rolex watch artwork.
Comparing the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's camera, screen, and thickness against the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
On screen: A close-up view displays the back of a silver and black smartphone with a prominent circular camera module featuring 'LEICA' branding, positioned beside a green plant, with a small circular inset of the male speaker in…
Breaking down storage tier costs in the UK and comparing value against rivals from Apple, Samsung, and Vivo.
On screen: A man in a light blue hoodie sits and speaks directly to the camera, with a large TV screen displaying "15 ULTRA" and a phone image in the background, along with various items on shelves.
Summarizing overall pros and cons to conclude whether the camera-centric flagship is worth buying.
On screen: A man in a brown shirt and white t-shirt speaks directly to the camera, with a black background that transitions to show the detail of a phone's camera module and then to a plain black background.
0:00 Speaker A: The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is a photography phone. Speaker B: First, this thing arrived in style. Speaker C: I just love using it. Speaker D: The year for Chinese Smartphones welcome back. Speaker E: To RE review where we watch all the reviews so you don't have to. Speaker E: Today we're diving deep into the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, a flagship that's got reviewers buzzing about its killer cameras and a bold design. Speaker E: Let's hear what the reviewers thought. Speaker E: Right out of the gate, I clicked. Speaker F: More than 1,000 photos from this phone and to tell you the truth, I think I'm in love.
0:26 Speaker F: Yes, this is the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and this is probably one of the best camera phones that you can buy right now. Speaker F: And so just the camera, the rest of the phone is also a spec'd up piece. Speaker G: You get this dual tone look that kind of resembles a classic photography camera. Speaker G: The back part here is made out of faux leather, while the silver part is actually made out of plastic. Speaker G: And I gotta say, using the 15 Ultra definitely feels the least comfortable to me out of the three as that huge camera module, whenever I'm trying to use it, it gets in the way of my fingers.
0:54 Speaker H: So. Speaker I: So actually that camera bump comes in very handy indeed as a useful finger shelf, especially if you're using this thing one handed. Speaker I: Up front here you've got Xiaomi's very own Shield Glass version 2.0. Speaker I: This is Drop and scratch resistant. Speaker D: It's very similar to the Vivo X200 Pro, especially if you look at it from the back, it has an almost identical camera module which is so thick that I could even use it to do this.
1:24 Speaker D: The major downside of having such a big camera module is that it's quite heavy on the top side and feels unbalanced in comparison. Speaker D: The S25 Ultra just feels so much lighter and ergonomic. Speaker J: This is a fairly tough and rugged phone right alongside every other flagship. Speaker J: And then talking about that design, we know it's got the huge camera bump and we know it's curved edges, but.
1:49 Speaker J: But if you pick up this phone with the Leica edition, that silver, chrome and black, or the silver, chrome and green, I think you're getting one of the best looking phones out there. Speaker J: Exactly like old fashioned Leica cameras, but with better photos and videos on top of that. Speaker A: Having the photography kit does make you feel like you're using an actual camera that could just fit in your pocket.
2:14 Speaker B: So you long press this shutter key camera opens, you press it one, it locks focus and then you press it fully. Speaker B: There's the click. Speaker B: Just like a dslr. Speaker B: Now there's Also a tiny lever which you hit once, it automatically jumps to 2x3x 4.3x. Speaker B: And if you hold the lever, it does a smooth incremental zoom transition. Speaker B: And you hit this video record button, it quickly jumps to the video mode and starts video recording. Speaker B: You hit it again, the video recording stops.
2:39 Speaker E: A bold camera centric design with a premium vibe with Although its heft and comfort split opinions, let's zoom in. Speaker E: What makes this phone a photography powerhouse? Speaker G: It's got a massive 1 inch main sensor as opposed to the much smaller ones on the S25 Ultra and 16 Pro Max. Speaker G: And from the teardown videos you can literally see just how gigantic this sensor is. Speaker G: It's also got dual telephoto modules just like the Samsung. Speaker G: But its main telephoto uses a gigantic sensor, 200 megapixels resolution, as opposed to the 50 megapixel on the Samsung and the 12 on the iPhone.
3:11 Speaker G: And this telephoto is almost as big as the S25 Ultra's entire main 200 megapixel sensor. Speaker G: Xiaomi has also collaborated with Leica to use their lenses for increased clarity and reduced reflections. Speaker K: X1. Speaker K: 28 Mm, 35 mm. Speaker K: If we go to X3, that's 70 mm. Speaker K: 4.3 Times is 100 mm, which looks cool. Speaker K: Then we'll tap again to go to 200mm which is pretty wild that a phone can do that so easily.
3:38 Speaker F: Let me just shock you. Speaker F: You see this flower photo? Speaker F: This looks like a messed up macro, right? Speaker F: Wrong. Speaker F: This is a zoomed in photo and this is how far away I took it from the sea. Speaker F: Looks pretty good for a 10x, right? Speaker F: Well, what if I tell you that it's not 10x, it's 120x in terms. Speaker A: Of the camera quality. Speaker A: Overall it's very good, especially with the telephoto lens. Speaker A: And that whole experience, being able to zoom in and not lose that much quality and having that nice natural background blur.
4:05 Speaker A: Without using portrait mode, the photos really looks like it's from a camera. Speaker H: Just like on its predecessor. Speaker H: They don't look over processed. Speaker H: So that's one thing that really keeps everything very nice, very fine looking. Speaker H: It doesn't over sharpen, there's not a lot of noise and it just looks like pictures coming off an actual camera. Speaker C: This is one of those cameras that just makes you excited about using it for street photography, for portraits. Speaker C: And after a couple of weeks of using this and taking hundreds and hundreds of photos in all the different modes, there are some absolutely stunning shots that make you Question whether that was taken on a smartphone, but this still struggles with moving subjects, particularly for portraits.
4:40 Speaker C: But even in just regular photo mode, for every one photo where I thought holy crap, that looks incredible, there's probably been two or three where I've then looked and gone oh, I didn't quite get that. Speaker C: There was a bit of ghosting or blurring or other in this other shot. Speaker G: With more drastic lighting, the iPhone crushes the shadows, losing quite a lot of detail, while the Samsung and the Xiaomi handle the exposure much better. Speaker G: And between the two, I do prefer Xiaomi's Resolve for its greater detail and lower noise.
5:06 Speaker G: Moving on to night shots, they're surprisingly similar with the iPhone being the brightest. Speaker G: Now if we zoom into the house the the results are almost identical, which is a bit unexpected given Xiaomi's very large 1 inch sensor. Speaker G: Now the Xiaomi does have less noise in the sky, but the fence for example. Speaker G: The details here are the best on the iPhone and actually the worst on the Xiaomi. Speaker G: And the Xiaomi does also show noticeable lens flares, despite its Leica lenses which are meant to reduce reflection from dreamy.
5:32 Speaker E: Daytime shots to insane zooms. Speaker E: The camera is a knockout though. Speaker E: Low light focus gets a few nitpicks. Speaker E: Next, let's see what powers this under the hood, the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the HyperOS 2.0. Speaker H: Worth highlighting that all these processes are done very quickly, in fact taking photos. Speaker H: The shutter speed is also very quick and that's because this phone is being powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Speaker F: See, it doesn't try to impress you with benchmark numbers, but in day to day usage and also in gaming, it works really well.
5:59 Speaker F: There were no lags, stutters, slowdowns or anything like that. Speaker F: And the temperatures were also well in control. Speaker I: So yeah, everyday performance as silky smooth as you could possibly imagine or hope for. Speaker I: And yes, you gamers should be more than satisfied with the performance spaffed out by the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. Speaker I: Likes of Wuthering Waves, Genshin Impact and everything. Speaker I: You can bump those visuals all the way up and play it with a stupendously smooth frame rate.
6:24 Speaker I: Absolutely zero judders. Speaker I: I didn't notice a single dip in that frame rate the entire time I was gaming on this thing, even if I was playing for well over an hour because it stays nice and cool. Speaker I: Helped along by Xiaomi's installed ice loop cooling system. Speaker D: Yes, Xiaomi has made a lot of improvements with the HyperOS 2.0. Speaker D: It's more stable and you get tons of useful AI features, but it still does not feel as refined as Samsung's OneUI or even OnePlus's Oxygen OS.
6:51 Speaker D: I believe Xiaomi's UI just lacks that extra edge and feels quite ordinary to be honest. Speaker B: And the major push for HyperOS is Hyper AI. Speaker B: And even on the box it is written Hyper AI powered by HyperOS. Speaker B: And it's not just on the box. Speaker B: You get a dedicated menu for hyper AI in settings. Speaker B: Now there's magic eraser, Gemini, etc. Speaker B: But a couple of things that I used quite a lot. Speaker B: Number one, expand so you can extend a photo into any aspect ratio.
7:16 Speaker B: It uses AI to recreate the scenery. Speaker B: And like this is so legit. Speaker B: Like see this is our frame and I can extend this frame to be like this. Speaker B: Number two, sky replacement. Speaker B: Like I could easily post these pictures on Instagram and no one would notice that this is AI. Speaker B: Now both Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra will get four years of software updates and six years of security upgrade. Speaker E: Silky smooth performance and a unique photography kit stand out though ecosystem integrations lack for some.
7:42 Speaker E: What's it like using the Xiaomi 15 Ultra Day to day? Speaker E: What are its strengths and quirks? Speaker J: So pairing the SOC with the large 5,400 milliamp hour battery, you've got a one day potentially two day phone depending on your usage, equaling no battery anxiety. Speaker J: And as I also mentioned in my real life experience traveling around Hong Kong and Shenzhen taking literally hundreds of photos and videos with this phone there was no overheating even on charge at 90 watts.
8:18 Speaker J: Even with the camera kit on, there was no overheating issues, there was no jutter lag stutters. Speaker A: It's good, but sometimes it does randomly switch back and forth from the telephoto to the periscope telephoto. Speaker A: And this is in the right regular photo mode in auto. Speaker A: So it can struggle a little bit when it's trying to get in focus, but when it hits it looks very clean. Speaker A: So I think if they improve the focusing speed during the low light situations that would make the whole experience a lot better.
8:45 Speaker F: The haptics on this phone are super comforting. Speaker F: Sometimes I just scroll to feel the haptics. Speaker I: You also got yourself an excellent pair of stereo speakers slapped on the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. Speaker I: Full Dolby Atmos support as well as high res audio, wired and wireless. Speaker I: They're bloody loud, they're proper bassy, vocals come through really nice and thick, so certainly didn't have to worry about slapping on the old Bluetooth headphones. Speaker I: If I was just enjoying a bit. Speaker E: Of YouTube, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra battles heavyweights like the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
9:15 Speaker E: Here's where it lands in the lineup. Speaker G: This phone is kind of like a camera that just happens to be a phone, whereas the Samsung and the iPhone are both the other way around. Speaker G: In fact, the camera island on the Xiaomi is so massive compared to the other two that it almost doubles the thickness of the phone. Speaker G: The as to which one you should pick, well, if you are a mobile gamer, I would definitely go with the iPhone here. Speaker G: If you care massively about the camera, then that would be the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, although that's mostly in daytime and not nighttime.
9:42 Speaker G: And lastly, if you want an incredible display for viewing content, especially outdoors, that's where the S25 Ultra shines. Speaker D: The Vivo X200 Pro was a fantastic camera phone for portraits. Speaker D: I also really like the OnePlus 13 for its price. Speaker D: The Huawei Mate 70 Pro plus is selling like crazy in China and a. Speaker E: Photography champ that outshines in daylight. Speaker E: But rivals age out in display and macros. Speaker E: Is it worth the price? Speaker E: Let's find out.
10:07 Speaker G: So here in the UK the Xiaomi costs £1,300 and that's for the 16GB of RAM model and 512GB of storage. Speaker G: The S25 Ultra costs 1250 for the 256, 12GB of RAM or 1350 if you go for the 512, whereas the iPhone costs 1200 for the 256 or 1400 for the 512. Speaker G: So if you really need a 512 then the Xiaomi is going to be the cheapest. Speaker G: But if you just want to get the base versions, then the iPhone is going to be the cheapest.
10:36 Speaker J: If you compare that to the iPhone 16 Pro Max or the Samsung S25 Ultra, you've got a bargain. Speaker J: But when you compare it to the Vivo X200 Pro Global or the Oppo X8 Pro Global, you don't have a bargain. Speaker J: In fact, you're paying around 150 to 200 pounds more for the price. Speaker F: You are getting an exceptional set of cameras that you will definitely fall in love with.
11:02 Speaker F: A beautiful design with solid performance and battery life. Speaker E: Okay, time to wrap it up. Speaker E: The Xiaomi 15 Ultra stands tall as a photography titan with a bold design and solid performance. Speaker E: Its 1 inch sensor and 200 megapixel zoom. Speaker E: Wow craters. Speaker E: Though low light focus and heft are trade offs, it's a dream for shutterbugs who prioritize daytime shots and don't mind the premium cost. Speaker H: Perfect. Speaker E: If you want a near pro camera in your pocket, that's it for the Ultimate Roundup review of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
11:32 Speaker E: Please find full video links down below and subscribe for more re reviews where we watch all reviews so you don't have to.