Xiaomi 15T Pro Review: A Premium Camera Experience For Less

At a look

Professional’s Score

Execs

• Fashionable design
• Large display screen
• Highly effective efficiency
• Lengthy battery life and speedy charging
• Stable digital camera system

Cons

• Ultrawide digital camera might be higher
• HyperOS is a bit divisive

Our Verdict

The Xiaomi 15T Professional performs identical to a flagship, nevertheless it comes at a way more inexpensive worth. There are some drawbacks, just like the comparatively weak ultrawide digital camera and the bloatware-filled OS, however for essentially the most half, it’s premium by means of and thru. The brand new 5x periscope telephoto is a wonderful addition, and if you happen to’re into video taking pictures, that is the one telephone in its worth vary to supply 4K 120fps recording.

Value When Reviewed

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Finest Pricing Right now

Finest Costs Right now: Xiaomi 15T Professional

Final 12 months’s Xiaomi 14T Professional impressed us with its flagship-level efficiency and options at an approachable mid-range worth. Now, its successor has landed, and it’s promising extra of the identical.

The 15T Professional will get a recent new look, a massively upgraded telephoto digital camera, and it could possibly even shoot video at 4K 120fps on the principle digital camera. After all, there’s a more recent, quicker chip inside, together with a much bigger battery.

On paper, it’s wanting like certainly one of this 12 months’s greatest higher mid-range telephones, however what’s it prefer to reside with? I stuffed it in my pocket for the final week in an try to seek out out.

Design & Construct

• Glass again, aluminium body
• 210g, Corning Gorilla Glass 7i
• IP68 rated

The Xiaomi 15T Professional has adopted a boxy design with a very flat entrance and rear, together with flat siderails. The design is a bit iPhone-like, however that’s no unhealthy factor – it seems to be and feels extraordinarily premium.

Luke Baker

It’s an enormous telephone, and at 194g, it’s pretty weighty, too. This provides to the premium really feel, however I can think about these with smaller paws struggling to succeed in the higher finish of the 6.83-inch show.

It’s accessible in three colors: Black, Grey and Mocha Gold. I’ve the latter possibility in for testing, and I’m an enormous fan of it. It manages to face out from the gang with out being garish, with its distinctive bronze/brown end that covers the rear and the edges.

The rear has a easy, matt really feel to it, and it’s just about proof against fingerprint smudges, which I at all times prefer to see. There’s additionally a case included within the field, of the essential matte black TPU selection, which helps to maintain the telephone wanting pristine.

Luke Baker

The cameras are organized in a sq. formation within the higher left-hand nook of the telephone, so much just like the mainline Xiaomi 15. Nonetheless, somewhat than being coated by a single glass panel, the lenses are separated by a metallic-looking bezel with rounded corners. It’s simply an aesthetic selection, nevertheless it provides a little bit of character to the telephone.

In the case of sturdiness, the telephone has an IP68 ranking for mud and water resistance, so it’s properly outfitted to deal with the weather. The show is roofed with Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, which ought to assist to maintain scratches at bay, and there’s a fundamental factory-applied display screen protector included as properly.

Display screen & Audio system

• 6.83-inch, 1280 x 2772, OLED, 144Hz
• 3200 nits peak brightness, DC dimming
• Stereo audio system

The Xiaomi 15T Professional has a really spectacular show, with a blistering quick 144Hz refresh price and a peak brightness of 3200 nits. It’s an OLED panel, and as regular, which means wealthy, vibrant colors and deep, inky blacks.

Luke Baker

The software program provides you extra customisation choices than most, with three customisable color modes in addition to the choice to show in both DCI-P3 or sRGB color gamuts. There’s additionally help for HDR10+ and Dolby Imaginative and prescient, which makes content material from apps like Netflix and Prime Video look very good.

Should you’re delicate to display screen flicker, you’re properly coated right here, too. The panel makes use of DC dimming to scale back flicker at decrease brightness ranges, and it additionally has a number of TUV Rheinland eye care certifications, together with Low Blue Mild, Flicker Free and Circadian Pleasant.

There’s an under-display fingerprint scanner, and it really works properly, nevertheless it’s an optical sensor, somewhat than the flowery ultrasonic sensor on the full-fat Xiaomi 15. Nonetheless, in use, I’ve few complaints. It unlocked rapidly and reliably in most circumstances.

Luke Baker

The telephone has twin audio system, with one firing from the bottom subsequent to the USB-C port whereas the opposite doubles up because the telephone’s earpiece. These audio system are extraordinarily highly effective, and so they create a good soundstage, which might help when enjoying cellular video games.

As regular, although, it’s the bass that’s a bit missing. There’s sufficient low-end weight to make sure that the telephone doesn’t sound tinny, however it could possibly’t create a correct bassy thud like another flagship telephones. 

Specs & Efficiency

• MediaTek Dimensity 9400+
• 12GB RAM
• 256GB / 512GB / 1TB storage

The Xiaomi 15T Professional is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9400+, a particular overclocked model of the identical chip present in flagship units such because the Oppo Discover X8 Professional and Vivo X200 Professional. We already comprehend it’s loads highly effective, however this newer variant must be even higher. As well as, you get 12GB of RAM on all fashions, and you’ll choose both 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage.

Luke Baker

In benchmarks, it’s clear that the Dimensity 9400+ lags behind the almighty Snapdragon 8 Elite, nevertheless it’s no slouch. It typically beats the Tensor G5 in Google’s Pixel 10 units, for instance. 

Truthfully, in use, all of those telephones are so highly effective that you simply’d be hard-pressed to inform the distinction between them.

I’ve been hooked on Wuthering Waves currently, which is useful, because it’s some of the difficult Android video games to run. That mentioned, it didn’t pose a lot of a problem to the Xiaomi 15T Professional. With most settings maxed out and working at 60fps, the sport was completely easy. And whereas the handset started to warmth up a bit, it by no means grew to become uncomfortable to carry.

Luke Baker

This implies the telephone is highly effective sufficient to breeze by means of nearly any title on the Play Retailer, and it’s nice for issues like video modifying, too. After all, in terms of easy day by day duties corresponding to navigating the OS and scrolling social feeds, you’re unlikely to see a lot as a stutter.

Xiaomi 15T Professional benchmarks

Cameras

• 50 Mp f/1.62 principal digital camera (1/1.31-inch sensor)
• 50 Mp f/3.0 5x telephoto
• 12 Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide
• 32 Mp, f/2.2 selfie digital camera, fastened focus

The Xiaomi 15T utilises the identical glorious Mild Fusion 900 picture sensor because the Xiaomi 15 for its principal digital camera, and we already know the way good that’s. This time, it’s paired with a 50Mp 5x periscope telephoto digital camera and a 12Mp ultrawide.

Luke Baker

The telephoto is the actual star of the present; it’s one of many solely 5x periscopes you’ll discover on this worth bracket, and it’s a large improve over the 14T Professional‘s 2x telephoto. As you’d anticipate, zoom pictures at 5x and above are tremendously improved, and the digital camera can produce usable photos at as much as round 20x zoom earlier than the standard degrades an excessive amount of.

The telephoto doesn’t have macro capabilities, however it could possibly nonetheless focus fairly shut up, and it seems to be glorious when doing so. The lengthy attain of the optics creates some beautiful pure compression that makes macro-style photographs appear like they have been taken on a mirrorless digital camera, not a telephone. The digital camera app generally is a bit overzealous in switching you to the principle digital camera when it detects a topic that’s too shut up, however switching to Professional mode treatments that.

The ultrawide is, as regular, the weakest hyperlink. It will probably nonetheless take respectable photographs with strong dynamic vary, however zooming in reveals an absence of element, and there’s no autofocus. This implies it’s not the perfect device for group photographs, nevertheless it does a good sufficient job with panorama scenes and structure.

The selfie digital camera has an ample 32Mp decision, and general, I used to be happy with the outcomes from it. Xiaomi’s portrait mode is sort of dependable too, and may produce some very realistic-looking results. There’s no autofocus, so you must watch out that you simply’re not too shut or distant from the lens, however in any other case, selfie lovers are in for a great time.

At evening, you’ll wish to follow the principle lens as a lot as attainable. It has the most important sensor, and which means the bottom noise stage and the least movement blur of the bunch. The opposite lenses are all able to good outcomes, with a gentle hand and evening mode enabled, however you must anticipate some movement blur with transferring topics.

Video recording capabilities are surprisingly nice, too. You possibly can shoot at as much as 4K 60fps on all of the rear cameras, and even 4K 120fps on the principle digital camera – that is the primary time I’ve seen that on a mid-range machine.

There’s additionally LOG recording and the flexibility to use LUTs. It’s good for content material creators attempting to match colors between a number of cameras. The one main limitation I butted up towards was that the selfie digital camera maxes out at 4K 30fps.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5500mAh battery
• 90W wired charging
• 50W wi-fi charging

The Xiaomi 15T Professional sports activities a decent 5500mAh battery pack. It’s greater than you’ll discover in most mainstream flagships, however not rivalling the 6000 mAh+ that we’re beginning to see from another Chinese language manufacturers. 

In our regular PC Mark battery drain check, the Xiaomi 15T Professional survived for 16 hours and 39 minutes, a greater rating than most of its competitors. That was my expertise in the actual world, too. I managed to make this telephone final two days on a cost with out attempting significantly arduous. Nonetheless, with frequent digital camera use or high-spec gaming, you may anticipate it to fall wanting that.

Luke Baker

Once you ultimately run out of battery, don’t anticipate to be ready round for lengthy, although. Simply half an hour on the charger will deliver you again as much as 80% charged, and a full cost gained’t take for much longer. It even fees quick once you use a wi-fi charger, supplied you might have one which’s highly effective sufficient.

Sadly, there’s no charger within the field; you’ll want to select up a suitably highly effective wall adapter if you need the highest speeds. It’s an added expense that must be factored in, however for my part, it’s properly value the price. Charging this quick is at all times an opulent expertise.

Software program & Apps

• Hyper OS, based mostly on Android 15
• New Astral Communication options
• Loads of HyperAI performance

The 15T Professional runs the most recent model of Xiaomi’s HyperOS software program, constructed on Android 15. Should you’ve used a current Xiaomi, Redmi or Poco telephone, you’ll know what to anticipate. HyperOS is sort of closely stylised, and to be sincere, it’s not my favorite. It may be difficult to seek out issues if you happen to’re used to different Android manufacturers.

Luke Baker

However, it’s extremely customisable, so no matter irks you concerning the default configuration can possible be modified. I really like that HyperOS permits me to cram tons of apps on my homescreen, and even take away the textual content labels for a extra streamlined look.

Sadly, there’s nonetheless loads of bloat to cope with once you first set it up. There are all of Xiaomi’s first-party apps, which all serve a objective, however I can’t assist however assume there are extra of them than there must be. Then there’s a load of third-party junk too, together with a folder full of random issues corresponding to TikTok, WPS Workplace, LinkedIn and AliExpress. You possibly can take away all of the third-party stuff, nevertheless it’s an added problem.

Google’s staple options are all current right here, together with Circle to Search, Gemini because the default assistant and a Uncover feed if you happen to swipe left from the homescreen. As well as, Xiaomi has its personal suite of AI instruments. The most effective bits are all to do with picture modifying, however there’s all the standard AI stuff corresponding to translation, transcription and summarisation, in addition to writing help. There’s nothing significantly novel right here, nevertheless it all appears to work as supposed.

Luke Baker

One factor that you simply aren’t going to seek out wherever else is Xiaomi’s Astral Communication function. This at the moment solely works on 15T-series telephones, however I’d anticipate to see it seem on future Xiaomi handsets, too. In essence, it really works a bit like a walkie-talkie, permitting you to voice name one other Xiaomi 15T person with out the necessity for a mobile sign.

It might be a game-changer for hikers or anybody who spends day out within the wilderness; it’d even assist festival-goers, too. There are limitations, in fact. It appears to make use of Bluetooth to speak, and which means it really works greatest when there’s a visible line of sight. It’ll nonetheless work by means of partitions, however the potential most distance of 1.9km will probably be severely diminished.

One factor to notice is that Xiaomi hasn’t revealed how lengthy it’ll be supporting the 15T Professional with software program updates. If the 14T Professional is something to go by, it’d get 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety patches, which is a way wanting the seven years of each supplied by many Samsung and Google telephones, together with the extra inexpensive Pixel 9a.

Value & Availability

The Xiaomi 15T Professional prices £649/€799 in its base configuration with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, matching the 14T Professional and the 13T Professional earlier than that.

There’s additionally a 512GB mannequin, which prices £699, and a 1TB possibility, which is able to set you again £799.

You’ll be capable to buy it from the official Xiaomi retailer in addition to retailers like Amazon. As ever, it gained’t be formally launching within the US.

Do you have to purchase the Xiaomi 15T Professional?

The Xiaomi 15T Professional goals to ship a flagship-level expertise at a extra inexpensive worth level, and I believe it does precisely that. From gaming and productiveness to cameras and net looking, there isn’t a single space the place 15T Professional falls quick.

There are a few tells that this can be a extra budget-conscious handset. For instance, the 12Mp ultrawide isn’t going to impress anybody, particularly with no autofocus, and the quantity of bloatware that comes preinstalled could be fairly unacceptable on a flagship, too. However these are removed from dealbreakers.

As ever, HyperOS isn’t going to please everybody, however I received used to it fairly rapidly, and I liked the quantity of customisation it provides. Xiaomi’s new Astral Communication function is superb, however I believe it must roll out to extra units earlier than it turns into a sensible answer

In the case of the competitors, the Honor 400 Professional is the primary that springs to thoughts, and there’s additionally the Vivo X200 FE (although it’s not accessible within the UK). Each provide equally spectacular cameras and gaming efficiency, at related worth factors, and since each have been out for longer, you may be capable to discover a strong deal. Nonetheless, neither has such a protracted zoom lens, and neither can match the 4K 120fps and LOG recording of the 15T Professional, so for video shooters, there’s a transparent winner.

Specs

• Hyper OS, based mostly on Android 15
• 6.83-inch, 1280 x 2772, OLED, 144Hz
• In-display fingerprint sensor
• MediaTek Dimensity 9400+
• 12GB RAM
• 256GB / 512GB / 1TB storage
• Digicam:
• 50Mp principal sensor
• 12Mp ultrawide
• 50Mp 5x telephoto
• 32Mp selfie digital camera
• As much as 4K @ 120fps rear video
• Stereo audio system
• Twin-SIM + eSIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax
• Bluetooth 6.0
• 5500mAh battery
• 90W wired charging
• 50W wi-fi charging
• 162.7×77.9×7.96 mm
• IP68 licensed
• 210g
• Colors: Black, Grey, Mocha Gold