Xiaomi 15 Ultra review

Would you buy a smartphone just to use it as a camera? Well, it is clear that a lot of people do, especially the flagships from Apple and Samsung. And Xiaomi, like a few other brands, believes it too has a good chance of succeeding in this space. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra, while a flagship in every sense, might be trying to pass off as a camera for creators with more than a few bells and whles. It is an exciting prospect and I could not res the temptation of checking out this smartphone purely from its camera angle.The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is one of the most stylish phones I have seen in recent times with the dual-tone silver and matte black finish at the back, with the Leica branding, giving it the feel of a vintage camera in some ways. The extra large camera rim with the rectangular main lens inside too accentuates the camera part of this phone. The volume rocker and power button are on the right side while there is a physical SIM tray at the bottom. The phone offers a good grip, but this is among the heavier phones I have used. Also, the camera module is a significant bump and you can never rest the phone flat.
Xiaomi 15, Xiaomi 15 Ultra. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
The real beauty of this phone in my books are the accessories that come with it, especially the photography kit, which includes a stunning red metal finish back cover, an attachable camera grip that comes with zoom and mode dials as well as an additional battery. This unit costs extra but actually gives you a lot extra, not to speak of its head turning abilities. I loved how the kit converted the phone into a proper camera for all practical purposes and you could operate every aspects of the camera with one hand using the physical buttons on it. You can also adjust verious aspects of this accessory in the settings, like the way in which the camera zooms — smooth or jumpy. You can even change the rings around the camera module, but that has only a cosmetic effect.
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I know a flagship phone from Xiaomi will tick all the boxes when it comes to performance. So what I really wanted to see was how it was as a camera. With the photography kit appendages, it certainly looked like one, but did it perform within the realms of those expectations?
Xiaomi 15 Ultra with photography kit. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Using the camera app it was clear that Xiaomi had put in a lot of thought into this product. For photos you can switch between Leica authentic and vibrant modes in a single tap. The settings give you quick access to the customise the quick snap grip. I loved how each physical button on the grip could be customised. For instance, I set the dial to adjust shutter speed and the zoom level to give me a continuous smooth zoom. In fact, I was tempered to change the video button too and use it for 50MP photos or custom style, but I left it on the default setting as a one-tap video start is always handy in our line of work.
Leica has worked on all aspects of the camera here, including adding an unprecedented 2.54cm sensor on the camera. They have also worked on the Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s 120x zoom powered two telephoto lenses, a 200MP ultra telephoto and a 50MP floating telephoto. Within the 14-200mm zoom range, the optical zoom is till 30x, like in a lot of the competition these days, after which the digital zoom kicks in along with some noise. But there is an AI mode here which cleans up the images to a large extent. I like how Xiaomi is not doing this default and is giving the power to the user. With the AI layer, this is the best telephoto camera I have used as shown this set of photos I shot in a low-light Kolkata cafe.
Bokeh shot. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Macro shot. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Low-light shot. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Low light camera sample. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Shot in 4x magnification. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Shot in 120x magnification. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
I have been a fan of Leica cameras all along, and buying one has always been something on my l though the cost will keep it an aspiration in all probability. With the Xiaomi 15 Ultra you come really close to owning one, though the smartphone actually costs more than some of the Leica point-and-shoots. It is best to consider this a Leica point-and-shoot that can also do everything a smartphone does. The camera does quite well in low light, giving you the kind of colours most smartphones will struggle with. And even in low light, the Leica BW mode shines with its details and shadows. And you get a lot of colour modes too, that give photos taken with this phone a dinct hue.

The camera grip offers some benefits which are unintentional. I was at an event where my son was on stage and I could rest the camera in both orientations without any support recording long hours of video in 4X zoom. The grip sort of works like a stand.In fact, recording video will be one thing a lot people will be buying this camera for. And with its Dol Vision recording capabilities, going all the way up to 4K, some professional quality comes through in anything you shoot with this phone. One very unique feature is that when you are recording video there is a built in teleprompter in the app, which the creator community will love. You can record in 8K too and the phone does not heat up even if you shoot continuously for a few minutes. And then you realise that the phone lets you edit videos too before you upload them on any platform with the processing power of the phone making it an easy process.

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra stands out as a camera because of the versatility it offers you. You can shoot both video and stills at different focal lengths, adjust every aspect of your frame in the Pro mode and for all practical purposes use the phone like a camera. I would say a fortnight was not enough to explore all aspects of the camera as I was stuck in Delhi where I often fail to find a muse.

But in the two weeks that I used the Xiaomi 15 Ultra it appeared to be a flagship in every sense, capable of doing everything you expected it to. The phone comes with a stunning 6.7-inch WQHD+ LTPO display that is great for bringing the videos and photos you shoot with this camera to life. The Snapdragon 8 Elite processor makes this phone very snappy and great for multi tasking. While the phone offers a lot of Google-powered AI features, the Xiaomi operating system takes some getting used to for those like me who have not used their phones a lot. But I found a lot of the features intuitive and easy to use.Story continues below this ad
The 5410mAh battery lasts well over a day, despite the camera usage. But I found that it seems to lose charge quickly when used with the Photography kit. So ensure you take the kit off the phone when not in use. Also, the quick charge does not work as expected if you are charging via the kit.
One of the most capable camera smartphones. (Image credit: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
At Rs 1,09,999, I would suggest the Xiaomi 15 Ultra to those who take their photography really seriously and have to shoot both stills and video. This smartphone camera lets you create a dinct identity for your images with the kids of customisation on offer. For these users the Legend Photography Kit at Rs 11,999, is certainly an added value. That this device also works as a smartphone is a fringe benefit.