Xiaomi has announced its 15 Ultra flagship telephone astatine a motorboat arena successful China, wherever it’s going connected waste starting astatine 6,499 yuan (around $893). The Android telephone joins the company’s Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro, which went connected waste location successful October 2024. It is simply a mostly iterative upgrade connected past year’s model, but the large alteration is the summation of a 200-megapixel periscope camera that the institution says excels successful debased light. The 15 series, including the Ultra, is getting an international motorboat this Sunday, March 2nd, astatine Mobile World Congress successful Barcelona. Exactly which markets it will spell connected waste successful remains to beryllium seen, but it’s a safe stake that this 1 won’t beryllium coming to the US.
Xiaomi’s Ultra statement has ever been camera-centric, moreover much truthful than Samsung aliases Apple’s apical models, and the 15 Ultra is nary different. Like last year’s 14 Ultra, the quad rear camera is arrayed successful an tremendous information module connected the phone’s rear. It’s designed to lucifer photography partner Leica’s dedicated camera hardware, correct down to the two-tone metallic and achromatic finish, and compact “Ultra” area logo recovered connected 1 of the phone’s 3 versions. There are besides simpler achromatic aliases achromatic models.
The 200-megapixel 4.3x periscopic lens follows akin periscopes successful Vivo’s X100 Ultra and X200 Pro, and Honor’s Magic 7 Pro. This is simply a shorter zoom than the 5x periscope connected the 14 Ultra, but uses a larger sensor, faster aperture, and higher resolution, which Xiaomi says results successful amended ray capture, bringing improvements successful zoom photography, particularly successful little light. Xiaomi moreover codenamed the telephone “Night God” internally, truthful debased ray photography is intelligibly a attraction this year.
The different 3 rear sensors are each 50-megapixel, and are group up likewise to past year’s model, albeit pinch mini variations. The astir noteworthy alteration is to the main camera, which has dropped the adaptable aperture tech featured connected the erstwhile exemplary successful favour of a fixed — but accelerated — f/1.63.
The photography attraction is enhanced by the merchandise of Xiaomi’s third-generation Photography Kit, an optional other that includes a lawsuit and a camera grip. Beyond a caller reddish finish, not overmuch has changed present either: the soul artillery is simply a small larger astatine 2,000mAh (allowing this to double arsenic a mini powerfulness slope for the phone), and there’s a caller thumb rest, but the halfway camera controls stay the same: a shutter button, video button, zoom lever, and vulnerability dial.
Beyond the inevitable upgrade to the current-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, location are fewer different upgrades aliases creation changes. The 6.73-inch show is again 1-120Hz but a small brighter astatine 3,200 nits highest HDR brightness. An IP68 standing returns, too. The 6,000mAh artillery is importantly larger, but the 90W wired charging and 80W wireless speeds are unchanged. As pinch different caller Android flagships, there’s still nary motion of Qi2 adoption.
I thought the 14 Ultra was past year’s champion telephone camera by immoderate distance, and my workfellow Allison called it “a photography nerd’s dream,” truthful Xiaomi has group itself a precocious barroom to unrecorded up to. This was specified a beardown camera, it’s understandable that the institution has kept changes to a minimum this clip around. But we’re looking guardant to uncovering retired whether its 1 large upgrade, the periscope, will deliver.
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