After two years telling anyone whoâd listen that Chinese manufacturer Vivo made the best cameras in any smartphone, last yearâs Xiaomi 14 Ultra changed my tune. It became my favorite phone and camera, handling everything from holiday snaps to product review photoshoots.
With the 15 Ultra, Xiaomi took the best and made it better with a new 200-megapixel periscope lens to complement the other (largely unchanged) cameras.
The downside? The 14 Ultra was never much of a looker, and the 15 Ultraâs enormous, asymmetrical camera module has taken a bad design and made it worse. Iâm willing to put up with the awkward aesthetic when the camera is this good, but Iâd be pretty understanding if you went the other way.
Camera
I havenât mentioned much about this phoneâs specs yet beyond the camera. Thatâs intentional. Yes, this is a flagship phone through and through, but you can find most of what it offers on other phones for half the price. If youâre willing to drop £1,299 / â¬1,499 (around $1,600) on the 15 Ultra, the camera will be the reason why.
Much like the 14 Ultra, Xiaomiâs new flagship has a quadruple rear camera laid out in a large, round module that domina …