Redmi 15 5G review

From arm's length, the Redmi 15 5G looks pricier than it is: flat sides, tidy lines, and that shiny "Royale Chrome" camera island with an aerospace-grade metal deco-a tiny bit of bling on an otherwise practical slab. It's not pretending to be glass; the back is plastic, the frame is squared-off, and the whole thing feels sturdier than the price would suggest. It comes with a rather pleasant texture in Frosted White, Midnight Black, and Sandy Purple finishes.
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These aren't exactly colours that scream "look at me," but they lend a touch of dignity, and that matte finish does a commendable job of resisting fingerprints. At 217 g and 8.40 mm thick, it's a big boy, but the weight is evenly spread so it doesn't feel like a paving stone. Bonus: IP64 gives you dust and splash resistance - rare at this price.

Let's talk screen real estate. You get a 17.53 cm (6.9-inch) FHD+ LCD with up to 144 Hz AdaptiveSync and up to 288 Hz touch sampling. Translation: buttery scrolling, responsive swipes, and enough speed to make budget OLEDs look a bit sheepish in motion. Peak brightness tops out at 850 nits-fine indoors and usable outdoors if you shade the panel with your palm.
Triple TÜV badges (Low Blue Light, Flicker-Free, Circadian Friendly) suggest it won't turn your eyeballs into raisins during doomscroll marathons. It's not OLED, so blacks are "dark grey" rather than inky, but for the class the motion fluidity steals the show.

Powering the parcel is Snapdragon 6s Gen 3, paired with LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage. Day-to-day, it's brisk and drama-free: apps pop open, multitasking behaves, and the UI doesn't cough when you juggle maps, music, and messages.
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Heavy gaming? Set expectations: think smooth casuals, pragmatic settings in shooters, and the occasional frame-blip if you get greedy. The thermals are more "warm mug of chai" than "frying pan"- the big chassis helps. Storage/RAM options are 6/128 or 8/256, with virtual RAM up to +8 GB if you insist.

Now, for the absolute, undeniable showstopper: the 7000mAh Si-C EV-Grade Technology battery. This isn't just a large battery; it's a colossal, automotive-grade power pack. Xiaomi, with a flourish of well-deserved pride, claims this is the "segment's first EV-Grade battery" with Si-C (Silicon-Carbon) technology, designed for extreme longevity and, more importantly, efficiency.
What this means in practice is that you can confidently expect two full days of moderate usage, and even the most ardent, heavy users will rarely hit the red before bedtime. With moderate use we got a cool day and a half before we felt the need to plug in the charger. It's the kind of battery life that makes you wonder if other phone manufacturers are simply being lazy, or perhaps just don't grasp the fundamental concept of a long journey.
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It supports 33W fast charging, with a 33W charger thankfully included in the box. While it's not the absolute fastest charging solution available on the market, it's certainly respectable for a 7000mAh cell, getting you back in action in a perfectly reasonable amount of time. Even better, it supports 18W reverse charging, effectively transforming your phone into a rather handy portable power bank for your other gadgets.
It has a 1 percent Power Lock Mode that allows calls and texts for up to 7 hours (give or take). It's resourceful, much like a squirrel with an abnormally large hoard of nuts.

On paper, the 50 MP main sensor with f/1.75 aperture and autofocus looks like a mid-range marvel-until you actually start shooting. It pulls detail in bright settings well enough: daylight snaps are usually social-shareable, and HDR does what little HDR should at this price. AI features like Sky, Beauty, and Erase are fun-sort of like tiny filters for lazy perfectionists. 

However, images sometimes feel not as sharp as expected, especially in busy scenes where the autofocus hesitates or gets confused. As you can see in the portrait shot of the dog, the fuzzy hair looks very soft and not as sharp as it should. In the second picture, I tried to capture a gecko in between the plant, but the Redmi 15 wouldn’t focus on it and I lost the moment and ended up with the gecko not in focus. It's clear that while the hardware supports autofocus, the ISP and software tuning don't always keep pace under visual stress. In less chaotic frames like simple landscapes, portraits in good light, the phone holds its ground.

The Redmi 15 5G runs on HyperOS 2, which is, rather refreshingly, based on the latest Android 15. Now, in a perfect world, this would be a pristine, bloatware-free canvas. However, in the real world you'll find it arrives with a selection of pre-installed games and other extraneous applications.
While the core HyperOS experience itself aims for a cleaner, more fluid interface compared to older MIUI iterations, the presence of these unwanted digital guests does detract from the ideal "pure Android" dream. It's like buying a brand new car, only to find the previous owner left a few sticky toys and a half-eaten sandwich in the backseat. Thankfully, many of these can be uninstalled or disabled, but it's an extra step you shouldn't have to take.
Despite this minor annoyance, you can still expect a good balance of customization and a relatively streamlined interface once you've done a bit of digital housekeeping. Xiaomi is also making the rather generous promise of 2 years of OS updates and 4 years of security updates. For a budget device, that's excellent long-term support, ensuring your phone stays fresh and, crucially, secure for years to come. It even includes advanced AI features such as Google's Gemini and Circle to Search, bringing a touch of premium functionality down to a far more accessible price point.

The Redmi 15 5G is, quite frankly, an absolute powerhouse for its asking price, primarily thanks to that colossal 7000mAh battery that simply refuses to die. It's not just about endurance, it pairs that with a massive, fluid 144Hz IPS display, a capable Snapdragon chip that is a decent performer for everyday use and a generous software update policy. However, its rather enthusiastic approach to pre-installed software and a camera that occasionally seems to have mislaid its spectacles, means it's not without its particular quirks.