Xiaomi launched the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Pro in China back in October 2024, but the top-end Xiaomi 15 Ultra was nowhere to be seen. What’s the deal with that?
Well, it seems like Xiaomi wanted to give the core Xiaomi 15 range some time in the spotlight before revealing the top-end Xiaomi 15 Ultra, with more recent rumours suggesting not only that it’s very much in development, but that we could be seeing it very soon.
In fact, we could see it launch alongside the regular Xiaomi 15 on the global market at MWC 2025 in the coming weeks following a late-February reveal in China if leaks and previous Xiaomi releases are anything to go by.
With that in mind, here’s everything there is to know about the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, from release date and pricing speculation to the latest hardware leaks.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra at a glance
- Chinese launch later this month, global launch expected at MWC 2025
- It should look a lot like last year’s Xiaomi 14 Ultra
- Said to sport an upgraded 200MP periscope lens
- The 1-inch main camera sensor should remain
- Rumored Snapdragon 8 Elite power
- Potentially a larger 6,000mAh battery
Xiaomi 15 Ultra rumored release date & pricing
While the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro were launched in China back in late 2024, the same can’t be said of the top-end Xiaomi 15 Ultra – though it looks like we don’t have long to wait until its big reveal.
The general consensus is that Xiaomi is planning to launch the Xiaomi 15 Ultra in China sometime in February before making its global debut at MWC 2025 in early March.
In fact, Xiaomi’s president teased that the 15 Ultra would be revealed after the Chinese New Year, and with what appears to be a leaked poster pointing towards a China-focused launch on 26 February 2025, it looks like the release date predictions are on the money.
It’s also worth noting that Xiaomi has confirmed its presence at MWC 2025, though it hasn’t teased what it’ll be announcing just yet.
That said, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is expected to make its global debut soon after at MWC 2025 in early March, as was the case with the Xiaomi 14 Ultra at last year’s show.
When it comes to pricing, expect a top-end smartphone with a price tag to match. Last year’s Xiaomi 14 Ultra came in at a fairly expensive £1,299 in the UK, and we’d expect something similar with this year’s device, though we’ll update this if we hear anything differently.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra design and screen rumors
When it comes to the general look and feel, don’t expect massive changes with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra – according to both leaked images and real-world videos of the phone doing the rounds online.
Our first look came via SmartPrix, showing off a familiar centralised camera bump on the rear, complete with what appear to be curved edges, snubbing the more popular flat-edged design employed by the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and OnePlus 13.
That said, the arrangement of the cameras within the camera bump have changed, likely to make larger sensors fit within the housing – though more on that later.
It’s not just leaked renders doing the rounds either; a (rather short) real-world video of the rear of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is also available online, while an X user has shared an image of the device. Both look almost identical to the earlier leaked renders, lending credence to the claims.
Elsewhere, it seems like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra could be available in both a bespeckled black and white finish, though it’s unclear whether one of these options is exclusive to the Chinese market – it has happened before.
When it comes to the display, the current rumours suggest that it’ll once again feature a 6.7-inch LTPO-enabled AMOLED display with a quad-curved design, along with the same QHD resolution as its predecessor – though little else has been said about the potential tech at this point.
It could be the exact same panel as last year’s flagship, or Xiaomi could improve it with higher peak brightness and support for new HDR codecs – we’ll have to wait and see for ourselves.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra camera rumors
The camera offering was the thing that set the Xiaomi 14 Ultra apart from the flagship competition, and if rumours are to be believed, that trend should continue with this year’s Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
Per leaker Yogesh Brar, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra should sport the same – or a very similar – 50MP main camera with a 1-inch LTY900 sensor, along with the same 50MP IMX858-powered 3x telephoto lens and a massively boosted 200MP 4.3x periscope lens with a way larger 1/1.4-inch sensor.
That blows the competing Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra’s 50MP 5x periscope out of the water in terms of megapixel count, coming in closer to the Honor Magic 7 Pro and its matching 200MP telephoto lens. Essentially, it should massively boost the phone’s zoom capabilities, though it wasn’t exactly a complaint that we had about the 14 Ultra.
However, in order to fit these larger sensors into the chassis, it seems like the 50MP ultrawide sensor has taken a hit; while it’s apparently still present on the 15 Ultra, Brar claims that it has shrunk from 1/2.51 inches to 1/2.76 inches.
It’s also possible, even likely, that Xiaomi will offer a separate camera kit with additional accessories to really push the Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s camera capabilities to the absolute limit, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one. Regardless, with specs like these, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has the potential to be the best camera phone around in 2025.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra performance and software rumors
Given that most top-end flagships in 2025 are shipping with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, it’s safe to assume that it’ll also be the case with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra – especially considering it’s featured on the more affordable Xiaomi 15.
Besides, with the phone appearing on Geekbench AI databases with an Adreno 830 GPU, the GPU used solely on the 8 Elite, it’s practically confirmed at this point. If it is on the money, the listing also suggests that at least one variant of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra will offer 16GB of RAM, and that it’ll run Android 15.
The latter isn’t much of a surprise either, though it almost certainly won’t be stock Android 15, instead utilising Xiaomi’s redesigned HyperOS 2 as with the regular Xiaomi 15.
Online tipsters also believe that we’ll be seeing an upgrade in the battery department with this year’s model, offering a 1000mAh boost to 6000mAh compared to last year’s flagship. We’ve already seen impressive battery life from similarly large batteries in the likes of the OnePlus 13 and Oppo Find X8 Pro, so it bodes well for day-to-day use.
Trusted Take: What we think the Xiaomi 15 Ultra needs
While we didn’t get the chance to fully test last year’s Xiaomi 14 Ultra, we were very impressed with its camera performance during the time we spent with the device. With that in mind, I think Xiaomi only needs to keep the status quo rather than overhaul its entire setup, and rumours suggest that is indeed the case with the 15 Ultra.
Other features, including a bigger battery and faster performance, are also welcome upgrades, especially when we’re seeing similar 6000mAh-powered phones lasting way longer than the 5000mAh phones available just last year.
As ever, I think the deciding factor for many – aside from price – will be Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2. It’s certainly one of the more bloated Android skins out there, with plenty of Xiaomi-developed features and functionality, and it could put Android purists off completely.
