Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro announced, Powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite with Leica-tuned cameras

Xiaomi this week unveiled the new Xiaomi 15 series, which comes in a handful of new variants (at least for its smaller vanilla version) and more powerful hardware, especially with the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip that’s not short of upping its performance, a Leica-tuned camera system, and of course the new Xiaomi HyperOS 2 that boots right out of the box.

Xiaomi 15

The vanilla Xiaomi 15 basically comes with a 6.36-inch OLED display with 1,200 x 2,670px resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. This device promises up to 3,200 nits of peak brightness with DC dimming. The display is covered and protected by Xiaomi Dragon Crystal Glass, which according to the company is 10x better than Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus. The display also features an ultrasonic fingerprint reader for more precise and accurate biometric sensing and supports IP68 for dust and water resistance.

The design of the new Xiaomi 15 series is somewhat familiar, and that is because it borrows design from the Xiaomi 14T series. Its camera bump on the back is a flat-out copy of its predecessor, with features that seem to go with it as well, with subtle changes.

The main camera gets a triple 50MP camera array, and the main camera uses the Light Fusion 900 sensor from OmniVision. It’s got a bright f/1.62 aperture lens and an OIS with 5x lossless zoom. The telephoto camera gets a 60mm focal length less, which is a downgrade from last year. And then the ultra-wide lens has a 115° field of view with an f/2.2 aperture lens.

With the camera hardware combined with the latest chipset and more AI for that matter, the new Xiaomi 15 offers image-enhancing features with support for Dolby Vision HDR, 4K video recording, and now 8K video recording at 30 fps.

Feature-wise, the new Xiaomi 15 gets a USB-C port that supports 90W fast charging for its 5400mAh battery and data transfer speeds of up to 5Gbps. The device is equipped with a Xiaomi G1 battery management chip for better and more efficient battery management that also supports 50W wireless charging. Other than that, you’d also get the new Wi-Fi 7 support, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, and 5G connectivity, stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless certifications.

The new Xiaomi 15 is available in 12GB or 16GB of RAM with storage space starting at 256GB and up to a terabyte.

We said that the Xiaomi 15 has a handful of variants, and that’s because the Xiaomi 15 vanilla version gets a special edition variant, including the Custom Editions, where Xiaomi offers up to 20 colors of custom back panels and is available only in the 16GB/512GB version. Then, there’s the limited Diamond Edition variant, which equipped the device with a special crocodile-grain leather back panel and an actual 57-facet diamond on the side.

Prices start at CNY 4,500 for the base 12GB/256GB version and up to CNY 5,500 for the 16GB/1TB variant. The Diamond Edition variant will cost CNY 6,000.

Xiaomi 15 Pro

You’d never go wrong on a Pro when it comes to premium. And to start off with that, the Xiaomi 15 Pro comes with its larger 6.73-inch LTPO OLED display, slimmer bezels, and a micro-curved design for smoother edges around its chassis.

Like its smaller sibling, the Xiaomi 15 Pro also gets a peak brightness of 3,200 nits with 1,440 x 3,200px resolution and an adaptive screen refresh rate of 1 – 120Hz. The display is also covered by Xiaomi Dragon Crystal Glass and features an Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. 

The camera module on the new Xiaomi 15 Pro looks to hold four sensors in them, but there are actually just three, all of which are 50MP sensors. The main camera uses an OmniVision Light Fusion 900 sensor with 1/1.31″ sensor. Next to the main sensor is a 50MP camera with a periscope lens featuring up to 5x optical zoom, which also doubles as a tele-macro shooter. The third sensor in the mix is a 50MP with an ultrawide lens.

On the front, the phone comes with a 32MP sensor, which is capable enough for selfies and video calls and can also be said to be true to its vanilla sibling.

The Xiaomi 15 Pro gets all the neat features that the primary Xiaomi 15 device has, but for one thing, the Pro variant gets a 6,100mAh battery, a pretty hefty battery indeed, which also supports 90W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.

The new phone is available in grey, white, and green color schemes and a special Rock Silver color variant, which includes a 3D water ripple effect pattern on the back.

The Xiaomi 15 Pro is available in 12GB or 16GB of RAM and storage, starting at 256GB and up to 1TB. Prices start at CNY 5,299 for its base version and up to CNY 6,499 for the top-end variant that is equipped with a 16GB/1TB combo.