Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A leaker suggests a Xiaomi 15 Ultra could land in January 2025.
- This would directly compete with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is also expected in the same month.
- This suggests the “Ultra” phone isn’t going anywhere next year.
For a few years now, the best Android phones have often had the word “Ultra” in the name. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra ($1419.99 at Amazon) is one of the best phones you can currently get. There have even been rumors that Apple could rebrand its “Pro Max” iPhone to an “Ultra” this year, meaning we could see an iPhone 16 Ultra. We’ll find out whether that’s true or not in September.
Meanwhile, leaker Yogesh Brar suggests we could see at least one other “Ultra” phone soon: the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. In a post on X, Brar says this phone could debut in January 2025 and launch at Mobile World Congress a few weeks later.
Brar contends the Xiaomi 15 Ultra could come with a quad-lens rear camera, with a 200MP primary sensor and then three other 50MP sensors. Theoretically, this would be a similar setup to what we saw on the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which had one primary, one ultrawide, and then two telephoto lenses, with one being static and the other being periscope. Notably, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra had a 50MP primary lens, which would mean a 200MP replacement would be a significant upgrade and put it neck-and-neck with the expected Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Likewise, Brar says the as-yet-unannounced Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could power the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. There is little doubt that this would be the same processor we find in the Galaxy S25 Ultra. However, if history is any indication, Qualcomm and Samsung will partner to overclock the processor slightly for the Galaxy S25 Ultra — something Xiaomi will likely not do.
Speaking of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, that phone is also expected to debut in January or February 2025. This would once again mean Xiaomi would be competing with Samsung for buyers ready to dish out big bucks for an “Ultra” phone. We’ll need to wait and see how that pans out for Xiaomi.
