Xiaomi 15 Ultra launched: A closer look at its camera features and photography kit

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra has arrived, featuring a quad-camera setup with a large 1-inch main sensor, a 200MP periscope shooter, and more. Here's what's in store.

Xiaomi has officially unveiled the global variant of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra alongside the Xiaomi 15 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Much like last year’s flagship, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, the 15 Ultra also gets Leica optics, which remains the standout feature of the device. It comes equipped with a quad-camera setup featuring advanced optics, positioning it as a powerhouse for photography—at least on paper. The exciting news for Indian users is that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra Photography Kit is also going to be available, as hinted on the Indian website. Here’s everything you need to know about the Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s camera setup.

Xiaomi 15 Ultra has a quad camera setup tuned by Leica. (Xiaomi)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

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What's new in the Xiaomi 15 Ultra cameras?

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra comes with a quad-camera setup, meaning there are four dedicated camera lenses. The highlight is a Leica 1-inch main camera, featuring an exceptionally large sensor packed into a compact smartphone body. For context, 1-inch sensors are typically found in high-end compact cameras like Sony’s RX100 series. This is significantly larger than the typical smartphone camera sensor.

The main camera is equipped with a 23mm Leica Summilux optical lens, making it ideal for various photography styles, including street photography. Xiaomi also claims it has a 14EV ultra-high dynamic range.

Moving to the telephoto sensor, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra features a 200MP Leica periscope telephoto camera with a 100mm equivalent optical zoom.

Additionally, there is a 14mm ultra-wide Leica camera with a 50MP sensor, which also supports super macro shots.

Lastly, the second telephoto camera offers 3x optical zoom with a 70mm equivalent focal length.

Videos features

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra isn’t just about photos—it also has advanced video recording features. It supports advanced video capabilities, including iPhone 16 Pro-like LOG footage, which can be recorded in 10-bit colour depth.

The phone allows video recording at 4K 60fps in LOG format and also supports 4K 120fps cinematic slow-motion video using both the 23mm main camera and the 100mm periscope telephoto shooter.

If you remember, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra launched with a Photography Kit. This kit added an extra battery, a dedicated shutter button, and support for attachable filters, enhancing the overall photography experience.

With the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Xiaomi has once again introduced a Photography Kit featuring:

• Case with vegan leather finish.
• Multi-functional camera grip, which connects via the USB Type-C port. The grip has a shutter button with multiple functions: Half-press to lock focus, Full-press to capture a photo, and Press and hold for burst shots. Also, it has a customisable dial (part of the camera grip) to adjust shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and more. And, you do have Zoom lever and a dedicated video recording button (parts of the camera grip) for switching between focal lengths, and recording videos, respectively.
• Detachable thumb grip attachment.
• Additionally, the kit includes a decorative metal ring with a red finish and a 67mm filter adapter, allowing users to attach ND filters, polarizers, and other accessories. To top it all off, the grip houses a 2,000mAh battery, extending the phone’s battery life for longer shooting sessions.