Xiaomi 15 Extremely overview: ugly cellphone, stunning digicam

After two years telling anybody who’d hear that Chinese language producer Vivo made the perfect cameras in any smartphone, final 12 months’s Xiaomi 14 Extremely modified my tune. It turned my favourite cellphone and digicam, dealing with all the things from vacation snaps to product overview photoshoots.

With the 15 Extremely, Xiaomi took the perfect and made it higher with a brand new 200-megapixel periscope lens to enhance the opposite (largely unchanged) cameras.

The draw back? The 14 Extremely was by no means a lot of a looker, and the 15 Extremely’s monumental, asymmetrical digicam module has taken a nasty design and made it worse. I’m prepared to place up with the awkward aesthetic when the digicam is that this good, however I’d be fairly understanding when you went the opposite method.

I haven’t talked about a lot about this cellphone’s specs but past the digicam. That’s intentional. Sure, it is a flagship cellphone via and thru, however you’ll find most of what it presents on different telephones for half the value. In the event you’re prepared to drop £1,299 / €1,499 (round $1,600) on the 15 Extremely, the digicam would be the cause why.

Very similar to the 14 Extremely, Xiaomi’s new flagship has a quadruple rear digicam specified by a big, spherical module that dominates the design. Charitably, you would say this evokes the basic Leica aesthetic that Xiaomi can also be nodding to with this silver and black end, additional accentuated by the elective Pictures Package accent. Much less charitably, you would say it’s fairly ugly, not helped by a much less symmetrical lens structure than final 12 months, including to the sense that Xiaomi is desperately attempting to cram the {hardware} in.

That structure might be compelled by the brand new 4.3x periscope lens, which makes use of a 200-megapixel 1/1.4-inch-type sensor and a quick f/2.6 aperture. That is an improve on final 12 months’s in each respect besides the zoom distance, down barely from 5x, and the outcomes actually are spectacular.

On the 14 Extremely, I discovered myself attempting to make use of the three.2x telephoto as usually as doable, and this 12 months, the periscope had the identical charming impact on me. I maintain stepping again from topics to present me the excuse to make use of it as an alternative of the principle lens, preferring its pure depth and bokeh in comparison with the flattening impact that any cellphone’s main lens tends to supply. In good lighting, you’ll get stunning, pure pictures at as much as 10x, with first rate outcomes at 30x. Past that — going all the way in which as much as 120x — some aggressive sharpening kicks in. I wouldn’t take into account this something particular at excessive vary, however for mid-distance, it’s fairly good.

The opposite three lenses — all 50-megapixel — aren’t any slouches, both. The principle digicam makes use of the identical one-inch-type Sony LYT-900 sensor as final 12 months, however Xiaomi has ditched the variable aperture in favor of a hard and fast f/1.63 method. In idea, it makes this lens rather less versatile, however I don’t assume a lot is misplaced in observe. Nonetheless, it’s an odd downgrade.

The common telephoto makes use of the identical spec as final 12 months’s equal however with 3x zoom quite than 3.2x. This was my favourite lens final 12 months, and I believe it’s nonetheless essentially the most helpful right here. 3x is a extra sensible distance than 4.3x a lot of the time, and that is additionally the lens used robotically for macro pictures, permitting you to take close-ups with out really getting shut. The ultrawide and selfie lenses are essentially the most forgettable: they’re good however unremarkable. It might be a little bit unfair to name them afterthoughts, however they’re clearly not the place Xiaomi’s focus lies.

Past merely slapping an infinite periscope in, Xiaomi’s different focus has been bettering images efficiency in low mild. I run a meals publication on the aspect, so I spend loads of time attempting to {photograph} dishes in dimly lit eating places, precisely the place most telephones wrestle. I liked the 14 Extremely, partly as a result of it excels in these situations, even on its telephoto. And on the 15 Extremely, the identical is true, although I’m unsure this cellphone marks a big step ahead. The brand new periscope’s efficiency is spectacular, although: it’s a slight drop-off from the 3x lens, being barely extra prone to glare from brilliant lights in darkish environment and requiring a steadier hand to get a crisp shot.

The most important criticism I may muster about this digicam is that it’s not that totally different from final 12 months’s. In the event you don’t personal the 14 Extremely, then that gained’t be a difficulty for you, but it surely may be one for Xiaomi. Competitors at this finish of the market is intense, particularly in China, and I’m wondering if rivals like Vivo and Oppo are about to usurp the throne.

Get past the digicam, and the 15 Extremely nonetheless impresses, but it surely feels much like different flagships. The specs all sound acquainted: a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset with 16GB of RAM and as much as 1TB of storage; a big 6.73-inch 120Hz LTPO OLED show; an IP68 score with bolstered glass for the show. I don’t need to counsel any of that is unhealthy — it’s high of the road. There are only a lot of different telephones crowding for area on the high with it.

Battery life is nice. The 5,410mAh capability is beneficiant, and it took a journey day with plenty of images and a few hours hotspotting my laptop computer earlier than I began to fret about it dying. 90W wired charging will high it up rapidly, with 80W wi-fi speeds when you spend money on the official charger and considerably slower speeds on a typical Qi pad. Like nearly each different Android OEM, Xiaomi nonetheless hasn’t felt the necessity to spend money on Qi2.

The software program is the place you’ll discover downsides. HyperOS — Xiaomi’s Android pores and skin — runs on high of Android 15 and shares annoyances in frequent with different takes on Android from Chinese language OEMs. You’ll discover loads of Xiaomi-branded apps preinstalled, just a few of which you’ll be able to’t take away, plus a smattering of different apps you won’t need, like AliExpress.

Xiaomi eliminated a few of the OS’s customizability in its newest model. If there’s a option to have 5 apps on a homescreen row quite than 4, I haven’t discovered it, regardless of having precisely that enabled on my 14 Extremely. A couple of different duties simply really feel cumbersome and aggravating — altering the wallpaper means forcing your method via a Themes app intent on promoting you new ringtones and naff graphics.

Virtually all of this may be ignored. I’d in all probability say I want HyperOS to Samsung’s Galaxy UI, however you’ll have to stay with rather less polish. The promise of 4 generations of Android OS updates and 6 years of safety help additionally lags just a few years behind Samsung and Google, although it’s nonetheless a good run.

The perfect and worst issues in regards to the 15 Extremely come right down to its digicam. I believe the one factor most definitely to place anybody off shopping for this cellphone — worth apart — is that the lens module is a little bit of an eyesore. It’s the very first thing anybody I’ve seen previously week has observed in regards to the cellphone, and never in a great way.

However you then begin utilizing the digicam, and also you get it. Sure, it’s ugly. However there was in all probability no different option to make it this rattling good.

Pictures by Dominic Preston / The Verge