Xiaomi 15: A New Benchmark for Compact Flagships, Outperforming iPhone?

Xiaomi 15: A New Benchmark for Compact Flagships, Outperforming iPhone?If we were to talk about the most impressive phone at the beginning of 2025, Xiaomi 15 would undoubtedly be the name on everyone's lips. As Xiaomi's fifth-generation compact flagship, Xiaomi 15 inherits the essence of Xiaomi 14, making comprehensive upgrades in terms of feel, performance, imaging, and system, even surpassing iPhone in some aspects of user experience, becoming the new benchmark for compact flagship phones

Xiaomi 15: A New Benchmark for Compact Flagships, Outperforming iPhone?

If we were to talk about the most impressive phone at the beginning of 2025, Xiaomi 15 would undoubtedly be the name on everyone's lips. As Xiaomi's fifth-generation compact flagship, Xiaomi 15 inherits the essence of Xiaomi 14, making comprehensive upgrades in terms of feel, performance, imaging, and system, even surpassing iPhone in some aspects of user experience, becoming the new benchmark for compact flagship phones.

A Compact Flagship with Cutting-Edge Design

The first highlight of Xiaomi 15 is undoubtedly its excellent feel. Xiaomi has continuously evolved in design, meticulously crafting the phone, making the transition between the straight-edged frame and the screen and back panel more natural, completely eliminating the "uncomfortable" feeling of previous models. The phone feels incredibly smooth to the touch.

The front view is even more impressive. The ultra-narrow bezel design, coupled with the narrow bezels on all four sides, delivers an incredibly high screen-to-body ratio, making it hard to believe this is a phone in the $400 price range. Xiaomi 15 has even managed to reduce the bezel width to 1.38mm, narrower than the 1.41mm on the iPhone 16 Pro, making it one of the phones with the best screen experience today. It doesn't fall short even compared to the Samsung Galaxy S24 and iPhone 16 Pro.

All-New Snapdragon, More Powerful Performance

As the world's first phone to feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, Xiaomi 15 boasts impressive performance and power consumption. The Snapdragon 8 Elite processor pushes the performance boundaries further, achieving a leading edge in various performance tests. Whether it's the GeekBench6 single-core score of 3011 points, multi-core score of 9262 points, or the GFXBench 1080PAztecRuinsVulkan average frame rate of 288Fps, Xiaomi 15's CPU and GPU performance completely overshadows the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 and Apple A18 processors.

More importantly, Xiaomi 15 has also achieved the ultimate balance between gaming performance and power control. Running Genshin Impact at 720P with frame rate boost enabled, Xiaomi 15 maintains a stable full-frame rate throughout, with no lag. It can even deliver flagship-level performance in high-load games like Honkai: Star Rail and Tower of Fantasy, and even during prolonged gameplay, the highest body temperature reaches only 42, demonstrating excellent heat control.

The ultra-low power consumption combined with the massive 5400mAh battery gives Xiaomi 15 a far-beyond-expectations battery life. When used as a primary phone with heavy usage, Xiaomi 15 can last for around 9 hours, enough to meet the needs of a full day's daily use.

Pro-Level Imaging Even on the Standard Version

Xiaomi 15 has also undergone significant upgrades in imaging. As a faithful user of the Xiaomi Ultra series, I have very high expectations for phone imaging. While the Xiaomi 14's feel is impeccable, its imaging performance has always left me unsatisfied. But the imaging performance of Xiaomi 15 has completely changed my opinion.

Xiaomi 15 is equipped with a powerful camera system, including:

- Main camera: Lumix Hunter 900 (OV50H), 23mm focal length, 50MP, f/1.6 aperture, OIS optical image stabilization, ALD coating, 7P aspherical lens;

- Ultra-wide-angle: Samsung JN1, 14mm focal length, 115 field of view, 50MP, f/2.2 aperture;

- Telephoto: Samsung JN560mm (native 2.6x, default 3.2x), 50MP, f/2.0 aperture, OIS optical image stabilization, closest focusing distance of 10cm.

While the hardware configuration is largely consistent with the Xiaomi 14, Xiaomi 15 has made significant advancements in camera algorithms, resulting in a leap in imaging capabilities.

In cloudy scenarios, Xiaomi 15 can accurately reproduce the color of the sky, avoiding the phenomenon of simply boosting saturation. It strikes a balance between pleasing and realistic. In backlit environments, the main camera can also accurately reflect the true colors and shapes of objects, preventing excessive suppression of highlights.

Xiaomi 15 has also adjusted its Leica flavor. In bright or vibrant scenes, it focuses more on the original, true colors. If you're looking for that Leica feel, it's recommended to use street photography and professional modes, especially when dealing with high-contrast scenes. Slightly lowering the image exposure and brightness, combined with the classic Leica color tone, is more suitable for capturing human interest subjects.

Xiaomi 15's telephoto lens also performs admirably. Whether it's complex telephoto scenarios with challenging lighting or close-up macro photography, it delivers exceptional visual quality. The detail reproduction and image purity are excellent.

I believe the imaging performance of Xiaomi 15 is in no way inferior to the Xiaomi 14 Pro. If you previously dismissed the Xiaomi 14 due to its imaging capabilities, then you definitely shouldn't miss out on Xiaomi 15.

Has It Completely Surpassed the iPhone?

I've been a user of both iPhone and Android phones for many years. While I've attempted to switch from iPhone to other Android phones on several occasions, I've always ultimately failed. This is because in terms of data transfer, Android phones have consistently been unable to seamlessly integrate with the iPhone ecosystem.

However, Xiaomi 15, equipped with the HyperOS2 system, has finally solved this problem for me. HyperOS2 supports seamless data transfer with Mac computers, allowing you to easily and quickly transfer photos, videos, and files from your phone to your MacBook, just as convenient as using the Apple ecosystem.

Besides the data transfer feature, HyperOS2 also boasts numerous other useful functionalities, such as:

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The emergence of HyperOS2 has allowed Xiaomi 15 to completely transcend the ecological barriers, truly achieving integration with the Apple ecosystem, providing users with a more convenient cross-platform experience.

Conclusion: A Compact Flagship that Outperforms iPhone in Every Aspect

Xiaomi 15 is a comprehensive flagship phone that combines performance, imaging, feel, battery life, and system into one device. It has almost every configuration you could desire. While ensuring a solid foundation in basic experience, Xiaomi 15 also introduces numerous innovative technologies, such as:

- Ultra-narrow bezel design, balancing feel and appearance

- Large-aperture Leica SUMMILUX lens, delivering outstanding imaging performance

- HyperOS2 system, providing users with a smoother and more convenient experience

Xiaomi 15 perfectly embodies the definition of "DreamPhone." It pushes the compact flagship experience to new heights, becoming the most outstanding compact flagship phone currently available.

Here are the prices for the Xiaomi 15 series:

- Xiaomi 15:

- 12+256GB version: 4499

- 12+512GB version: 4799

- 16+512GB version: 4999

- 16+1TB version: 5499

- Xiaomi 15 Pro:

- 12+256GB version: 5299

- 16+512GB version: 5799

- 16+1TB version: 6499

The launch of the Xiaomi 15 series signals the official start of the 2025 flagship phone competition. Xiaomi has always played the role of a flagship pioneer, constantly breaking through innovation to bring users a better product experience. Xiaomi 15 represents Xiaomi's new interpretation of compact flagships, and it is destined to become one of the most noteworthy compact flagship phones of 2025.