Following its China-focused launch in late 2024, the Xiaomi 15 is finally making its way to the UK alongside the all-new Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
Whether you’re considering buying a Xiaomi phone or just curious about the difference between the two, you’ve come to the right place.
Although we haven’t reviewed either handset yet, we’ve compared their specs and highlighted any key points below. Keep reading to see what’s different between the Xiaomi 15 Ultra vs 15 and whether either has the potential to make it into our best smartphones guide.
Pricing and Availability
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra was announced at MWC 2025 and has a starting RRP of £1299 for the 16GB and 512GB model.
The Xiaomi 15 launched in China in October 2024 but is now making its way to the UK, with a starting RRP of £899 for the 12GB and 256GB handset.
Both run on Snapdragon 8 Elite
We’ll start with a similarity, as we think this is quite important. Although the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is more expensive, it runs on the exact same Snapdragon 8 Elite processor as the Xiaomi 15.
While we haven’t reviewed either handset just yet, we’ve been blown away by the Qualcomm chipset’s capabilities in other phones, such as the OnePlus 13 and Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition.
In our experience with the processor so far, we find performance to be seriously speedy and able to handle intensive tasks like gaming or GenAI tools with ease. We’ve also seen the chip score incredibly highly in our benchmarking tests, surpassing even the A18 Pro found in the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
With that in mind, we can reasonably expect both handsets to be powerful and lag-free too.
Both come with HyperOS 2 & AI smarts
Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2 skin enables the running of the HyperAI toolkit, which can be found across both handsets.
Akin to the likes of Galaxy AI, Apple Intelligence and Google’s plethora of AI features, HyperAI AI Interpreter for conversing in a different language and AI Writing for amending text. There’s also a range of photo editing tools, ranging from object removal tools to AI-powered image expansion tech similar to that found in Adobe Photoshop.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra has four rear lenses
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra promises “pinnacle photography” thanks to its “next-gen Leica quad camera system”, though it’s worth noting that the Xiaomi 15 also sports a Leica camera system.
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra consists of a 50MP main camera with a massive 1-inch sensor, a 50MP floating telephoto, a 200MP periscope telephoto, and a 50MP ultrawide lens, which is rounded off with a 32MP front camera. Essentially, the cameras promise to offer high-resolution images at focal lengths between 14mm and 100mm, with digital zoom pushing them far beyond.
On the other hand, the Xiaomi 15 has three ultra-high-speed lenses: a 50MP main, a 50MP telephoto, and a 50MP ultrawide. It doesn’t offer the same 1-inch sensor on the main camera, however, which should give the Ultra model the edge, particularly in low-light.
We’ll have to wait until we review both handsets to determine whether either will make it into our best camera phones guide, but they do have impressive specs.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra has a larger screen
At 6.73 inches, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is an ideal choice for anyone who doesn’t want to be bogged down by a hefty smartphone like the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL but wants enough screen real estate.
On the other hand, the Xiaomi 15’s 6.36-inch display is slightly bigger than most of the best small phones, including the newly launched iPhone 16e. It also has super-slim 1.38mm-thick bezels, thinner than those of even the 15 Ultra.
Otherwise, both handsets offer a peak brightness of 3200 nits which means they can both be comfortably used outdoors, and a variable refresh rate of 1-120Hz.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra supports 80W wireless charging
Both handsets support whopping 90W wired charging, which seriously trumps competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 45W. But while the Xiaomi 15 supports fast 50W wireless charging, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has the upper hand with supercharged 80W support.
However, to benefit from either, you will need to invest in a HyperCharge-supported charger, as Xiaomi doesn’t provide this in the box.
Technically, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has the larger battery of the two. However, this is only by a mere 10mAh in the UK and EU, so in reality, you shouldn’t notice much difference.
Early Verdict
Although there are definite differences between the two handsets, with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra boasting more capable camera hardware and a slightly larger battery, the Xiaomi 15 looks like a tempting alternative that comes close in most areas at a much cheaper point.
Having said that, we’ll have to wait until we review both handsets before we make a firm judgment on the two Android smartphones.
