Latest news with #14Ultra
The Verge
4 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
May 27, 2025 at 8:37 AM EDT
Xiaomi is moving upmarket. Never mind its growing EV business, the world's third biggest smartphone manufacturer is trying to reposition itself as a premium brand to rival Apple and Samsung, and it seems to be working. In its latest earnings report Xiaomi notes its 15 Ultra flagship has sold 90 percent more than last year's 14 Ultra during its first month or so on sale, and the company now has almost ten percent of the flagship market share in China.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Yahoo
I Tested the Xiaomi 15 Ultra for 2 Weeks: Here's Everything You Need to Know
The Xiaomi 14 Ultra was one of the best phones of 2024, thanks in no small part to an awesome camera system that took some of the best photos I've ever seen from a camera phone. At the heart of this was its 1-inch type image sensor ,which is physically larger than the sensors found in almost any other phone. The result? Great-looking images in a variety of conditions. But it's 2025 now and the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is here to try and tempt more photographers away from Apple's clutches. The phone has had a variety of updates, including the powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and a host of new AI skills -- because apparently all phones need to have AI built in whether you like it or not. And while the camera hasn't seen many updates, there are a few tweaks to keep photographers interested. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra global version was announced at Mobile World Congress" target="_blank in Barcelona. It goes on sale in the UK and wider Europe later this month for £1,299 with 512GB of storage or £1,499 if you want 1TB. As with other Xiaomi phones, the 15 Ultra will not be available to buy in the US but for reference that base UK price converts to $1,630 or AU$2,630. Here are the most important things to know about the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. I was bowled over by the massive image sensor inside the 14 Ultra's main camera, so I suppose I should be pleased that the 15 Ultra has kept it. But I am a bit disappointed that it's literally the same model -- the Sony LYT-900. Sure, it's a great sensor and not that old, but I had hoped to see Xiaomi take its winning formula from last year and make it even better. Maybe the lens is better? On paper, I'd actually argue there's been a downgrade. The 14 Ultra had a rare variable aperture, which went from wide open at f/1.6 and could close down to f/4. It allowed for attractive star-burst effects when shooting points of light in the dark. The 15 Ultra has gotten rid of this and instead has a fixed f/1.6 aperture -- Xiaomi says it can achieve the same effects "through software optimization and algorithm updates." Sigh. Read more: Best Android Phone of 2025 While you can adjust the depth of field strength (the amount of background blur behind your subject) in the portrait mode, I've found a couple of things wrong. First, the image with the blur doesn't save when you take it, so it looks the same no matter what fake aperture you set it as. This is probably just early software problems and I'm sure they'll be fixed. But the lack of real adjustable aperture also means you don't get the nice star bursts on street lights at night anymore. Those starbursts are probably a niche thing to be excited about, but they truly transformed the look of night photos and the effect was one of my favorite things about shooting with the 14 Ultra. To see this kind of innovation chucked out in favor of a software-based "solution" is frustrating. It's also exactly what I complained so much about last year, with AI being the only area where companies are innovating now. Ironically, in that article, I applauded Xiaomi for the 14 Ultra, but I won't be able to with this new model. It's also odd to see that the ultrawide camera's aperture has been dropped from f/1.8 to f/2.2. The only actual upgrade to the cameras I can see is that the telephoto zoom resolution is higher for better-looking zoomed-in shots. It's still a powerful camera setup though and I've taken some shots in my testing that I like. As with the 14 Ultra, the camera is certified by Leica, and there are some Leica-approved color styles to choose from, my favorite of which remains the high contrast black and white mode. It's great for punchy monochrome street photography. You can see a selection of my test images here, but also check out my longer gallery of examples if you're keen to see more of this camera in action. Yes, you can buy the 15 Ultra with the same Photography Kit that was offered with last year's model. It includes a case, a powered grip with shutter button and an attachable ring that allows you to use regular 67mm photography filters. The grip is awesome. It clicks in neatly, adds some extra battery life to the phone and the shutter button and settings wheel allow you to shoot just like you were using a compact camera. It's much more comfortable than taking photos without it. It's been updated too, with a new thumb grip attachment to make it a bit easier to hold. There's also a soft-touch, screw-in shutter release button, which is bigger and easier to quickly find and hit than the original button it screws into. If you're keen on using your phone for street or travel photography, the Photography Kit is worth getting. The Snapdragon 8 Elite chip found inside the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has already impressed us on phones like the OnePlus 13 and its power is noticeable here, too. It put in notable scores on our benchmark tests, while everyday operation is fast and lag-free. It's great for gamers, too, with demanding titles like Genshin Impact playing smoothly at max settings and at 60 frames per second. Qualcomm's 8 Elite chip isn't just designed for raw power though, it's built for better AI processing. Which brings me neatly on to… Google Gemini and Gemini advanced are built in as standard, including the conversational Gemini Live and Circle to Search. But Xiaomi has thrown in a few of its own features, too. There's a generative text tool to create blocks of text based on your prompts, along with a helpful tool that creates text transcriptions from voice recordings -- great for a busy tech journalist. There's also a variety of image-focused AI tools for expanding an image using generative AI, removing things in a scene or simply sharpening the picture. The AI tools all work as well as I'd hope, but it's worth keeping in mind that all of them require an internet connection in order to use -- including the voice transcript tool, for some reason. The 15 Ultra launches with Android 15 on board, and Xiaomi promises it'll receive four generations of Android updates along with six years of security support. It's less than what both Samsung and Google provide for their flagships (seven years of both software and security support) and I'd certainly have liked to see Xiaomi match, or even beat its rivals here, especially considering the high price of the phone. Still, a shelf life of six years is decent enough (a third of people keep their phones for three years or longer) and matches what OnePlus offers for its recent OnePlus 13 flagship. Battery life is good, but not outstanding. On our demanding video streaming test it held out better than the OnePlus 13 but didn't do quite as well as the Galaxy S25 Ultra. You can safely expect a day of use but as with all phones you'll probably want to give it a full charge overnight. The 6.7-inch display is bright, vibrant and pin sharp. Videos look great, as do colorful mobile games. The phone is IP68 rated to help keep it safe from spilled drinks, too. All in all, it's a phone that ticks pretty much every box you'd expect from one of today's flagships. I just wish I'd seen more innovation in the cameras for this year's model. Still, there's no question that it still takes superb images that rival any of today's flagships. If you're looking for a high-performance Android phone to use as your main camera on your travels, it's certainly worth considering.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Yahoo
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.
