Xiaomi 15T Pro review: Is this the flagship killer?

So, for the past 2 weeks, I have been testing the Xiaomi 15T Pro. It is the latest affordable flagship phone from Xiaomi that launched for some 650 pounds in the UK or 38000 Pesos in the Philippines. It’s yet to launch in Nepal, and if it does, I am hoping that it will launch for around 90,000 Rupees. And for that price, this phone offers quite killer specs – the Dimensity 9400+ chipset, Leica optimized cameras, 144Hz OLED display, and a nice premium design. And I think this is just the phone Xiaomi needs in Nepal right now, because if you look at Xiaomi’s lineup, they practically don’t have anything in between their Flagship series and their mid-range Redmi phones. There is the Xiaomi 15T, but that one, in my opinion, has a lot of compromises, especially the cameras are just average, so I don’t think that one’s much value for money! But this phone might fill a void that could work wonders for Xiaomi in the premium mid-range segment. After using this phone for around 10 days, I have found that it has a lot of qualities to like and also some areas where Xiaomi could have done a little better, which I’ll get to in a bit. Let's find everything in my Xiaomi 15T Pro review. Before diving in, let's get into the specifications of the Xiaomi 15T Pro.

Xiaomi 15T Pro Specifications

• Design, build: 162.7 × 77.9 × 7.96mm, 210g; IP68 rating; Black, Gray, Mocha Gold; glass fiber back, aluminum frame
• Display: 6.83-inch AMOLED, 1.5K (2772×1280) resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling, 3200 nits peak brightness, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Gorilla Glass 7i protection
• Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ (3nm) with Immortalis-G925 MC12 GPU, NPU 890
• Memory: 12GB LPDDR5X RAM; 256GB / 512GB / 1TB UFS 4.1 storage options
• Software & UI: Xiaomi HyperOS (HyperOS 3 OTA planned), HyperAI, Xiaomi Offline Communication
• Rear Camera: Triple — 50MP main (OIS, Light Fusion 900), 50MP telephoto (OIS, 5x optical, 10x zoom), 12MP ultrawide; 8K@30fps, 4K@120fps, Leica modes
• Front Camera: 32MP, f/2.2, 90° FOV, 21mm equivalen
• Security: In-display fingerprint sensor, face unlock
• Connectivity: 5G, dual SIM (nano/eSIM), Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 dual, NFC, LTE/WCDMA/GSM
• Sensors: Accelerometer, gyro, compass, proximity, ambient light, barometer, 3-mic array
• Battery: 5500mAh with 90W wired (power-on in 4s) and 50W wireless charging, up to 15.29h continuous use
• Price in Nepal (Expected): NPR 89,999 (12/512GB)

Xiaomi 15T Pro Review 

Design Alright, one of the first things that I personally like about this phone is its design. This is a very well-built phone; the design is definitely inspired by Apple with flat frames and a flat display, but I have to say, I love this not-so-attention-grabbing Bronze color. You also get aluminum frames, by the way, and Xiaomi has worked well on the weight distribution, too, even though this is a pretty huge phone! And unlike their flagship 17 Pro Max, which is insanely top-heavy because of its huge camera module, this one has a more balanced design. Xiaomi has upgraded the IP rating on this phone too; it’s IP68 rated against Dust and Water, where the phone can withstand submersion up to 3 meters for 30 minutes, which is even superior to the IP68 rating we get on flagships like the S25 Ultra. I wish Xiaomi had included a more robust glass protection, though. It’s only Gorilla Glass 7i on the front, which we know is quite scratch-prone, and at the back, there’s only something called a ‘Fiber Glass Cover’, which, honestly, I am not sure how it’s going to hold up.

Display

Display-wise, I almost have no complaints, though. The Xiaomi 15 T Pro has a big, nice screen that can get plenty bright in outdoor situations, with the screen hitting almost 1400 nits in auto mode, and while watching HDR content, the phone can go up to 3200 nits. In my use, I have literally faced no visibility issues on this device. Plus, if you are someone who watches reels all night, this phone can get really dim (1 nit), and Xiaomi has also included a high 3840 Hz PWM dimming, so apart from having really good color reproduction and touch response, the Xiaomi 15T Pro also has a safer screen if you are sensitive to low-light screen flickering! And I have to credit Xiaomi for this, the 15T Pro plays Dolby Vision and HDR10+ content on YouTube and OTT platforms extremely well, plus the color calibration on this device is impeccable. However, I experienced a slight screen flickering while playing HDR content on YouTube. I am not sure if this is a legit issue, though; it’s only happened like twice or thrice, but I thought I should share it anyway.

Performance

Next, performance is where this phone really shines. The Xiaomi 15T Pro features MediaTek’s last year’s flagship chipset, the Dimensity 9400+. And I have to tell you, I have been really satisfied with the performance of this phone. The Dimensity 9400+ itself does not have any thermal issues, and Xiaomi has also made sure to include a good cooling system with a combination of vapor chamber cooling and graphite sheets, so playing games for longer hours does not throttle the performance of this phone. The average fps, the 5% lows, and the stability graph itself are very impressive. The phone supports 120 fps in games like PUBG and Mobile Legends, too, and even in more demanding games like Genshin Impact, the fps numbers were good. The only instance I found this phone heating a bit, though, was when shooting 4k 60 fps videos outdoors with mobile data on, the frames tend to get a bit hot. Otherwise, this phone is quite sorted in terms of performance and thermal stability. In fact, if I really have to compare, the 15T Pro has even better gaming results than the iPhone 17, and it’s quite close to the OnePlus 13 – both of them are like more expensive devices!

Haptics

Also, I forgot to mention before, the haptics on this phone are really crisp, although I wish it had a little more impact while ringing. And the stereo speakers on it don’t have the most depth, but they are good and loud enough for all kinds of multimedia activities.

Battery

Alright, so up until now, I have pretty much covered all the positives about this phone, but there are a few things that I think Xiaomi could have done better. For instance, Xiaomi has decided to go with a regular 5500 mAh Li Ion battery here instead of using a larger capacity Si Ca battery, which Xiaomi has provided on much cheaper phones like the Redmi Note 14 Pro Plus. I did get more than a day’s battery life from this phone, so I don’t really want to complain, but still, even compact phones like the Vivo X200 FE have a 6500 mAh battery, so Xiaomi could definitely have done better here!

No charger in the Box

And out of nowhere, Xiaomi has decided to ditch the charger from the box. Last year, the Xiaomi 14T series did, in fact, have a charger, and Redmi phones come with 120-watt chargers, so, honestly, I see no reason for Chinese brands to lose chargers from their boxes like Apple and Samsung. Bad Idea! This phone supports 90 Watt charging, and since I didn't have a 90 Watt Xiaomi charger lying around, I used my 65 Watt Ugreen PD charger that took this phone from 0-100% in 1 hour and 20 minutes! (34% in 15 minutes, 60% in 32 minutes, and 100% in 1.2 hours)

Software

Next, I think Xiaomi should have provided the HyperOS 3.0 update based on Android 16 out of the box in this device. The funny thing is, Xiaomi talked and talked about HyperOS 3 in the 15T series launch event, but this phone itself does not have it; it’s quite the irony. To be fair, Xiaomi has promised 4 years of OS and 6 years of security updates on this phone and has also said that it will only be a month or so for this device to get the new Android 16 update, but still, this is an almost flagship phone by Xiaomi, and I feel it deserves to launch with the latest software. The Hyper OS 3 also comes with a couple of new AI features and a better way to customize the Home and Lock Screen, so I hope we get the update soon on this phone.

Cameras

Ok.. Finally, let’s talk about the cameras, and I have both good and bad news here. Good News is that Xiaomi has included Leica optimization in the cameras here. And like with most flagship phones, you also get a 5x Telephoto lens, which is definitely an upgrade from last year. In fact, at this price range, the Xiaomi 15T Pro is the only phone that provides a 5x Telephoto lens. This means you can get really crisp zoom photos from this phone, and at the same time, if you are someone like me who likes to click macro photos, this 5x lens helps you do that, and you can get some really nice macros from this camera.

Portraits

Not to forget, you can shoot 5x portraits with it too, and the output, as you can see, is great. Xiaomi has its own kind of color processing for its portraits, with a little more contrast and enhanced shadows. Honestly, I like this kind of processing; it reminds me of the portraits from the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, but at the same time, I do realize that it might not be everyone’s cup of tea!

Daylight

The Main camera here is an Omnivision sensor, the Light Fusion 900, that produces punchy and detailed results. Sometimes the contrast can be a little overboard, though.

Night

During the night, too, the Xiaomi 15T produces very sharp and highlight-balanced images. Even if you shoot bright lights, not just from the main camera, but also from the telephoto lens, you can get some crisp shots from this phone.  

Ultrawide

The ultra-wide lens is just decent, nothing extraordinary.

Selfies

The selfies are good enough only though. They are sharp and wide, but I think the color processing is a little off.

Videos

The videography prowess is strong, at least from the main and the telephoto lenses. This phone can shoot up to 8k 30 fps, and it can also record 4k 120 fps from the main lens. The 120 fps footages are not stabilized, but it’s good to have the option in a non-flagship phone. The videos in 4k 60 fps turn out with decent stabilization and colors, though. The selfie camera can only shoot up to 4k 30 fps videos. The output has decent stabilization, although it’s not the widest.

Xiaomi 15T Pro Review: Conclusion

Alright, everyone, now we have come to the end of this review, and as I said in the beginning, the Xiaomi 15T Pro is the flagship Killer phone that Xiaomi needs in their Arsenal right now. It’s just the perfect performance-centric phone that competes well with all of the offerings in the premium midrange price segment. I know, the company has made some compromises in the battery, and there’s a little optimization issue in the cameras, but bugs can be fixed over time with updates, and the battery life is good enough, if not the best, which makes me think, a normal person can definitely put up with those compromises.

Xiaomi 15T Pro Review: Pros and Cons

Pros

• Impressive 5X Periscope lens
• Good display
• Superb performance

Cons

• No Si/Ca battery
• Cameras can be more optimized