I have been an apple and Samsung user and Iam considering to switch to Xiaomi 15 ultra. I love xiaomi’s camera and the silver chrome dual tone design but I do have some concerns. Would appreciate any leads.
I am a heavy user with avg sot of 8+ hrs so I need a phone that has very good battery life, good thermals and the phone should age well as I do not plan to change it for atleast a next 3 years. Plus the phone shouldn’t lag with constant use and charging. I have heard that xiaomi’s optimisation is not upto the mark. Plus the battery is pretty average too. My samsung and apple phones have endured heavy use, high sot and constant charging for years. I wonder if a Xiaomi flagship can do it.
The problem with giving battery recommendations is we all use phones differently but for what it’s worth as someone who endlessly changes phone the 15u and pixel 9pxl have better batteries than any other phone I’ve used expect maybe the iPhone 15pm which they match – *for my use case*.
Unfortunately as I am endlessly swapping I can’t say much about the rest!
On average I get about 10-13 hours of SOT with very minimal camera use. When I was using Accubattery, it said the thermals went up to 40°c max when using the camera and 38-39°c when charging at 90w.
but do note I’m from a super tropical country and it gets really hot here.
Do you game a lot? That’s a lot of battery drain tbf.
Charging from 20% to 100% takes me less than an hour as well.
is it still working on verizon for you? just curious 🙏
also is RCS working?
Well, don’t hesitate and go to the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, I have it and it’s fantastic! I also have a Samsung and iPhone, but the Xiaomi 15 Ultra works great
For battery longevity I’ve had my Xiaomi 14 Pro for 13 months now and battery life is still great. That includes multiple charges during the day due to using an android app for two hours a day. My Xiaomi 15 Ultra is now up to bat and doing the same. 5 weeks so far with it and it hasn’t slowed down. One grip is I wish battery life was a bit better.
I mirror your comments. In my recent holiday to a tropical location, camera use does heat up the phone. Otherwise thermals are very good. Comparable to my previous S25U. SOT is better than my S25U, on wifi I would get roughly 6 hours going from. 80% to 35% without camera usage or gaming.
Sot is the most useless battery indicador ever. If I open up YouTube and play videos all day non-stop, I’ll tell you that I get 12h of SOT. But that is going to be completely different for someone that is scrolling through social media and playing games all day, who might get 6h with the same phone.
Awesome thank you!
I don’t think you can see SOT on Xiaomi?
Thermals are fine!
Thank you for your detailed response. Can you please clarify how much screen on time do you get on average. Plus, would appreciate a bit more insight on thermals (during camera use and during charging). Thank you!
While you are looking at SOT, pls do keep in mind that the software is still being improved vs One UI. I have been using Samsung phones in different point of time – Samsung Note, S3, S3 Mini, Note 9 and S21U. Tried BB passport, Windows Lumia 640XL, Xperia ZR earlier.
Currently, using S21U as secondary (after 3 years of being primary) and Xiaomi 14 as primary (1 month+).
HyperOS is good. Decent. But there are areas of improvement vs OneUI.
Pros of Xiaomi – amazing photos, battery back up as well as charging speed (with 90w charge). Smooth. Good display. Camera enthusiast phone. Eager to push.
Cons of Xiaomi – software refinement, maybe have to actively retrain your brain to unlearn and learn. Heats up heavily while on 90w charge and prolonged camera usage. GPS drains the battery much faster vs S21U with GPS
I never charge past 80% and try not to use it below 20%, so I can only give you a rough estimate based on charge cycles. With one full charge cycle I get 9h on average, mainly from watching videos and browsing social media while commuting. I do game on it but not much, for example a quick Zenless Zone Zéro session (I play it on PC whenever possible) and I take photos here and there (wouldn’t have bought this phone if not for the camera).
I have been using the Xiaomi 15 Ultra for almost a month now, and while indeed the camera is superb. The battery life is underwhelming. With average use and mixed 5G/WiFi I manage to get 3,5 to maybe max 4 hours of screen on time.
The OnePlus 13 I have laying around with the same chipset gives me 7h of SOT with the same usage profile.
You cannot directly see SOT on xiaomi phones. They do display Sot in digital wellbeing app but that starts from 12am for 24 hrs.
From my experience in the past month, the battery life is indeed average, but not worse than the Samsung phones I’ve used before. A lot of criticism comes from the fact that global version battery size is smaller than China version. The phone doesn’t lag at all. It can get a little warm if you are using it while charging but I do not see a drop in performance, even with games like Zenless Zone Zero.
Thank you for your review! How much sot do you get on avg and Iam wondering do xiaomi phones age well?
If you’re willing to get a bit technical and debloat using LADB (not some cheap debloater app) then battery will be of no concern.
No issues at all work thermals.
Battery life is good really… Probably in line or at the high end of any android flagship. All depends on what you are using the phone for. Heavy photography drains the battery quick. But full day power users won’t have any issues. Hibernation and ultra power saving modes are also very useful
Charging is extremely fast with the 90w charger, so you can quickly top up if you drain it.
I’ll comment additionally;
I had the 13 ultra with the photography kit and to be honest, the 13u felt better in hand, lighter and more responsive.. This feels a cut sluggish but performance comparison. The camera on this phone is much better
On both phones I get about 6 hours screen on time. 15 Ultra has the bigger battery but the 8 Elite SOC is supposed to be very power hungry.
I’m rocking the 15U right now on Verizon and it has been awesome! Great battery life, much better than my OnePlus 13. Charging is fast! Camera’s are excellent. Not sure about thermals though as I don’t game or do anything that really pushes the device. Ask me anything.
The temperature is going very well, it hasn’t gotten too hot for me and I’m a UWE user and I’m on my phone all day. On the other hand, the battery lasts quite well throughout the day.
How much sot do you get in the global xiaomi 15 ultra and how are the thermals?
Thank you for the response, how is the battery life and thermals?
Don’t buy it. The battery is life is compared to other current flagships not very good. Several real reviews (with sim card inserted etc) confirm this (besides my own experience). You won’t be happy. I would check the Oppo Find X8 Ultra and Vivo X200 Ultra. Sadly only china import.
Using for coming to only 2 mths of use, battery health is still 100%. That is with constant hypercharge till 100%. Hypercharging does not cause any appreciable heat ( comparatively my Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 6 heats up much more ), but if you are intensely using the XM 15U camera modules it chugs battery juice and heats up rather quickly. As a result of lots of camera usage a full charge generally cannot last me a day.
But I must admit I am not a “good user” I am least bothered by battery hygiene, since I will be switching another phone when Elite 3 is out. And battery change is a tiny fee.
I have it and it’s great but it has quite a few big issues/bugs, there’s one with the battery, when I’m at home it lasts more than 8 hours but when I go to school it lasts about 4,5 hours, don’t know why. It also doesn’t work well with a lot of apps like Snapchat and others. They also crash, like on Snapchat if you click on the premium things then exist and click again then it crashes the app and lags the phone a bit.
Sorry for bad English
Oh yeah, everything works great, no issues to report so far.
If SOT is what you want then 15Ultra is not for you unless you have the china version or use the kit for additional battery life.
Its not bad compared to samsung and iphone but not better.
If you live in a hot region, this phone will heat. Plus OS and AI on iphone and samsung are better, video and display as well.
But if you want a phone for better cameras with other flagship level hardware then this phone is worth buying.
Ty for your response. Can you please tell how much sot do you get on avg?
I meant from 0-100% SOT and charging time.
I don’t game. Just a lot of watching movies in local and browsing.
SOT for me is max 7hrs at best
Charging speeds are terrible. Taking 1hr 10 mins
My experience with 15 ultra has been great.
Pros:
– 0 lag in any case
– Video watching beast, battery doesn’t drain while putting YouTube on for hours
– Charging speed is incredible
– Camera is amazing
– Hyperos is smooth af
Cons:
– Battery drain while camera use
– Gets hot when you use the camera
– If you’re charging at 90w I’d recommend not using the phone while it’s charging
I can’t say much about gaming, I don’t ever game on my phone.
Overall, it’s a great flagship that’ll last at least 3 years, I’d say go for it.