Xiaomi 15T Pro Review: Great Leica Cameras That Inch Forward

Sep 24, 2025

Ted Kritsonis

A close-up view of the rear camera module on a gold-colored smartphone, featuring multiple lenses and "Leica" branding. The bottom left corner displays the PetaPixel Reviews logo.

The Xiaomi 15T Pro and 15T are driven by their cameras and Leica co-engineering, and continue to outperform established competitors in North America. As these are global launches, obtaining either of these still requires importing them from online vendors. Or, if you happen to be in Europe, Asia, or one of the other available markets, buy it and bring it back.

This generation in the T series feels more iterative than past ones. Rather than overhaul the camera system, Xiaomi chooses to refine what it can — without addressing one significant pain point I keep noting with every review. It also introduces a neat offline voice communication protocol that enables calls without a network or internet connection.

Xiaomi 15T Pro Review: Design and Build

Xiaomi largely adheres to the same design philosophy as the 14T series, which features an aluminum back panel and matching edges. The camera module appears to be a little more flush due to its rounded corners and contoured cut, giving these phones a sleek look.

Otherwise, the lens layout changes a little by moving the LED off the module and replacing the fourth lens with a depth sensor on the 15T Pro. The 15T places the LED in that fourth lens.

As before, it’s Leica Summilux glass, putting the 15T series right in line with the more premium 15 series launched earlier this year. Both phones offer IP68 dust and water resistance, making them suitable for use in rugged conditions.

Two smartphones are shown side by side, focusing on their large rear camera modules with three lenses each. One phone is silver and the other is gold, both set against a neutral background.

Xiaomi also makes the phones a bit taller and wider to accommodate larger 6.83-inch AMOLED (2772 x 1280) displays covered by Gorilla Glass 7i. Peak brightness hits 3,200 nits and supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The 15T Pro hits a higher adaptive 144Hz refresh rate compared to the 120Hz in the 15T, but they use the same panel apart from that.

By default, Xiaomi sets the color scheme to Vivid, but the “Original Color Pro” preset is more calibrated and authentic, which is important when evaluating how photos appear onscreen. As always, you also have the option to adjust the color gamut yourself by choosing between an automatic setting or displaying all screen content in P3 or sRGB. There are even sliders for manual adjustments if you want to take it that far.

A close-up of the back of a gold Xiaomi smartphone, showing the Xiaomi logo and a triple Leica camera setup with an LED flash on the top right corner.

Under the hood, the 15T Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9400+ 3nm processor, whereas the 15T utilizes the Dimensity 8400 Ultra. They also start at 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, with variants pushing up the latter to 512GB and 1TB.

One of the compelling new features is Xiaomi Offline Communication, which enables two 15T series phones to make calls to each other without any connectivity. The company sees this as an advantage in more remote areas, especially since it can be adversely affected by network congestion.

Xiaomo 15T Pro Review: Camera Features

Xiaomi doesn’t go for big changes here. The 15T Pro uses the same OmniVision Light Fusion 900 image sensor Xiaomi customized with Leica for its main 50-megapixel wide camera (23mm equivalent). This Type 1/1.31-inch sensor has been a part of the company’s lineup since the 14 Ultra. With an aperture that sticks to f/1.6, there’s no evidence this phone gathers more light than its predecessor. The 15T, on the other hand, moves away from the previous Sony IMX906 and goes for the 50-megapixel (23mm equivalent) OmniVision Light Fusion 800 sensor instead.

Pixel binning reduces photos to 12.5 megapixels unless you use Ultra HD (in JPEG) or Pro modes (JPEG and RAW) to shoot at full resolution.

A person holds a smartphone in landscape mode, photographing a classical-style building with columns and a triangular pediment. The same building is visible both on the phone screen and in the background.

The two phones take divergent paths on the telephoto side. The 15T Pro features a 50-megapixel “super telephoto” 5x zoom lens (equivalent to 115mm) with an f/3.0 aperture and optical image stabilization. In contrast, the 15T uses what can barely be described as a telephoto by way of a 50-megapixel 46mm equivalent that has a wider f/1.9 aperture but without any OIS. Both are pixel-binned down to 12.5 megapixels, though you can shoot at full resolution with the Ultra HD or Pro modes in either case.

Not surprisingly, they both share the same 12-megapixel ultra-wide (15mm equivalent) with a 120-degree field of view and f/2.2 aperture.

Xiaomi 15T Pro Review: Software Features

By now, the Leica Authentic and Vibrant photographic styles serve as the foundational look for photo output. Since Xiaomi revamped its Camera app before launching the 15 series earlier in 2025, the layout here is consistent with the changes introduced at that time. There are no new specific modes, nor major adjustments or customizations to existing ones that I experienced during testing.

A mural under a bridge shows a close-up of a face wearing glasses, with a daisy reflected in the eye. Part of the mural is obscured by a pillar, while sunlight and fencing are visible in the background.

Xiaomi did, however, add two new Leica film filters it calls “Positive” and “Negative”, though it’s not clear which exact film stock they’re emulating. Seasoned Leica shooters might find parallels to their trained eye, but in any case, they offer a more retro look to some shots by cutting down saturation and shifting tonality to either more magenta or green.

Xiaomi also cuts down on how many filters are generally available in the various camera modes, leaving Leica’s to dominate the options. Still, while I’m generally averse to the non-Leica filters, two that offer some good creative outlets are Cinematic and Gold Vibes. There are plenty more filters in the Gallery app’s editing suite if you’re looking to experiment further.

A close-up view of a dining table seen through a wine glass, featuring a plate of sashimi with greens and sauce, and another dish garnished with lemon and herbs, with bottles and plates in the background.

Other staples are back, like the Pro mode’s ability to import settings presets and offer sliders to customize contrast, color temperature, tone, saturation, and sharpness. Portrait mode actually gives you a broader range of focal lengths from 23mm, 35mm, 46mm, 75mm, and 144mm.

Xiaomi 15T Pro Review: Image Quality

The Main Issue Endures

Knowing Xiaomi phones as well as I do, I carry a certain expectation when taking photos with them. I know that odds are good I’ll capture something interesting or learn about what the camera’s limits are, and that’s indeed the case here. I’ll start with the biggest weakness the company seems to refuse to address, which is dynamic range struggling to offset exposed light sources or harsh reflections.

A warm lantern lights a rustic wooden table set for tea, with steam rising as hot water is poured from a kettle into stacked cups, surrounded by teapots and bowls.

A good case in point is the photo of tea pouring into the cup, where the lantern in the background is washed out. Some might see this as part of the art, but I see it as distracting from an otherwise nice image. The lamp casts a nice backlight over the items in the foreground, but it’s just so bright that it’s hard not to avert your gaze to it. I edited the one depicted here using the tools in the Gallery app. I also put it through a Lightroom edit, and while I could isolate and bring out texture in the glass, there was no way to put any depth into the bulb.

A large, modern sculpture of a walking figure stands outside a glass-fronted office building with the sign "Munich Re" in an urban area, surrounded by tall trees and illuminated at dusk.

While I took this shot using the telephoto lens, it’s endemic throughout the camera array, indicating to me that the processing still struggles with strong light sources that are visible in frame. What’s odd about this is that processing shows improvement in other respects, like how it handles neon signs or light that isn’t necessarily facing the camera. There, too, some nuances apply, like how the imaging pipeline handles processing for the same shot if taken by the Ultra HD mode.

A close-up of a smartphone's rear cameras, featuring four lenses in a square arrangement. The phone is held outdoors with a blurred background of trees and a street.

Then there are cases where overcast skies just wash out in a sea of white, even though there is some definition in the clouds. Again, this happens more often when facing up towards the sky rather than straight ahead at a subject or vista, where the dynamic range pulls details out. While I could pull out the detail in post using Lightroom, I’d like to see better results straight out of the phone.

Main Camera

One of Xiaomi’s biggest strengths in how it approaches mobile photography is offering versatility. The dynamic range lighting issues aside, you have a high likelihood of capturing what feels like more than just a simple snapshot here. That’s saying something for phones that aren’t considered premium (but can feel like they are).

A blue roller coaster car filled with people speeds through a vertical loop on a roller coaster track, with a sign reading "Olympia" visible in the background against a cloudy sky.

Fastshot is an excellent mode for action photos, though Xiaomi also markets it as a street photography mode without explicitly saying so on the app. It can work well that way because of the different focal lengths going up to 135mm (on the 15T Pro) that offer some variety compared to the other modes, but results vary as you go. It’s great for action shots in good lighting at wider focal lengths, but struggles the closer you zoom. Vivo has Xiaomi’s number when it comes to this, producing better dynamic range and less blur.

A large mural under a bridge shows two people smiling and touching foreheads, with a hand below them. Surrounding walls are covered in graffiti. A "Smoke-Free" sign is posted on a column in the foreground. The image is in black and white.

Another strength is composition, where depth is naturally good without resorting to the Portrait mode’s help. I also like how Xiaomi’s processing manages to capture texture, be it an old 100-plus-year-old beer barrel or the glistening light on a succulent dish. Details are rarely lost when the subject has something interesting in it, and that’s often a great way to take a photo that has a story to tell.

Leica’s influence is now just standard on Xiaomi’s phones, so apart from the new film filters, I’m not sure there’s a significant difference in output over the previous 14T series. I will say, though, the shutter seems a tad bit faster, and it’s easier to understand the settings menu since Xiaomi overhauled the camera interface.

Telephoto and Ultra-Wide Lenses

Telephoto lenses get a lot more attention these days because some phones at this level either coast by with them or cut them out altogether. Both models have them, though I’ll focus on the 15T Pro because it’s far more versatile. Xiaomi already improves upon the 14T series by including OIS in the lens, so you’re less likely to blur a shot due to jittery hands.

A close-up of an iron gate with the inscription "Arbeit macht frei" at the entrance of a concentration camp, with trees and buildings visible in the background.

What I like most is the ability to apply focus on a fairly small subject without forcing it, almost as if it knows what I want to do. The shot of the barbed wire with the spotlight in the background, taken at the Dachau Concentration Camp, is a good example of a photo that I took without fussing over where I wanted to apply focus. The result not only captures the texture of the wire and spider web but also a nice bokeh effect in the background.

Close-up of barbed wire in focus with an old, out-of-focus lamp and wooden structure in the background; the scene is in black and white, evoking a somber, historical atmosphere.

This also shows in the portrait of the beer stein resting on a ledge in a hall at Oktoberfest. Even when pixel peeping, the glass’s logo and textured design don’t look like an AI made them up. It just looks and feels like good old optics with less aggressive processing.

The CN Tower in Toronto rises between two modern high-rise buildings, with its observation deck and upper structure visible against a cloudy sky.

A large glass beer stein with the Spaten logo sits on a railing, nearly empty, in a lively beer hall with people and tables in the background.

Close-up of German text engraved in stone on a wet, circular monument. The surface shows raindrops and reflections, with blurred people visible in the background.

The ultra-wide camera offers little in the way of a new perspective or output because it’s basically recycling the sensor used back in the 13T series. The previous 14T Pro fixed a nagging lens flare issue from the 13T series, and I’m glad to see it avoids it here, too. You also have the ability to focus where you want, which some other mid-range phones don’t, so there’s that. You’ll notice detail starts to lose itself along the edges, but this lens is also the only way to capture certain subjects from unique perspectives.

AI Features

You’re fortunate that Gemini and Google Photos are available on both phones because you will likely use them for different reasons. Magic Eraser is still better than Xiaomi’s own removal tool, particularly because of how expansive and accurate it tends to be by comparison. Xiaomi’s works fine if you’re removing someone who accidentally photobombed in the corner of the frame but more surgical removal requires a steadier and smarter AI. Remove Reflections is hit or miss, while Enhance sometimes appears like it does nothing after what feels like a long analysis.

I much prefer Xiaomi’s take on AI-driven content production using my own images. AI Film creates short clips and montages in a style or format you set yourself via a prompt. It’s a neat and efficient way to share a collage of photos and video clips. Even more so when you edit the timeline and add text and other effects to the resulting clip. The only catch with the broader AI suite is that you need to log in to your Xiaomi account to access them all.

Slices of roasted duck with crispy, golden-brown skin and tender meat are neatly arranged on a white plate, ready to be served.

Gemini is also effective in helping to identify things you see in the camera or even ask for advice on what the best time is to capture something for that particular day. Circle to Search also works to look up objects you see. The only catch, of course, is you need a data connection to use these tools in the field.

Unlike other Chinese brands pushing AI hard in the imaging space, Xiaomi approaches it from a system-wide angle, sprinkling features down from there. I imagine we’ll see a bigger jump in this area now that the company also announced the Xiaomi 17 Pro and Ultra models set for China first.

Video Features

Not much changes on the feature side, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Like the 14T series, you can record footage in 8K at 30fps, and even 4K at 30, 60, or 120fps. The Movie, Master Cinema, Dual Video, and Short Video modes are all gone, replaced (to some degree) by Pro mode’s video settings, which give you 10-bit LOG and full manual control over composition. Otherwise, the regular Video mode covers the basics well enough. Is the footage better because of it? Maybe a little, but you probably find a bigger jump when trying things out in LOG.

Xiaomi 15T Pro Review: Still Viable, Just Not a Big Jump

When doing the conversions to USD, the range here raises both interest and questions. The 15T comes in around $700 while the 15T Pro is in the $900 range. Availability abounds in Europe and other markets, but importing is the main option in North America. The bigger question, at least to me, is whether either of these phones is the way to go when Vivo’s V series costs less and can shoot fantastic photos. Even if you accept the trade-offs involved, the Pixel 9a feels like a bargain in comparison.

A hand holding a smartphone displaying various app icons, such as YouTube, Maps, Gmail, and Netflix, against a warmly lit indoor background with blurred lights and architectural elements.

At the same time, neither of Xiaomi’s phones here feels cheap or like they’re built on compromise. A vibrant screen, Xiaomi’s HyperOS is set for a big update to version 3, which will include opening several doors to better integration with Apple devices. It will be possible to use either of these phones with Macs, iPads, and iPhones in different ways, be it transferring files or seeing phone apps on the iOS screen.

What gives me some pause is the camera situation. Xiaomi doesn’t move the needle far enough to shore up weaknesses and enhance strengths. It’s an excellent camera system, yet not one that feels like it’s taken a dynamic stride forward as in years past.

Are There Alternatives?

I reviewed the Vivo V50 and have taken shots with the V60, both of which are really competitively priced when considering how effective the camera output is. Now that the V60 includes a telephoto camera, it plugs a long-standing gap, too.

The Nothing Phone (3a) is worth considering as an option given how far its cameras have come as well. I would say the same for the OnePlus 13R, though I would also wait to see what’s next for that brand before buying in. Then there’s the Pixel 9a as a value choice if you’re okay with not having anywhere near the same level of features and options.

Should You Buy It?

Not if you already have a 14T series phone. Xiaomi doesn’t do enough to enhance the imaging side of things to warrant an upgrade. For anything older than that, or if you’re just tired of whatever you’re using and don’t want a flagship, the Xiaomi 15T Pro is probably the better buy.