New Xiaomi phones offer Android camera chops for hundreds less than rivals

Xiaomi today used an event in Munich to launch the Xiaomi 15T and 15T Pro, what it calls two new "flagship" smartphones, even though the models cost hundreds less than the firm's Xiaomi 15 and 15 Ultra from earlier this year.

The 15T starts at £549 with the 15T Pro at £649, prices that undercut £799 rivals the iPhone 17, Samsung Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel 10. Xiaomi's 15 and 15 Ultra cost £899 and £1,299 respectively.

Cheaper Xiaomi-made phones fall under the Redmi or Poco brands.

Just like Xiaomi's most expensive phones, the 15T and 15T Pro are marketed on their cameras. They have impressive triple camera setups led with 50MP main lenses while the 15T Pro has a Leica 5x telephoto with 10x optical-level and 20x Ultra Zoom. This allows it to shoot in various focal lengths from 15mm to 230mm, and can do close up portraits at 135mm.

Both models have 32MP front cameras and feature Xiaomi's "next-generation computational photography platform", which the firm says can enhance depth perception, tonal range and colour fidelity "resulting in more natural, lifelike photography with minimal post-editing required".

As with Google's AI-heavy Pixel phones, this is just the computational photography world we live in now with phones. I've been using the Xiaomi 15T Pro for a few days and have been impressed with the camera system, but it's not running final software yet.

It's a large device I find a little hard to hold with an aluminium frame with flat sides. The rounded edges and flat screen look great though with a 6.83-inch OLED with slim bezels and variable refresh rate up to 144Hz. Both phones have a 5,500mAh battery with fast charging, but there are no chargers in the boxes. In fact, the two phones are so closely designed it's hard to tell them apart visually.

Xiaomi says the battery will retain 80 percent of its capacity after 1,600 charging cycles, which if accurate is a meaningful metric that should hopefully see this phone last several years, given 1,600 days is nearly four and a half years.

In terms of software support, the 15T will get four OS upgrades and six years of security patches, while the 15T Pro will get five OS upgrades and six years of security patches.

Next month, the phones will get software updates to HyperOS 3, Xiaomi's software based on Android 16, but I've not been able to try it yet.

This means I haven't been able to test one of the 15T and 15T Pro's intriguing new perks: you can use the phones effectively as walkie talkies thanks to Xiaomi's new Offline Communication feature.

"This enables direct voice communication between Xiaomi 15T Series devices over distances of up to 1.9km for Xiaomi 15T Pro, and 1.3km for Xiaomi 15T, even without cellular or Wi-Fi signals," according to Xiaomi.

Xiaomi says it's best in jungles, deserts or remote hiking trails. It's a selling point for a phone series that is well priced considering the premium specs, but you'd need to convince your mates to buy the exact same phone as you to even use it.

This is a different approach to non-cellular communications with a smartphone to the likes of Apple, which now has satellite connectivity in iPhones and Apple Watches that let the devices call emergency services when outside of cellular signal. In the US and other regions, you can use this feature to message or call contacts too.

The Xiaomi 15T uses the MediaTek Dimensity 8400-Ultra while the beefier Pro has the MediaTek Dimensity 9400+, a very capable chipset for the price point.

The phones are available to pre-order in the UK starting today.