Xiaomi 15 Series launched in China as world’s first smartphones with Snapdragon 8 Elite chip

Xiaomi has unveiled its latest flagship smartphones, the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro, in China. These smartphones are the first in the world to run on Qualcomm’s latest flagship smartphone chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

Xiaomi 15 Pro specs and features

The Xiaomi 15 Pro sports a glass sandwich design with a slightly curved display, and an aluminium frame. In fact, Xiaomi says the design philosophy of the 15 Pro is “to create the best in-hand feel flagship of this generation.” Certainly not a small claim.

Colour-wise, the Xiaomi 15 Pro is available in Grey, White, and Green. There is also a Liquid Silver Edition that’s offered with both the regular Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro, which sports a rear glass panel that has undergone a refined hot-pressing process to create a textured ripple effect.

At the front, the Xiaomi 15 Pro is fitted with a 6.73-inch Quad HD LTPO OLED display, pushing out 2670 x 1200 pixels. This panel also has an adaptive refresh rate of 120Hz, which can go all the way down to just 1Hz to save power, and a peak brightness of 3,200 nits. Surrounding the display is a narrow 1.38mm bezel.

As mentioned above, the Xiaomi 15 Pro runs on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, which is then paired with Xiaomi’s self-developed HyperCore system kernel. Storage-wise, the Xiaomi 15 series can be had with 12GB or 16GB of RAM, depending on the configuration chosen, along with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. Aside from the performance upgrade, the phone sports an upgraded cooling system with 14% more cooling area.

In the imaging department, the Xiaomi 15 Pro sports a triple Leica Summilux camera setup on its back, arranged in a quadrant. This consists of a 50MP main camera with a large f/1.44 aperture, 23mm equivalent lens, and OIS, a 50MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle camera with a 14mm equivalent lens, as well as a 50MP f/2.5 periscope telephoto shooter that’s able to deliver 5x optical zoom. The telephoto camera features a Sony IMX858 sensor which is shared with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

As for videos, the Xiaomi 15 series is capable of recording up to 8K HDR footage at up to 30fps. These smartphones are also rated at IP68 for water and dust resistance.

Xiaomi has fitted the 15 Pro with a gigantic 6,1000mAh battery, which is 1,220mAh larger than the one found in its predecessor. Charging the cell can be done via the brand’s 90W HyperCharge technology using USB-C, or 50W wireless HyperCharge. You can also use the phone to reverse charge your accessories or even phones wirelessly at 10W.

Software-wise, the Xiaomi 15 series runs on Xiaomi’s latest HyperOS 2, built atop Android 15.

Xiaomi 15 specs and features

Measuring slightly smaller in size, the regular Xiaomi 15 is designed with a balanced 50:50 weight distribution making it easier to hold. It can be had in five different shades, including Black, White, Green, Purple, and the above-mentioned Liquid Silver Edition.

Contributing to its more compact dimensions is its 6.36-inch Full HD+ LTPO OLED display with a resolution of 2670 x 1200 pixels. It also has an adaptive refresh of 1-120Hz.

Also featuring a triple Leica Summilux camera setup, the Xiaomi 15 comes with a 50MP f/1.62 main camera that sports a 1/1.31” Light Fusion 900 image sensor with OIS, a 50MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle camera, and a 50MP f/2.0 telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom. Both the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro come with the same 32MP selfie shooter up front.

Xiaomi 15 Custom & Limited Edition

Aside from the “regular” and Liquid Silver Edition variants, Xiaomi has also introduced the Xiaomi 15 Custom Edition and Xiaomi 15 Limited Edition in China. The Custom Edition features a black-and-white high-gloss frame and three colour palettes for users to choose from. Xiaomi has also created a total of 20 custom colour options that can be freely combined with the frame to create 40 different combinations.

As for the Limited Edition model, Xiaomi says this one has been designed with premium in mind. Its middle frame is inlaid with an eco-cultivated diamond that features 57 dazzling facets, along with a glossy metallic frame.

The back panel is made from nano-tech vegan leather material and is available in three colours, namely White, Grey, and Orange. Also, each purchase of the Xiaomi 15 Limited Edition is included with a matching nano-tech vegan leather cardholder and passport holder.

Xiaomi 15 Series price and availability in China

In China, prices for the Xiaomi 15 Pro start at RMB4,499 (approx. RM2,763) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB storage configuration, and tops out at RMB6,499 (approx. RM3,991) for the 16GB RAM + 1TB storage version.

Also offered with up to 1TB storage and 16GB of RAM, prices for the non-pro Xiaomi 15 range from RMB4,499 (approx. RM2,763) to RMB5,499 (approx. RM3,377). The Liquid Silver Edition colour options can also be had from RMB4,699 (approx. RM2,886) for the Xiaomi 15 and RMB5,499 (approx. RM3,377) for the Xiaomi 15 Pro.

If you want the Xiaomi 15 Custom Edition, it’s available in a sole 16GB RAM + 512GB storage configuration and can be had at RMB4,999 (approx. RM3,070). Meanwhile, the Xiaomi 15 Limited Edition is sold at RMB5,999 (approx. RM3,648) with a 16GB RAM + 1TB storage configuration.