Hands-on: Xiaomi 15 Ultra has a monster, 200-megapixel periscope camera

Xiaomi’s flagship telephone lineup for pictures fans has a brand new member: The Xiaomi 15 Extremely.

The corporate introduced the brand new flagship to this 12 months’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and handed me some items to play with forward of right now’s launch. And I can say that it undoubtedly seems like probably the most highly effective digicam in a telephone that I’ve ever used.

Xiaomi’s Extremely telephones have all the time felt virtually like experiments, with a fully large digicam array and each function you’ll be able to consider. The Xiaomi 15 Extremely takes this a bit of additional, with a quad digicam system that features a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto digicam with as much as 4.3x optical zoom. Additionally on board are three 50-megapixel cameras: The principle broad digicam with a variable f/1.6 – f/4.0 aperture, a 50-megapixel, f/1.7 telephoto digicam with 3.2x optical zoom, and a 50-megapixel, f/1.8 ultrawide digicam.

To prime all that off, on the entrance there’s a 32-megapixel, f/2.0 broad selfie digicam.

I’ll get again to the cameras in a bit. However the remainder of the telephone has every thing you could possibly need from a flagship telephone in 2025: A 6.73-inch, AMOLED show with peak 3,000 nits and 120Hz refresh fee, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, 12-16GB of RAM, and 256/512/1,024 GB of storage.

It’s all powered by a 5,410mAh battery with 90W wired, 80W wi-fi, and 10W reverse wi-fi charging.

Different tidbits embrace stereo audio system and help for 24-bit/192kHz Hello-Res Wi-fi audio, a fingerprint scanner, and two-way satellite tv for pc communication. The telephone is mud and water resistant as much as IP68 specs.

The telephone is available in white, black, or a cool silver-chrome combo; that final one could be my alternative because it undoubtedly stands out from the pack.

On the software program entrance, you’ll discover Android 15 (with as much as 4 main Android upgrades promised) coupled with Xiaomi’s HyperOS. Google’s Gemini is right here and built-in into the telephone to deal with AI-related duties.

In case you get the non-obligatory Images Package, your telephone will appear like an precise digicam.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Again to these cameras. Whereas I might want extra time to actually take a look at out the Xiaomi 15 Extremely’s spectacular digicam system, It was very simple to take fairly great-looking images with this telephone at principally any magnification — Xiaomi says that by combining the 2 telephoto sensors it manages to supply lossless high quality images at as much as 8.6x magnification, however dial it to 10x and even 20x and you will nonetheless have the ability to get a great photograph.

It additionally felt just like the snappiest digicam on a telephone I’ve ever tried; if you wish to seize your canine mid-air or a race automobile passing by, that is your telephone.

The dangerous information is that even with out the ridiculously big Images Package add-on, which is a case with an extra 2,000mAh battery and digicam controls, the Xiaomi 15 Extremely is an enormous, top-heavy telephone. All that energy comes with a worth, I suppose, and that worth, expressed in grams, is 229 (that is the Silver Chrome variant, different colours are a hair lighter at 226 grams).

Liquid Silver Xiaomi 15 is an eye-catcher.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The corporate additionally launched the Xiaomi 15 in Europe, which was initially made accessible in China final 12 months.

It has a really completely different design from the Extremely, with a triple, 50-megapixel digicam system situated in an oblong bump on the again. Xiaomi despatched me a ridiculous (in a great way) Liquid Silver unit which will certainly get folks asking concerning the telephone, although you can too get it in black, white, and inexperienced.

Barely smaller than the Extremely, the Xiaomi 15 nonetheless packs an enormous 5,240mAh battery.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The Xiaomi 15 boasts a 6.36-inch, AMOLED show with a 120Hz refresh fee, a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, 12GB of RAM, 256/512GB of storage, and a 5,240mAh battery.