The phone I'm most excited about in 2025 is not an iPhone
I'm usually pretty excited about every new or upcoming phone release, and although a lot of my time at the moment is spent thinking about the intriguing Apple iPhone 17 Air, and I continue to love my iPhone 16 Pro Max, it's another smartphone that has got me all hot under the collar. It's the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, the sequel to my favorite camera phone of 2024, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. However, while I'm really keen to see it, I'm also very aware it has a great deal to live up to.
Xiaomi has an ongoing partnership with camera maker Leica, and the 14 Ultra truly represents what the two are capable of when working together. I'd already seen how committed Leica was to mobile photography when it worked with Huawei, and I can track back my enjoyment of photography to some of the first Leica and Huawei phones, such as the Huawei P9 and Mate 10 Pro.
But it wasn't only Leica pushing the 14 Ultra's camera to the limit, it was Xiaomi's ingenuity with the Photography Kit, a bundle of camera-centric accessories which added an external battery inside a custom camera grip, and a superb adaptor ring enabling the use of full size filters. This transformed the 14 Ultra from phone to camera, and I adored using it.
I looked forward to using the Xiaomi 14 Ultra's camera because I was not only confident in its ability, but also interested to see how it treated different scenes and environments. Only one other smartphone camera has come close to making me feel that way, but I've not been so creatively inspired by any other recently released phone. Understanding why I rate the Xiaomi 14 Ultra so highly is key to understanding why I'm excited to see what comes next.
If I had one complaint about the Xiaomi 14 Ultra's hardware, it would be that it looked a bit dull. Sure, the back is covered in fake leather which has a nice texture, but in plain black it was incognito to the point of being anonymous. I wasn't proud to carry it around, and although the huge camera module gave the back of the phone some presence, it could never be called pretty.
Images supposed to show the Xiaomi 15 Ultra have leaked, and if they're genuine, it looks like Xiaomi agreed and has gone above and beyond for the sequel. Instead of making it in a few different colors and calling the project good, it appears it has worked with Leica on the design, as the rear panel pays homage to the style of a Leica camera. It looks brilliant, and gives the Xiaomi 15 Ultra the character the 14 Ultra was missing.
There's a chance the images may have been made by a fan, hopeful of the same changes as I am, but they do appear to have a genuine look to them. If Leica has been willing to let Xiaomi use its famous design as inspiration for the phone's look, just imagine what it has been doing with the camera itself. Rumors surrounding the specification indicate it will have four cameras — a 50-megapixel 1-inch sensor main, wide-angle, and 3x telephoto zoom, plus a 200MP telephoto for a 4.3x zoom. This is slightly different to the Xiaomi 14 Ultra's setup.
Hardware is only the start of what makes modern smartphone camera systems great, and what happens behind the scenes does have me slightly concerned, but I'm hoping Leica will hold Xiaomi back a little here. I'm talking about AI, which continues to become evermore present in our phones, and Chinese brands in particular are keen to put it to use, due to local buyers seeing it as a considerable benefit and a reason to buy.
While AI has its uses in our cameras — Google's Magic Eraser and similar features are helpful — most of the time it veers dangerously into gimmick territory. See Google's Add Me, Samsung's Sketch to Image tool, and a host of others for evidence. They have their place, and although Google's computational photography makes the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro Fold's cameras excellent, I don't want AI to cloud Xiaomi's plan for its next top phone.
This is where Leica comes in. It has more than a century of experience behind it, and it still makes camera cameras — and expensive ones — for enthusiasts, who I don't think want much AI in their photos. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra came out just before the tidal wave of AI in smartphones arrived, and remains a surprisingly analog experience, especially if you use the camera grip and screw-in filters. Provided Xiaomi doesn't pack AI into the camera at the expense of refining the already fantastic tuning and tone with Leica, the 15 Ultra has the chance to be even better than before.
If Xiaomi can improve on the 14 Ultra's wonderful camera, not spoil the results with too much AI, wrap it all up in a delectable design, plus make another Photography Kit accessory, then the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has a very good chance of taking the award for 2025's best camera phone when the time comes. The Galaxy S25 Ultra's cameras are good, as is the OnePlus 13's camera, but they're beatable, and I think Xiaomi and Leica are the pair with the talent, drive, and ability to do it.
It's looking likely Xiaomi will launch the 15 Ultra in China on February 26, based on a leaked poster with the date. The timing makes a subsequent global announcement at Mobile World Congress 2025 at the beginning of March entirely possible. Unfortunately Xiaomi does not sell smartphones in the U.S. and this is unlikely to change any time soon, but it did eventually release the 14 Ultra in the U.K..
Regardless of when it arrives, I cannot wait to try the Xiaomi 15 Ultra out and see if it has what it takes to genuinely succeed the best camera phone I've used in a long time.
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