From Xiaomi 13 series firmly standing in the high-end market to Xiaomi 14 series continuing to make significant progress, Xiaomi's digital flagship series has continuously refreshed itself in terms of sales and reputation. However, corresponding to this, the success of the previous two generations has also led to higher expectations and requirements for the Xiaomi 15 series from more consumers.

In mid-June, Qualcomm officially announced that it will hold the Snapdragon Summit 2024 from October 21st to October 23rd, expecting to release the next-generation flagship chip Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 approaching, how far away is Xiaomi 15? It's not hard to notice that there has been a significant increase in recent news related to the Xiaomi 15 series, especially the Xiaomi 15 Pro.

First, according to foreign media reports, the Xiaomi 15 phone will have IP69-level dustproof and waterproof functionality.

According to its sources, all Xiaomi 15 series phones will have IP69-level dustproof and waterproof ratings, including the 15 and 15 Pro. For reference, the Xiaomi 14 series has an IP68 rating. The IP rating is an important factor for any device as it indicates the level of protection your electronic device has against foreign objects such as dust and moisture.

The first digit in the rating represents the level of protection against dust and hard objects, while the second or last digit represents the level of waterproofing or moisture resistance. 6 is the highest dustproof rating, and 9 is the highest liquid protection rating.

According to the IEC 60529 international standard:

IP6X Dustproof: Completely prevents the ingress of dust

IPX9 Waterproof: Protected against the effects of continuous immersion in water at depths exceeding 1 meter; spraying with a water jet at a flow rate of 15L/min using water at 80°C from a distance of 175mm for 30 seconds at 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° positions.

In addition, combining previous reports, Qualcomm chose to release its latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip in October this year, and as Qualcomm's first partner, the Xiaomi 15 series is also planned to be launched in the same month. It is reported that the series will start mass production in September, undoubtedly demonstrating Xiaomi's confidence in its new products and its ability to quickly respond to market demands.

Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that after three consecutive generations of missing periscope telephoto lenses in the Xiaomi 12 Pro, Xiaomi 13 Pro, and Xiaomi 14 Pro, this year's Xiaomi 15 Pro will finally make up for this regret.

According to leaked information from other sources, the Xiaomi 15 Pro will feature a 50-megapixel ultra-large base main camera with a fixed large aperture, providing excellent imaging results. Additionally, it will also be equipped with a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto lens with 3x zoom, and the individual pixel size reaches 0.8 μm, ensuring clarity even when capturing distant objects. The addition of this telephoto lens will undoubtedly enhance the phone's competitiveness in photography. Meanwhile, the design of the ultra-large aperture will further increase the amount of light entering, improving shooting capabilities in low-light environments, whether it's the main camera or the telephoto lens, both can achieve excellent image performance on this phone.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi 15 will focus on upgrading the system and AI. According to Mingmei Infinite's understanding, Xiaomi may be preparing Pengpai OS 2.0, which will have 10 major updates, including upgrades to the control center and message panel transition animations, control center upgrades, and more. Pengpai OS 2.0 is expected to debut alongside the Xiaomi 15 series. In other aspects, the Xiaomi 15 will feature a 50-megapixel ultra-large base main camera with a large aperture on the rear, with the main camera sensor potentially coming from domestic manufacturer OmniVision. It will support single-point ultrasonic under-screen fingerprint recognition, wireless charging, and a slimmer and lighter body.

The Xiaomi 15 series will no longer use optical fingerprint technology for fingerprint functionality but will adopt an ultrasonic fingerprint solution. Xiaomi has already conducted tests on this solution. Compared to optical fingerprints, ultrasonic fingerprints can restore the 3D fingerprint effect and cannot be defeated by fingerprint films, making them safer than optical fingerprints.

Ultrasonic fingerprint technology was proposed by Qualcomm in 2015. In the past decade, only a few brands have adopted this solution for some of their models, such as the vivo X Fold and Meizu 21 PRO. It is reported that the domestic brand Goodix recently developed a new single-point ultrasonic fingerprint solution, which is expected to debut on the Xiaomi 15 series.

By the way, according to previous news, the Xiaomi 15 series may adopt a brand-new upgraded one-piece ceramic body. While the ceramic body may affect the thickness and weight of the phone, it can provide an excellent grip. Additionally, the Xiaomi 15 series also supports satellite communication technology, but only the titanium alloy version of the Xiaomi 15 series will enjoy this feature exclusively.

In other aspects, the Xiaomi 15 focuses on small-sized straight screens, while the Xiaomi 15 Pro aims for a comprehensive flagship experience with a slightly curved screen solution.

It is worth noting that Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, stated when releasing the Xiaomi 14 series that the Xiaomi 14 would be the last Xiaomi digital series flagship phone with a starting price of 3,999 yuan. Based on Xiaomi's pricing habits, it is expected that the starting price of the Xiaomi 15 series may increase to around 4,299 yuan.

The current Xiaomi 14 standard edition was released on October 26, 2023, starting at 3,999 yuan. It features a 6.36-inch 2670×1200 OLED straight screen with the narrowest 1.61mm vertical border and rounded corners. It is available in four colors: black, white, rock green, and snow mountain pink. The glass version is 8.20mm thick and weighs 193g, while the nano leather version is 8.28mm thick and weighs 188g.

In terms of performance, the phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, utilizing a new 1+5+2 architecture, including 1× 3.3GHz Cortex-X4 + 3× 3.15GHz Cortex-A720 + 2× 2.96GHz Cortex-A720 + 2× 2.27GHz Cortex-A520.

In addition, according to Wall Street Journal data, as of November 10, 2023, the total sales of the Xiaomi 14 series across all channels reached 1.4474 million units. During the 2023 Double 11 shopping festival, the Xiaomi 14 series took the top spot in terms of sales and revenue for domestic mobile phones on multiple platforms, with its first-day sales results being six times that of the previous generation's 13 series.

It can be seen that Xiaomi's journey to the high-end market has achieved initial success. However, with other manufacturers engaging in fierce competition in the 4,000 yuan price range, such as the vivo X100 Pro and OPPO X7, which are equipped with periscope telephoto lenses, Xiaomi also has to offer more selling points for the Xiaomi 15 Pro to maintain its hard-won high-end image.

While other manufacturers are now adding periscope telephoto lenses to their larger models, Xiaomi has no choice but to join the competition. However, this competition among manufacturers ultimately benefits consumers more than it harms them.

In conclusion, compared to the Xiaomi 14 series, the Xiaomi 15 series has been upgraded in terms of performance, imaging, fingerprint unlocking, battery life, and other core configurations. Additionally, the Xiaomi 15 Pro has added satellite communication functionality. For those who need to replace their phones this year, the Xiaomi 15 series is indeed worth looking forward to.

However, in the highly competitive flagship phone market, Xiaomi may need to provide more if it wants the Xiaomi 15 series to replicate the sales success of the Xiaomi 14 series.

So, if you have anything else to say about the latest exposure of the Xiaomi 15, please leave a comment in the comment section and join the discussion with Mingmei Infinite!