Xiaomi 15S Pro: In the increasingly competitive flagship smartphone market, Xiaomi has consistently pushed boundaries with its S-series devices, offering premium features at price points that challenge established players like Apple and Samsung.
The Xiaomi 15S Pro represents the company’s latest attempt to elevate its status in the ultra-premium segment, with particular emphasis on photography capabilities through its continued partnership with legendary camera manufacturer Leica.
After spending three weeks with this device as my primary driver—capturing hundreds of photos, testing its limits with demanding applications, and integrating it into my daily workflow—I’ve developed nuanced insights into its real-world performance that go beyond marketing claims and specification sheets.
Xiaomi 15S Pro: Design: Refined Elegance with Practical Considerations
The 15S Pro immediately announces its premium intentions through thoughtful design choices that balance visual appeal with everyday usability.
My review unit came in the “Cosmic Black” colorway, which features a nano-tech matte glass finish that effectively resists fingerprints while providing a subtle shimmer when light hits it.
This finish not only looks sophisticated but also improves grip compared to the glossy alternatives common in this segment.
The frame is crafted from aerospace-grade titanium alloy, similar to Apple’s approach with the iPhone 15 Pro series, offering superior strength-to-weight ratio compared to aluminum or stainless steel.
This contributes to the phone feeling remarkably light (209g) for a device with a 6.73-inch display and substantial battery capacity.
The frame features a brushed finish that complements the matte rear panel, creating a cohesive premium aesthetic.
The camera island dominates the upper left corner of the rear panel, housing the triple-lens Leica system within a rectangular module with gently rounded corners.
While the camera bump is substantial, the consistent thickness of the module means the phone doesn’t wobble significantly when placed on flat surfaces.
The prominent Leica branding signals the device’s photographic aspirations without appearing ostentatious.
At 8.7mm thick, the 15S Pro strikes a comfortable balance between sleekness and practical ergonomics.
The gently curved edges of both front and rear glass panels meld seamlessly with the titanium frame, creating a comfortable in-hand feel during extended use.
This curvature is subtle enough to avoid the accidental touch issues that plagued more dramatically curved displays of previous generations.
Build quality impresses throughout, with IP68 water and dust resistance providing peace of mind against environmental hazards.
The device survived an accidental rainfall during an outdoor photography session without issue, reinforcing confidence in its durability despite its refined appearance.
Button placement follows conventional wisdom with the power button and volume rocker on the right edge, positioned perfectly for thumb access.
The tactile feedback from these buttons deserves specific mention—they provide a satisfying click without excessive travel, a small detail that enhances the premium feel of daily interactions.
Display: Visual Excellence with Practical Enhancements
The 15S Pro features a 6.73-inch LTPO AMOLED display with 2K resolution (3200 × 1440 pixels), 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and Dolby Vision support.
The panel is manufactured by Samsung Display, explaining its exceptional quality across various metrics.
Color reproduction is nothing short of excellent, with the display covering 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and offering remarkable accuracy in the “Original Color” mode (Delta E < 1 according to my measurements).
Those preferring more vibrant visuals can select the “Vivid” profile, which enhances saturation without creating unnatural skin tones—a balance not all manufacturers achieve successfully.
Brightness capabilities impress even in challenging conditions, with peak HDR brightness reaching 3,000 nits and typical brightness hovering around 1,200 nits.
During outdoor use in bright sunlight, the screen remained perfectly legible—crucial for reviewing photos immediately after capture.
The automatic brightness adjustment proved reliable throughout my testing period, quickly adapting to changing lighting conditions without jarring jumps.
The 120Hz adaptive refresh rate varies between 1Hz and 120Hz depending on content and user interaction, balancing visual fluidity with power efficiency.
This adaptive approach results in a consistently smooth experience when scrolling through social media feeds or navigating the interface, while conserving battery when displaying static content.
Xiaomi’s implementation of LTPO technology allows for an always-on display with minimal battery impact, showing time, date, and notification icons without waking the main display.
The customization options for this feature are extensive, including various clock styles, animation effects, and even the ability to display a small personal photo.
Display protection comes via Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass Victus 2, which proved resistant to minor scratches during my three-week testing period despite being carried in the same pocket as my keys on several occasions.
Performance: Flagship Power with Thermal Control
The 15S Pro is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Version—a slightly overclocked variant of Qualcomm’s flagship processor, featuring a prime core running at 3.4GHz (versus 3.3GHz in the standard version).
This is paired with 12GB or 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage, creating a hardware foundation designed for exceptional performance.
Xiaomi’s approach to thermal management deserves specific mention, as it addresses a common criticism of previous generations.
The 15S Pro incorporates a vapor chamber cooling system that’s 50% larger than its predecessor, featuring a 10-layer structure with graphene and copper elements.
This sophisticated cooling solution prevents the throttling issues that have affected some Snapdragon 8-series devices during sustained workloads.
In practical terms, this translates to consistent performance across various scenarios. Demanding games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail run at maximum settings with stable frame rates (58-60fps) even after 30+ minutes of play.
Similarly, processing 4K video clips in Adobe Premiere Rush or capturing extended sequences of 8K video doesn’t induce the performance degradation I’ve observed in some competing devices.
Benchmark results confirm these subjective impressions:
AnTuTu: Approximately 1.9 million points
Geekbench 6: Around 2,100 (single-core) and 7,200 (multi-core)
3DMark Wild Life Extreme: About 4,200 points
While these numbers are impressive, what matters more is how they translate to real-world usage.
Throughout my testing period, I never encountered lag or stuttering, even when rapidly switching between multiple demanding applications or using split-screen multitasking with resource-intensive apps.
The 16GB RAM configuration of my review unit handled memory management exceptionally well, keeping dozens of apps in memory without reloads.
Xiaomi’s RAM extension feature, which can allocate up to 12GB of storage as virtual RAM, seemed unnecessary given the generous physical RAM, though it might benefit the 12GB variant under extreme multitasking scenarios.
Camera System: Leica Partnership Bears Fruit
The camera system represents the 15S Pro’s most significant selling point and the area where Xiaomi has clearly focused its development resources.
The partnership with Leica extends beyond mere branding to include lens design, color science, and specialized portrait modes.
The system consists of:
A 50MP Light Fusion 900 main camera with 1-inch type sensor, OIS, and variable aperture (f/1.4-f/4.0)
A 50MP ultrawide camera with 122° field of view and macro capabilities
A 50MP periscope telephoto camera with 3.2x optical zoom and OIS
A dedicated depth sensor for improved portrait effects
The variable aperture on the main camera represents a particularly innovative feature, allowing physical adjustment between f/1.4 (for low-light scenarios and natural bokeh) and f/4.0 (for increased depth of field and sharper group shots).
Unlike software-based portrait modes, this creates authentic optical effects that photographers will appreciate.
Image quality from the main camera is exceptional across various lighting conditions. Daylight photos exhibit outstanding dynamic range, natural colors with the Leica Authentic look (or more vibrant tones with the Leica Vibrant profile), and impressive detail preservation.
Low-light performance impresses even more, with the large sensor gathering substantial light while maintaining natural-looking processing that avoids the over-smoothing common in night mode shots from competing devices.
The ultrawide camera performs better than most competitors, with minimal distortion at the edges and color consistency that matches the main sensor surprisingly well.
The 50MP resolution ensures excellent detail, while the macro capabilities (focusing down to 5cm) add versatility without requiring a dedicated macro lens.
The telephoto camera delivers clean, detailed images at its native 3.2x zoom level, with digital zoom extending usably to about 30x through computational photography techniques.
Portrait mode benefits from both the dedicated depth sensor and Leica’s expertise, with natural-looking bokeh and accurate subject isolation even around challenging elements like hair and glasses.
Video capabilities include 8K recording at 24fps, 4K at up to 60fps (or 120fps in short bursts), and 1080p at up to 960fps for super slow-motion.
The “Movie” mode provides cinema-like 2.39:1 aspect ratio recording with LOG profile support for professional color grading.
Electronic and optical stabilization work together effectively, producing smooth footage even during walking or in moving vehicles.
Battery Life and Charging: Endurance Meets Speed
The 15S Pro houses a 5,500mAh silicon-carbon battery that consistently delivered exceptional endurance during my testing period.
With mixed usage including photography, social media, gaming, and video streaming, the phone routinely lasted through full days with 30-40% charge remaining by bedtime. Screen-on time regularly exceeded 7 hours, occasionally approaching 10 hours with lighter usage patterns.
This endurance is complemented by 120W HyperCharge technology for wired charging and 50W for wireless charging:
5 minutes wired: approximately 25% charge
15 minutes wired: approximately 70% charge
Full charge (0-100%) wired: about 25 minutes
Full charge wireless: approximately 50 minutes
These charging speeds effectively eliminate battery anxiety, as even a brief charge during morning preparation provides enough power for several hours of usage.
The included 120W GaN charger is remarkably compact given its capabilities, making it practical to carry even when traveling light.
Battery health features deserve specific mention. The “Battery Health Engine” optimizes charging patterns to reduce degradation over time, while the “Boost Charging” toggle allows users to temporarily prioritize speed when needed while defaulting to a gentler overnight charging profile.
Software: Matured but Room for Improvement
The 15S Pro runs HyperOS 1.5 based on Android 14, with Xiaomi promising three years of major Android updates and four years of security patches. This represents improved but still not industry-leading software support.
HyperOS represents a significant evolution from the previous MIUI, offering a cleaner aesthetic with reduced bloatware and more consistent design language across system applications.
The interface feels responsive throughout, taking full advantage of the high refresh rate display and powerful hardware.
AI features have been expanded in this iteration, with “AI Eraser” allowing for sophisticated object removal from photos, “AI Portrait” enhancing facial features without unnatural distortion, and “AI Summary” condensing long articles or conversations into digestible highlights.
These implementations feel practical rather than gimmicky, adding genuine utility to daily usage.
Customization options remain extensive, allowing users to adjust everything from icon shapes and system colors to animation effects and gesture controls.
The “Themes” store offers thousands of options for those seeking more dramatic personalization, though many premium themes require purchase.
Pre-installed applications remain a consideration, with my review unit containing several third-party apps alongside Xiaomi’s suite of utilities.
Most can be uninstalled rather than merely disabled, though some of Xiaomi’s core applications remain permanent fixtures.
After my initial setup and cleaning process, the system occupied approximately 25GB of storage.
Privacy features have seen meaningful improvements, with clear permission management, background activity monitoring, and the ability to create a secure space for sensitive applications and files.
These enhancements address previous criticisms of Xiaomi’s software approach, though the company still collects more diagnostic data than some competitors.
Comparative Analysis: 15S Pro vs. Key Competitors
| Feature | Xiaomi 15S Pro | Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | iPhone 15 Pro Max | Google Pixel 9 Pro XL | Vivo X100 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (3.4GHz) | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (3.3GHz) | A17 Pro | Tensor G4 | Dimensity 9300+ |
| Display | 6.73″ 2K LTPO AMOLED, 1-120Hz | 6.8″ QHD+ LTPO AMOLED, 1-120Hz | 6.7″ OLED, 1-120Hz | 6.8″ LTPO OLED, 1-120Hz | 6.78″ LTPO AMOLED, 1-120Hz |
| Main Camera | 50MP 1″ variable aperture | 200MP 1/1.3″ f/1.7 | 48MP 1/1.28″ f/1.78 | 50MP 1/1.31″ f/1.68 | 50MP 1″ f/1.75 |
| Zoom Capability | 3.2x optical, 30x digital | 5x+10x optical, 100x digital | 5x optical, 25x digital | 5x optical, 30x digital | 4.3x optical, 100x digital |
| Battery | 5500mAh, 120W wired, 50W wireless | 5000mAh, 45W wired, 15W wireless | 4441mAh, 27W wired, 15W wireless | 5100mAh, 37W wired, 23W wireless | 5400mAh, 100W wired, 50W wireless |
| Software Support | 3 Android updates, 4 years security | 7 years (Android + security) | 6+ years (iOS + security) | 7 years (Android + security) | 3 Android updates, 4 years security |
| Special Features | Variable aperture, Leica optics | S Pen, Galaxy AI | Action button, Apple ecosystem | Google AI, Tensor advantages | ZEISS optics, V2 chip |
| Price (Starting) | ₹84,999 | ₹1,29,999 | ₹1,34,900 | ₹1,03,999 | ₹89,999 |
| Best For | Photography enthusiasts, Fast charging | Productivity, Longevity | iOS ecosystem, Video quality | AI features, Clean software | Photography, Display quality |
This comparison highlights the 15S Pro’s competitive positioning, offering flagship-level features at a significantly lower price point than established premium brands.
While competitors offer specific advantages—longer software support in the Samsung and Google, better ecosystem integration in the iPhone, or specialized features like the S Pen—the Xiaomi delivers exceptional hardware value with particular strengths in photography and charging speed.
Key Strengths of the Xiaomi 15S Pro
Camera System Excellence: The combination of the 1-inch main sensor, variable aperture, and Leica partnership delivers outstanding photography capabilities across various scenarios.
Charging Technology: The 120W wired and 50W wireless charging options provide practical, real-world convenience that addresses the anxiety of battery depletion.
Display Quality: The bright, color-accurate LTPO AMOLED panel with 2K resolution delivers an exceptional visual experience for everything from content consumption to photo editing.
Performance Consistency: The enhanced cooling system prevents thermal throttling, maintaining peak performance during extended demanding tasks.
Premium Construction: The titanium frame and refined aesthetics create a device that looks and feels genuinely premium despite its price advantage.
Battery Endurance: The combination of large battery capacity, efficient processor, and intelligent software optimizations provides genuine all-day reliability even with heavy usage.
Value Proposition: The overall package delivers features and performance that would typically demand a significantly higher price from established premium brands.
Xiaomi 15S Pro: Redefining Premium Value
After three weeks with the Xiaomi 15S Pro, what impresses most is how it delivers a cohesive, refined experience that feels greater than the sum of its parts.
Rather than excelling in just one or two areas while compromising elsewhere—a common approach in the “flagship killer” space—Xiaomi has created a thoughtfully balanced device that performs admirably across all fundamental aspects of the smartphone experience.
The camera system naturally stands out as the device’s defining feature, with the variable aperture main camera and comprehensive Leica partnership delivering versatility and quality that rivals or exceeds devices costing significantly more.
Yet importantly, this photographic emphasis doesn’t come at the expense of everyday usability, with the phone maintaining excellent performance, display quality, and battery life.
Areas for improvement remain, particularly in software longevity commitments and some aspects of the user interface, but these limitations feel less significant given the hardware value proposition.
For users who prioritize photography capabilities and raw performance without stretching to the pricing extremes of established premium brands, the 15S Pro presents one of the most compelling options currently available.
In a market increasingly defined by incremental improvements and pricing inertia, the Xiaomi 15S Pro serves as a welcome reminder that meaningful innovation and exceptional value can still coexist at the premium end of the smartphone spectrum.