Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro with new Snapdragon 8 Elite go official in China
These are the world's first commercially available handsets with Qualcomm's flagship silicon.
Xiaomi held a major launch event on Tuesday (October 29) in China, where the company unveiled its much-anticipated Xiaomi 15 series next to its second iteration of HyperOS.
Naturally, the Xiaomi 15 Pro is the premium model in the lot that carries its predecessor's design language, with a flat aluminum frame, rounded corners, and a giant square camera visor at the back. The device features a 6.73-inch LTPO AMOLED 120Hz display and comes in Gray, White, Green, and a new Liquid Silver Edition, which looks unique and features a wave/ripple pattern.
One of the more important elements, however, is that the device is powered by Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which was announced earlier in October. Traditionally, Xiaomi has always been the first OEM (or one of them) to launch its flagship phone with the latest SoC.
The new silicon from Qualcomm features new Oryon cores that promise a massive performance gains over its predecessor. Additionally, the Xiaomi 15 Pro is backed with the company's in-house developed HyperCore system kernel and a new upgraded cooling system, which will likely make the device run even smoother. The Pro model also has a giant 6100mAh battery capacity, a significant 1220mAh bump over the battery in the Xiaomi 14 Pro.
For cameras, the Xiaomi 15 Pro borrows the Sony IMX858 telephoto lens from the Xiaomi 14 Ultra for up to 5x zoom, alongside a 50MP f/1.4 primary lens and another 50MP ultra-wide lens. The latter is also seen on the standard Xiaomi 15, which further includes a 50MP f/1.6 lens and another 50MP 60mm telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. For selfies, both Xiaomi 15 models utilize a 32MP lens, which is similar to the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.
Speaking of, the Xiaomi 15 touts itself as an "ultimate compact flagship" with a 6.36-inch LTPO OLED screen and narrow bezels, although the design and colorways match those of the Pro model. It is also powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite and packs a decent 5400mAh battery with support for 90W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
Both Xiaomi 15 models ship with HyperOS 2 out of the box. The older models, however, are expected to see the operating system rollout in November. Xiaomi notes that it is introducing three core technological innovations with HyperOS 2—HyperCore, HyperConnect, and HyperAI. They promise to offer "a fresh, advanced experience in fundamental functionality, cross-device smart connectivity, and AI interactions for domestic market users, " the company notes in the announcement blog post.
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Xiaomi 15 series was unveiled in China, and its configurations ranged from 12GB+256GB on the standard 15 to 16GB+1TB on the 15 Pro.
Vishnu is a freelance news writer for Android Central. Since 2018, he has written about consumer technology, especially smartphones, computers, and every other gizmo connected to the internet. When he is not at the keyboard, you can find him on a long drive or lounging on the couch binge-watching a crime series.