Xiaomi Spring 2025 Launch Event: Xiaomi 15 Ultra Ushers in a New Era for Flagship Imaging, Elevating High-End Strategy

Xiaomi Spring 2025 Launch Event: Xiaomi 15 Ultra Ushers in a New Era for Flagship Imaging, Elevating High-End StrategyOn the evening of February 27th, 2025, Xiaomi held a grand "Double Ultra" new product launch event at the Beijing National Convention Center. The highly anticipated Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Xiaomi Band 7 Ultra made their debut, alongside a series of new laptops, earphones, and other digital products

Xiaomi Spring 2025 Launch Event: Xiaomi 15 Ultra Ushers in a New Era for Flagship Imaging, Elevating High-End Strategy

On the evening of February 27th, 2025, Xiaomi held a grand "Double Ultra" new product launch event at the Beijing National Convention Center. The highly anticipated Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Xiaomi Band 7 Ultra made their debut, alongside a series of new laptops, earphones, and other digital products. As invited media, we had the opportunity to experience these new products firsthand and are pleased to provide this exclusive report. This article will focus on Xiaomi's first-half "true flagship phone"the Xiaomi 15 Ultraexploring its performance and imaging capabilities, examining whether it continues Xiaomi's legacy of excellence, and analyzing Xiaomi's high-end strategy.

A Homage to Classics, Crafted Design

To highlight the phone's imaging capabilities and optimize the layout of the oversized rear camera module, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra adopts a design philosophy inspired by classic Leica rangefinder cameras. The clever combination of metal and vegan leather perfectly embodies the elements of a classic camera. The "Ultra" logo in the upper right corner (in landscape orientation) not only emphasizes the phone's flagship status but also pays tribute to Leica's century-long contribution to the field of imaging.

In terms of color, in addition to the classic silver-black combination, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra also offers a unique Pine Green color option. Considering that not all users prefer vegan leather, Xiaomi also provides classic black and white color options. Notably, the white model's back cover isn't simply matte; it features a unique "cloud silk texture," enhancing the phone's premium feel.

The outstanding design philosophy extends to the front: the Xiaomi 15 Ultra features a 6.73-inch 2K four-sided curved screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 3200 nits, delivering an exceptional visual experience.

Imaging Capabilities Significantly Enhanced, Reaching New Heights

In 2021, the Xiaomi 11 Ultra fired the first shot in the flagship imaging arena. Now, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra elevates mobile imaging to a whole new level. Xiaomi and Leica have collaborated to create a completely new imaging solution:

• Leica One-Inch Main Camera: Equipped with a one-inch large sensor, 50MP resolution, 23mm equivalent focal length, and f/1.63 aperture. The combination of the large sensor and wide aperture delivers exceptional light intake. Xiaomi not only upgraded the sensor but also meticulously refined the lens design, optimizing the entire imaging pipeline from light intake to image processing. Sample images show that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra's main camera is impressively capable, delivering clear and accurate color reproduction even in low-light night environments.

• Leica 200MP Ultra-Telephoto Camera: Features a large sensor, 100mm equivalent focal length, and f/2.6 aperture. This ultra-telephoto lens significantly surpasses Apple's offerings in light transmission and image clarity, easily handling even the challenging task of nighttime portrait photography. Sample images were stunning.

• Comprehensive Imaging System: In addition to the "king of lenses" and "supporting lens," the Xiaomi 15 Ultra also includes a 50MP Leica ultra-wide-angle lens (14mm equivalent) and a Leica telephoto lens (70mm equivalent), creating a complete 14mm-400mm lossless zoom system to meet various shooting needs.

• Professional Video Recording Capabilities: The Xiaomi 15 Ultra supports full-focal-length 8K video recording and Dolby Vision HDR content capture. Crucially, it also supports ACES LOG, a professional color system developed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, providing powerful tools for professional video creation.

To address potential overheating issues from extended main camera use, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra features a dedicated cooling system for the main camera, enabling unlimited video recording time. Xiaomi also introduced a new professional imaging kit for the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, including interchangeable shutter buttons and a metal thumb grip, further enhancing the shooting experience. A 2000mAh battery in the kit works with the phone's built-in 6000mAh "Jinshajiang" battery to ensure all-day shooting capability.

Ultimate Performance Unleashed, Flagship Configuration

As a flagship phone, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra naturally boasts the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and offers three storage configurations: 12+256GB, 16+512GB, and 16GB+1TB. The 1TB version also offers a dual-satellite version, supporting both BeiDou and Beidou satellite communication networks (other versions only support Beidou).

The phone is equipped with a 6000mAh "Jinshajiang" battery and supports 90W wired fast charging and 80W wireless fast charging for rapid charging of the large-capacity battery. The new generation dual-channel wing-shaped ring cooling systemone dedicated to the camera and the other to the SoCeffectively improves overall heat dissipation and controls phone temperature.

Pricing and Availability

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra starts at 6499 (12+256GB version), with prices for the 512GB, 1TB, and 1TB dual-satellite versions at 6999, 7799, and 7999 respectively. Pre-orders are open, and the phone will be available for purchase across all channels at 10:00 AM on March 3rd.

Computers and Earphones Embrace the AI Era

Beyond the phone, Xiaomi also launched two AI-powered laptops and two AI earphones at the event. The new RedmiBook Pro 16 (2025) uses Intel Core Ultra 2nd generation processors, offering up to 96 TOPS of computing power and LPDDR5X memory with a frequency of up to 8400 MT/s. To manage high temperatures under heavy loads, the RedmiBook Pro 16 features a Hurricane cooling system, improving heat dissipation by 34.4% and enabling up to 80W performance release.

The 16-inch 3.1K screen boasts a 165Hz refresh rate, 500 nits of global brightness, and supports Xiaomi's QingShan eye protection technology and Dolby Vision HDR. The starting configuration of the Ultra 5 225H+32GB+1TB is priced at 6499, with a government subsidy bringing the final price down to 5199; the Ultra 7 225H+32GB+1TB version is priced at 7499, with the government subsidy bringing the final price down to 5999. The 14-inch version has similar specifications to the 16-inch, but with a lower resolution of 2.8K, 120Hz refresh rate, and an 80Wh battery. The starting configuration of Ultra 5+16GB+1TB is 4559 after government subsidies, with the top-end Ultra 7+32GB+1TB at 5599 after subsidies.

Xiaomi's High-End Strategy: Initial Success?

Beyond the hardware, the most successful "product" of Xiaomi's launch event might be the Xiaomi brand itself. For the past few years, Xiaomi's high-end strategy has been closely watched, but due to shortcomings in hardware, software, or service, its progress has been uneven. This launch event saw Xiaomi not only introduce high-end products like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra but also announce plans for an after-sales service system rivaling Apple's. Five years after launching its high-end strategy, Xiaomi has finally achieved comprehensive high-end status with "hardware + software + after-sales." The Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Xiaomi Band 7 Ultra represent crucial steps in Xiaomi's foray into the high-end market. Xiaomi also indicated that the next generation of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra will see a price increase. We hope the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is just the beginning of Xiaomi's high-end push, and we look forward to more exciting products from Xiaomi in 2025, bringing the joys of technology to a wider audience.