Xiaomi 15 Pro: A Comprehensive Masterpiece Ushering in a New Era of Smartphone Performance

Xiaomi 15 Pro: A Comprehensive Masterpiece Ushering in a New Era of Smartphone PerformanceThe Xiaomi 15 Pro is Xiaomi's most innovative and powerful flagship smartphone to date, aiming for a comprehensive breakthrough in performance, battery life, user experience, and imaging capabilities. As Xiaomi's annual flagship, the Xiaomi 15 Pro globally debuted the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition chip, the first 3nm processor for Android devices, offering a significant leap in both performance and energy efficiency

Xiaomi 15 Pro: A Comprehensive Masterpiece Ushering in a New Era of Smartphone Performance

The Xiaomi 15 Pro is Xiaomi's most innovative and powerful flagship smartphone to date, aiming for a comprehensive breakthrough in performance, battery life, user experience, and imaging capabilities. As Xiaomi's annual flagship, the Xiaomi 15 Pro globally debuted the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition chip, the first 3nm processor for Android devices, offering a significant leap in both performance and energy efficiency.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition features Qualcomm's second-generation Oryon CPU architecture, equipped with two super cores clocking at 4.32GHz and six performance cores running at 3.53GHz. This "all-large-core" design results in a remarkable 45% increase in single-core and multi-core performance compared to its predecessor, while reducing power consumption by 44%. Its GPU, the new Adreno 830, clocks at 1.1GHz, delivering a 40% performance boost and a 40% reduction in power consumption. Moreover, it boasts a 35% improvement in ray tracing capabilities. Looking back at the history of Snapdragon chips, no chip since 2015 has offered such a substantial performance leap. It's safe to say that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition is the chip with the greatest performance advancement over the past decade.

The Xiaomi 15 Pro also reverts to a periscope telephoto lens design and utilizes the same top-tier sensor as the Xiaomi 14 Ultra the 50MP Sony IMX858. This sensor excels in focusing performance and detail rendering, filling the gap in ultra-telephoto capabilities that had existed for Pro-grade models over the past three years.

In terms of battery life, the Xiaomi 15 Pro houses a massive 6100mAh battery, combined with Xiaomi's Jinshajiao battery technology, achieving industry-leading energy density. Furthermore, the Xiaomi 15 Pro premieres the newly upgraded Pengpai OS2, featuring significant improvements in kernel optimization, intelligent connectivity architecture, and AI technology, leading to a substantial enhancement in smoothness and stability.

Exterior: Deep Four-Curve Screen + Unitary Ceramic Body, the Best Hand-Feel in the Pro Series

The Xiaomi 15 Pro sports a 6.73-inch OLED screen on the front, paired with the latest Huaxing Optoelectronics M9 emissive material. The screen supports adaptive refresh rates from 1Hz to 120Hz, reaching a maximum brightness of 800nit manually and a peak brightness of 3200nit. Notably, the screen achieves peak brightness of 3200nit at a display content average brightness of 25% (such as watching short videos on Douyin or using dark mode for e-books). This implies exceptional clarity even under strong light. In comparison, other phones in the industry generally require a display content average brightness of only 1% to trigger peak brightness, and this high brightness is often only applicable when playing HDR content, lacking practicality in everyday use. The Huaxing Optoelectronics M9 emissive material employed by the Xiaomi 15 Pro utilizes a unique double-micro-cavity emitting layer, enabling higher brightness at the same power consumption or lower power consumption at the same brightness, resulting in its 2K screen consuming less power than even the 1.5K screen with the C8 emissive system on the previous generation Xiaomi 14. This allows the Xiaomi 15 Pro to effortlessly handle its 2K screen. The screen boasts a 32001440 resolution with a standard PPI of 522 and an OLED equivalent PPI of 426.

Continuing from its predecessor, the Xiaomi 15 Pro adopts the deep four-curve screen, balancing the advantages of a straight screen fewer accidental touches and better viewing with the benefits of a curved screen excellent hand-feel. The screen surface is protected by the newly upgraded Xiaomi Dragon Crystal Glass 2.0. Compared to the Dragon Crystal Glass 1.0 on the Xiaomi 14 Pro, the new formula reduces alkali metal content, enhancing mechanical strength by 20-30%, improving sandpaper drop test performance by 25-30%, making the glass more robust and durable. Compared to the iPhone 16's Ultra Ceramic Glass, Xiaomi Dragon Crystal Glass 2.0 boasts a 50% improvement in drop resistance, ensuring greater durability and reliability for the device.

The rear of the phone features a ceramic material, with the Rocky Gray color resembling rock with a natural cool tone, not only highlighting the hardness of the stone but also conveying a sense of steadiness and solemnity. The phone's touch feels like a refined matte finish, delicate yet smooth, with a hint of subtle slipperiness, providing both a firm grip and a comfortable touch.

The Xiaomi 15 Pro's camera lens is crafted from ceramic, forming a striking contrast against the matte finish of the body. This clever design enriches the details on the back, adding to the overall refinement of the appearance. Moreover, through more intricate stacking techniques, the camera module protrudes 0.6mm less than the previous generation, with the size reduced by 2.5mm. The "volcano" design seamlessly integrates with the back panel, achieving both aesthetics and improved hand-feel.

The top and bottom frames of the phone are minimalist, featuring a built-in infrared remote control sensor on the top within the camera module, eliminating the need for a dedicated opening. The bottom houses the speaker, Type-C port, microphone, and SIM card slot. It's worth noting that the Xiaomi 15 Pro incorporates stereo dual speakers, with the earpiece acting as a speaker, enhancing the immersive audio experience. The power button and volume buttons are placed on the right side of the device. The Xiaomi 15 Pro supports up to 90W wired Pengpai instant charging and comes with a 90W fast charging adapter.

Performance and Gaming: Global Premiere of Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition, Breakthrough in Gaming Efficiency

The Xiaomi 15 Pro is the first in the world to feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition. This is Snapdragon's first mobile platform utilizing a 3nm manufacturing process. Compared to the 5nm process of four years ago, 3nm represents a genuine technological leap, going beyond a mere numerical change and delivering a comprehensive lead in performance and energy efficiency. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition leverages TSMC's second-generation 3nm process technology, with this advanced manufacturing technique not only boosting the chip's performance but also significantly reducing power consumption. In the realm of smartphones, energy efficiency is a crucial metric, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition continues to lead the industry in this regard.

Qualcomm has taken a bold approach to the core architecture of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition, completely abandoning small cores and opting for an all-large-core design, aligning with MediaTek's strategy. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition's super core runs at an astonishing 4.32GHz, setting a new performance record for mobile processors. The two super cores, combined with six large cores at 3.53GHz, result in a massive 12BM CPU cache. The two super cores share a 12MBL2 cache, and the six performance cores share another 12MBL2 cache. Such a configuration is unprecedented in the history of mobile processors, providing the processor with extraordinary power. According to Qualcomm's official announcement, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition leverages this entirely new CPU architecture to achieve up to 45% improvement in single-core and multi-core performance, while simultaneously lowering power consumption by 44%.

The new Adreno 830 GPU boasts a 1.1GHz clock speed, offering a 40% overall performance increase and a 40% reduction in power consumption. It also boasts a 35% improvement in ray tracing capabilities. Additionally, by reserving 12MB of dedicated memory for the GPU, it reduces reliance on system memory, leading to lower power consumption and decreased latency. This time, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Extreme Edition supports memory upgrades from the previous generation's 4800MHz (8.53Gbps) LPDDR5X to 5333MHz (10.7Gbps) LPDDR5X.

Theoretical Performance Tests

In Geekbench 6 tests, the single-core score surpassed the 3000 mark. The Geekbench 6 single-core score effortlessly crossed the 3000 milestone, achieving an impressive 3157 points. This score leads the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 by nearly 1000 points, demonstrating a 44.4% performance increase. Thanks to the all-large-core three-cluster architecture, the multi-core score skyrocketed to 9677 points, directly surpassing the iPhone 16 Pro's A18 Pro, representing a 37.7% year-on-year improvement. This self-developed architecture from Snapdragon truly has some substance! Let's move on to the GPU tests. The GFXbench six 1080P tests yield the following results:

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