Fingers-on: Xiaomi 15 Extremely has a monster, 200-megapixel periscope digital camera

Xiaomi’s flagship cellphone lineup for images fanatics has a brand new member: The Xiaomi 15 Extremely.

The corporate introduced the brand new flagship to this 12 months’s Cellular World Congress in Barcelona and handed me some items to play with forward of immediately’s launch. And I can say that it positively looks like essentially the most highly effective digital camera in a cellphone that I’ve ever used.

Xiaomi’s Extremely telephones have all the time felt virtually like experiments, with a completely huge digital camera array and each function you may consider. The Xiaomi 15 Extremely takes this a bit additional, with a quad digital camera system that features a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto digital camera with as much as 4.3x optical zoom. Additionally on board are three 50-megapixel cameras: The primary extensive digital camera with a variable f/1.6 – f/4.0 aperture, a 50-megapixel, f/1.7 telephoto digital camera with 3.2x optical zoom, and a 50-megapixel, f/1.8 ultrawide digital camera.

To prime all that off, on the entrance there’s a 32-megapixel, f/2.0 extensive selfie digital camera.

I’ll get again to the cameras in a bit. However the remainder of the cellphone has every part you possibly can need from a flagship cellphone in 2025: A 6.73-inch, AMOLED show with peak 3,000 nits and 120Hz refresh charge, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, 12-16GB of RAM, and 256/512/1,024 GB of storage.

It’s all powered by a 5,410mAh battery with 90W wired, 80W wi-fi, and 10W reverse wi-fi charging.

Different tidbits embody stereo audio system and help for 24-bit/192kHz Hello-Res Wi-fi audio, a fingerprint scanner, and two-way satellite tv for pc communication. The cellphone is mud and water resistant as much as IP68 specs.

The cellphone is available in white, black, or a cool silver-chrome combo; that final one can be my alternative because it positively stands out from the pack.

On the software program entrance, you’ll discover Android 15 (with as much as 4 main Android upgrades promised) coupled with Xiaomi’s HyperOS. Google’s Gemini is right here and built-in into the cellphone to maintain AI-related duties.

In case you get the optionally available Images Package, your cellphone will appear like an precise digital camera.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Again to these cameras. Whereas I might want extra time to essentially check out the Xiaomi 15 Extremely’s spectacular digital camera system, It was very straightforward to take fairly great-looking pictures with this cellphone at mainly any magnification — Xiaomi says that by combining the 2 telephoto sensors it manages to provide lossless high quality pictures at as much as 8.6x magnification, however dial it to 10x and even 20x and you will nonetheless have the ability to get a superb picture.

It additionally felt just like the snappiest digital camera on a cellphone I’ve ever tried; if you wish to seize your canine mid-air or a race automotive passing by, that is your cellphone.

The dangerous information is that even with out the ridiculously large Images Package add-on, which is a case with a further 2,000mAh battery and digital camera controls, the Xiaomi 15 Extremely is a large, top-heavy cellphone. All that energy comes with a worth, I suppose, and that worth, expressed in grams, is 229 (that is the Silver Chrome variant, different colours are a hair lighter at 226 grams).

Liquid Silver Xiaomi 15 is an eye-catcher.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The corporate additionally launched the Xiaomi 15 in Europe, which was initially made out there in China final 12 months.

It has a really totally different design from the Extremely, with a triple, 50-megapixel digital camera system situated in an oblong bump on the again. Xiaomi despatched me a ridiculous (in a great way) Liquid Silver unit which will certainly get individuals asking in regards to the cellphone, although you can even get it in black, white, and inexperienced.

Barely smaller than the Extremely, the Xiaomi 15 nonetheless packs an enormous 5,240mAh battery.
Credit score: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The Xiaomi 15 boasts a 6.36-inch, AMOLED show with a 120Hz refresh charge, a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, 12GB of RAM, 256/512GB of storage, and a 5,240mAh battery.