With the 14 series, Xiaomi’s flagship phones hit new heights.
Both the regular Xiaomi 14 and 14 Ultra are up there with the best phones you can buy, with the latter offering a compelling DSLR alternative for many people.
Understandably, there’s plenty of excitement regarding the next generation of Xiaomi flagship. And with a key spec already confirmed, loads of other rumours and a launch happening very soon, there’s plenty to talk about.
When will the Xiaomi 15 be released?
At Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit keynote on 21 October, Xiaomi confirmed that the 15 series will be the first phones to use the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.
During the presentation, a rough launch date was revealed: “end of October”.
A leaked official-looking poster obtained by Smartprix suggested a 23 October launch date, though this is likely to only be for the Chinese market. A full global launch isn’t likely for several months.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
We expect to see three models: the Xiaomi 15, Xiaomi 15 Pro and Xiaomi 15 Ultra, however, the Xiaomi 15 Pro might never leave China, as was the case with the Xiaomi 14 Pro.
And as with all Xiaomi phones, don’t expect any of the 15 series to ever be sold in the US. Your best bet there will be to try and import one.
How much will the Xiaomi 15 cost?
As with the release date, there aren’t yet details regarding how much each new model will cost, so we look to the precedents for clues.
Here are the launch prices of recent generations:
There were slight price increases in the 13 range compared to the 12 series, but the 14 series kept the same pricing year-over-year.
We think it’s likely that Xiaomi will stick to around the same tiers when the Xiaomi 15 range arrives, as their established price ceiling is already pretty high. That being said, according to a Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station, the Xiaomi 15, Xiaomi 15 Pro and Xiaomi 15 Ultra could, in fact, all be pricier than their predecessors. It’s not clear how much more expensive, though.
In a recent post by Zou Jiachen on Weibo, the leaker claims that the Xiaomi 15 will start at CNY 4,599 ($632) for 12GB RAM/256GB storage and will cost up to CNY 5,499 ($756) for 16GB RAM/1TB storage.
Furthermore, the Xiaomi 15 Pro could potentially start at CNY 5,299-5,499 ($728-756) for the base model, peaking at CNY 6,299-6,499 ($866-894) for the top configuration. Just remember, those directly converted USD figures are unlikely to be accurate.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
What specs and features will the Xiaomi 15 have?
According to Digital Chat Station, the Xiaomi 15 series entered the next phase of internal testing in April and mass production is scheduled to start in September this year.
Ahead of that, the full spec sheets of both the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Pro were leaked by Zou Jiachen on Chinese site Weibo.
Design
Last week, renders of the Xiaomi 15 Pro have leaked (via SmartPrix), showcasing the device in black, white, silver, and a special titanium edition. The design is similar to last year’s Xiaomi 14 Pro, with a notable change in the LED flash placement outside the camera island.
These renders now seem to be confirmed by a leaked unit seen in public (via Innogyan), featuring a new camera arrangement. The leaked unit was spotted with Xiaomi Group Vice President Wang Xiaoyan, further supporting its authenticity.
According to Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station on Weibo, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra will offer three different back material options: vegan leather, glass, and ceramic, adding more choices compared to its predecessor.
Notebookcheck unveiled details about the fingerprint scanner in the 15 series, indicating a shift to single-point ultrasonic technology; away from the optical fingerprint technology used in the Xiaomi 14 series.
Ultrasonic fingerprint recognition – functioning by way of ultrasonic waves beneath the screen – generally delivers better security and reliability; usually proving faster, more accurate and more resistant to water.
Zou Jiachen also stated that both phones (referring to the 15 and 15 Pro) will likely offer an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
Display
In December 2023, Digital Chat Station stated (via Gizmochina) that the standard Xiaomi 15 would maintain a 6.36-inch display size, the same as the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 14.
Unlike the Pro variant, Xiaomi doesn’t intend to adopt a curved panel for the standard model. The leak also suggests the screen will offer a peak brightness of 1,400 nits and power-efficient 120Hz LTPO refresh rate technology.
Chinese leaker Zou Jiachen agrees that the Xiaomi 15 will have a 6.36-inch “1.5K” touchscreen, with a 120Hz refresh rate and will offer 1,400-nit brightness in High Brightness Mode (which differs from peak brightness).
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
In the same post – along with the one from June 2024 (via GSMArena) – Digital Chat Station disclosed details about the forthcoming Xiaomi 15 Pro.
It’s rumoured to feature a “2K” resolution micro-curved screen (unlike previously thought to be “1.5”), like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, and with even slimmer bezels compared to the Xiaomi 14 Pro, reducing from 0.9mm to an impressive 0.6mm.
This time, Zou Jiachen states in more detail that the phone will feature a 6.73-inch “2K” screen, with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,400-nit output in High Brightness Mode.
Performance
Xiaomi has confirmed that the Snapdragon 8 Elite will power the Xiaomi 15 series. This is Qualcomm’s new top-of-the-line mobile chipset, and should further improve performance and power efficiency.
It’s not yet been revealed, but all of the models – potentially regular, Pro and Ultra – are likely to use the 8 Elite.
According to a recent Weibo leak, the 14 and 14 Pro might offer up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, paired with up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 internal storage.
Cameras
Reportedly, Xiaomi plans to employ the Omnivision OV64B in the Xiaomi 15 Pro: a 64Mp sensor seen in various POCO, Redmi and Xiaomi smartphones, including the Poco X6 Pro.
However, while the Poco X6 Pro uses this sensor as its primary camera, the Xiaomi 15 Pro is rumoured to utilise it for periscope telephoto capabilities instead. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra may feature a 200Mp periscope camera, with a variable zoom length of 3x to 5x magnification.
Despite these changes, it’s expected that the primary cameras will remain at 50Mp. Weibo leaker Digital Chat Station says that “the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro will both feature a customised OmniVision 50mp main snapper, with a 1/1.3-inch sensor size and a large (but undisclosed) aperture”.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
A more recent DCS Weibo post claims that the Xiaomi 15 Pro will include a new 50Mp single aperture main camera, with a “super large” sensor; replacing the variable aperture of its predecessor. Additionally, it might have a 50Mp 3x telephoto periscope zoom camera and could be slightly thinner.
According to another post from Weibo, the Xiaomi 15 will feature three 50Mp snappers: an OmniVision OV50H main sensor (1/1.31-inch), 50Mp ultrawide camera and 50Mp Samsung ISOCELL JN1 3x zoom lens (1/2.76-inch). On the front there will be a 32Mp selfie camera.
On the other hand, the Xiaomi 15 Pro will reportedly get a 50Mp OmniVision OV50N main sensor (1/1.3-inch, f/1.4 aperture), a 50Mp Samsung JN1 ultrawide camera and an unnamed 3x optical zoom periscope telephoto 50Mp sensor (1/1.95-inch), plus a 32Mp selfie camera.
Both phones might also feature a new multi-layer anti-reflective coating, which is supposed to enhance light transmittance and reduce glare and ghosting.
Battery & charging
According to Notebookcheck, the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro are said to be equipped with high-density batteries.
Spec sheets leaked by Zou Jiachen on Weibo specify that the Xiaomi 15 might feature a 4800 to 4900mAh battery, with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging, while the Xiaomi 15 Pro might offer a 5400mAh cell with 120W wired and 80W wireless charging.
However, the Xiaomi 15 was recently certified in the 3C database (via MySmartPrice), confirming its 90W wired charging, matching its predecessor. Details on wireless charging are not disclosed, but it may remain at 50W like the Xiaomi 14.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
Chris Martin / Foundry
As a reminder, the Xiaomi 14 is powered by a 4,610mAh battery, supported by a speedy 90W wired charging option and 50W wireless charging. On the other hand, the 14 Pro is equipped with a 4,880mAh battery and supports 120W wired charging and 50W wireless.
A 5,300mAh battery in the 14 Ultra is significantly larger than the 14 Pro’s 4,880mAh cell, though 90W wired charging is actually slower. To compensate, there’s 80W Qi wireless charging.
Software
The Xiaomi 15 series is confirmed to ship running the company’s HyperOS software, which is based on Android 15.
It’s not yet clear if Xiaomi will continue offering the four major Android updates and five years of security updates available on the 14 series.
This is all we currently know about Xiaomi’s upcoming flagships. We will update this article when we learn something new. In the meantime, see our guides to the best phones and the best Xiaomi phones to see what the Xiaomi 15 series will be up against.
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