TechRadar’s phones team handed me the Xiaomi 15 Ultra more than a month ahead of its global unveil. This could be the best camera phone this year, they said, fancy having a play with it?
I’ve looked after all of TechRadar’s camera content for over two years, reviewing the best mirrorless cameras and more. They didn’t need to ask me twice.
The premium-quality flagship phone houses a massive 1-inch sensor main camera, plus three more cameras including a 200-megapixel 4.3x telephoto option. That’s serious stuff for smartphone photography.
All throughout my lengthy hands on with the 15 Ultra, I’ve used Xiaomi’s optional Photography Kit. It comprises a handgrip, thumb grip, shutter button cap(s) and wrist strap (see below).
The Photography Kit has improved my camera experience no end – and that's significant to me because poor handling for photography is a phone's Achilles' heel. With the kit, it felt like I was shooting with a premium compact camera, like my Ricoh GR IIIX.
I decided to see if I could live without my full-frame mirrorless camera throughout this time. Naturally, I’ve compared the 15 Ultra to my own phone too, the Google Pixel 8 Pro.
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra, which starts at £1,299 (it's not directly available in the US or Australia), has impressed me on several fronts in a way that other smartphones haven’t yet – a victoriously struck hardware-software balance. So follow me as I unpack what makes the Xiaomi 15 Ultra one of my favorite camera phones to date.
Serious hardware
Most of the best camera phones rely on software smarts to create superb photos – including my Pixel 8 Pro – whether that's subject detection and background softening for portraits, excellent stabilization for better night-time images, or HDR effects to increase perceivable detail in highlights and shadows.
The 15 Ultra can do those things, but its hardware is also top drawer, meaning it can get you better pictures without relying so heavily on software trickery. Namely, there’s that stellar 1-inch sensor, much bigger than the sensors used in most rival phones from Apple, Samsung and Google.
Sensor size matters – there’s less reliance on computational trickery to get you effects such as background blur for portraits, or noise reduction for night shots and HDR for better tonal range. In short, photos should look more natural.
There is a trade-off, however. The larger a sensor is, the greater the distance between sensor and lens needs to be. That means the 15 Ultra’s camera unit is hefty. It houses those four lenses, including the headline 4.3x telephoto camera which shoots 200MP stills. If you want a slim phone, look elsewhere.
Most other flagship camera phones also have a slightly longer 5x telephoto zoom, while the Galaxy 23 Ultra has a 10x telephoto lens, meaning the 15 Ultra has slightly less reach. However, four lenses without any obvious image quality compromises.
Software smarts
My Pixel 8 Pro mostly shoots in auto, with a HDR-like effect applied. It shoots superb photos, but doesn’t really offer the manual control that I like as a seasoned photographer.
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra does both. I can select a Pro mode and have full control of exposure settings. I particularly enjoyed quick access to exposure compensation on the Photography Kit's dedicated dial (more on this in a moment). It's true that several other phones feature a Pro mode too, but there is an impressive array of controls here, which also includes a few Leica-badged color profiles. I'm a fan of some of the black and white profiles.
In Pro mode, the 15 Ultra won't brighten the shadows in the way my Pixel does. Photos are more natural, more of the time. If you look through my image galleries, the photo of two trees on a misty morning (above) stands out to me in particular. The subtlety is there that I can get with proper camera, and which is almost always lost with my Pixel.
If, however, I do want that HDR-like effect, I can simply tap the HDR mode. It's in a somewhat hidden menus that contains a host of modes and also includes a long exposure effect - another photography trick that I like for abstract effects.
Superb accessories
Most people thinking of splashing the cash on the Xiaomi 15 Ultra are doing so primarily for its camera. To that degree, the optional Photography Kit is a must-have accessory (£179 – there's no direct availability or pricing in the US and Australia). Without the kit, the phone and its camera app largely handle like any other for photography. But with it, now we talking a similar experience to some premium compact cameras.
The Photography Kit’s grip gives extra purchase, even if it would be even comfier to hold with contours for your fingers. Add the thumb grip, however, and the phone feels more secure in the hand, for both vertical and horizontal holds.
The grip features a shutter button, for which there are screw-in caps that make for an even more tactile feel. I have lost one of these caps within a month as they do unscrew a little too easily, so be aware of that.
Next to the shutter button is a dial, which can control exposure compensation – meaning you can instantly brighten or darken the image to taste. This dial is like what you find on a proper camera, and feels a level-up from Apple’s camera control button.
With all the Photography Kit components in play, the setup reminded me a little of my Ricoh GR IIIX, a premium compact camera that I spent around $1,000 / £900 on instead of the latest iPhone, because I still believe there are distinct advantages in using a dedicated camera for photography instead of a phone, including mental health.
A drawback with the Photography Kit fixed in place through the phone’s USB-C, is that in my experience the phone's battery drained quicker. It could just be the phone / photography kit I had, but I’m not convinced by the effectiveness of the battery housed in the grip.
The ultimate camera phone?
So could the Xiaomi 15 Ultra replace pro camera gear? That depends on the person, but for me that simply isn’t true. What I will say, however, is that it's been the next best thing.
Giving the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's camera setup a proper testing; familiarizing myself with its tools and how it works, finding workarounds for the things I don’t like, using the Photography Kit, has shown me that I've less reason to use my camera gear, and that’s certainly true for my beloved Ricoh GR IIIX premium compact.
With its creative modes covering macro photography, long exposure effects, its natural shallow depth-of-field portraits thanks to that 1-inch sensor, together with the choice I want between auto HDR and manual exposure control, I have a camera that is both creative and serious, and slips in my pocket. The Photography Kit only further improves the experience.
Each flagship phone has distinct advantages over the next. I've always loved the natural color and detail in portraits shot with an iPhone, the versatility of the Galaxy Ultra's camera suite, and the computational smarts of a Pixel. But for a rounded photography experience, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra could be the very best of the bunch. Over the course of six weeks of regular use, I've been able to make so many images that I genuinely like, and you can enjoy a few more of my favorites in the gallery below.
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