The pricing of Xiaomi’s 15-series has reached a new low, offering a choice between a relatively compact flagship and an all-out camera phone.
We know that many don’t consider the Xiaomi 15 to be “small” with its 6.36” display and 71.2mm width. Still, it’s one of the smaller Snapdragon 8 Elite flagships and, unlike say a Galaxy S25, it has triple 50MP cameras on the back. This includes a main with a large 1/1.31” sensor, a 2.6x/60mm telephoto and a 115° ultra-wide.
The phone runs on a 5,240mAh battery with fast charging (90W wired, 50W wireless) and gets great battery life. The display is a 12-bit LTPO panel, by the way. The phone launched with Android 15 and will receive 4 OS updates.
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra has a chunky camera island and the hardware there is several steps above the 15. For example, the main has a 1”-type sensor. The tele lens is bumped up to 3x/60mm and there’s also a 200MP 4.3x/100mm periscope on board. The battery for the global market isn’t that large at 5,410mAh. Here’s how the Xiaomi 15 Ultra compares with the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
If you don’t have the budget for a flagship, the Redmi Note 14 Pro is pretty affordable. It comes with a 200MP camera that does solid 2x in-sensor zoom. There’s no dedicated telephoto lens and the ultra-wide module has only an 8MP sensor.
The 6.67” 1220p+ 12-bit OLED display with Dolby Vision is great and is paired with a good set of stereo speakers. The 5,110mAh battery is a bit slower to charge than we would have liked and the battery life is good but not amazing.
For around the same amount of cash you can have the Nothing Phone (3a) instead – this one does have a telephoto module, a 50MP camera with a 2x/50mm lens. This is in addition to the 50MP main and 8MP ultra wide. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 is a bit faster than the Dimensity 7300 Ultra inside the Redmi and the 5,000mAh battery lasts a bit longer. The 6.77″ 120Hz OLED display lacks Dolby Vision, though. Also, the phone is rated IP64 compared to IP68.
Also in this price range is the Honor 200. It’s an older model from 2024, but features an even faster Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip. It has a 50MP tele camera of its own with a 2.5x lens, plus a 50MP 1/1.56” main and a 12MP ultra wide. The display is a 6.7” 120Hz OLED panel and there is a 5,200mAh battery with 100W fast charging inside.
The Motorola Moto G56 ends its pre-order period this Sunday. It pairs an entry-level Dimensity 7060 5G chipset with a 6.72” 120Hz IPS LCD with 1080p+ resolution. The phone is rated IP68/IP69. The camera setup features a 50MP main (a small 1/1.95” sensor) and 8MP ultra-wide, plus a 32MP selfie camera. Both a microSD slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack can be found on board.
Still on pre-order (until Tuesday) and in a very different category is the new RedMagic 10S Pro. This phone features the overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite with an active cooling fan – it’s one of the best-performing phones out there, but the fan doesn’t do much.
You get a flat, rectangular 6.85” 144Hz OLED display with an under display camera. Also, there are two shoulder triggers that can be mapped into games. The battery is a massive 7,050mAh cell with 80W charging.
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