Xiaomi 15 Ultra Is A Small Update With A Big Periscope Lens

Xiaomi has announced its 15 Ultra flagship telephone astatine a motorboat arena successful China, wherever it’s going connected discarded starting astatine 6,499 yuan (around $893). The Android telephone joins nan company’s Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro, which went connected discarded location successful October 2024. It is simply a mostly iterative upgrade connected past year’s model, but nan ample alteration is nan summation of a 200-megapixel periscope camera that nan institution says excels successful debased light. The 15 series, including nan Ultra, is getting an world motorboat this Sunday, March 2nd, astatine Mobile World Congress successful Barcelona. Exactly which markets it will spell connected discarded successful remains to beryllium seen, but it’s a safe liking that this 1 won’t beryllium coming to nan US.

Xiaomi’s Ultra connection has ever been camera-centric, moreover overmuch truthful than Samsung aliases Apple’s apical models, and nan 15 Ultra is nary different. Like past year’s 14 Ultra, nan quad rear camera is arrayed successful an tremendous accusation module connected nan phone’s rear. It’s designed to lucifer photography partner Leica’s dedicated camera hardware, correct down to nan two-tone metallic and achromatic finish, and compact “Ultra” area logo recovered connected 1 of nan phone’s 3 versions. There are too simpler achromatic aliases achromatic models.

The 200-megapixel 4.3x periscopic lens follows akin periscopes successful Vivo’s X100 Ultra and X200 Pro, and Honor’s Magic 7 Pro. This is simply a shorter zoom than nan 5x periscope connected nan 14 Ultra, but uses a larger sensor, faster aperture, and higher resolution, which Xiaomi says results successful amended ray capture, bringing improvements successful zoom photography, peculiarly successful small light. Xiaomi moreover codenamed nan telephone “Night God” internally, truthful debased ray photography is intelligibly a attraction this year.

The different 3 rear sensors are each 50-megapixel, and are group up likewise to past year’s model, albeit pinch mini variations. The astir noteworthy alteration is to nan main camera, which has dropped nan adaptable aperture tech featured connected nan erstwhile exemplary successful favour of a fixed — but accelerated — f/1.63.

The photography attraction is enhanced by nan merchandise of Xiaomi’s third-generation Photography Kit, an optional different that includes a suit and a camera grip. Beyond a caller reddish finish, not overmuch has changed coming either: nan psyche artillery is simply a mini larger astatine 2,000mAh (allowing this to double arsenic a mini powerfulness slope for nan phone), and there’s a caller thumb rest, but nan halfway camera controls enactment nan same: a shutter button, video button, zoom lever, and vulnerability dial.

Beyond nan inevitable upgrade to nan current-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, location are less different upgrades aliases creation changes. The 6.73-inch show is again 1-120Hz but a mini brighter astatine 3,200 nits highest HDR brightness. An IP68 opinionated returns, too. The 6,000mAh artillery is importantly larger, but nan 90W wired charging and 80W wireless speeds are unchanged. As pinch different caller Android flagships, there’s still nary mobility of Qi2 adoption.

I thought nan 14 Ultra was past year’s champion telephone camera by immoderate distance, and my workfellow Allison called it “a photography nerd’s dream,” truthful Xiaomi has group itself a precocious barroom to unrecorded up to. This was specified a beardown camera, it’s understandable that nan institution has kept changes to a minimum this clip around. But we’re looking guardant to uncovering retired whether its 1 ample upgrade, nan periscope, will deliver.