In summary
- Redmi 15 4G coming 22 September
- Huge 7,000mAh battery
- Just the one camera despite appearances
The Redmi 15 4G budget smartphone has been announced as a new budget phones with a simplified name, a stand-out battery, and a slightly weird camera set-up.
Xiaomi appears to be cleaning up the naming scheme for its Redmi sub-brand, which is good to see. Its follow-up to last year’s Redmi Note 14 4G is simply called the Redmi 15 4G. No notes.
That’s not the only interesting thing about it. Much like Motorola with its imminent Moto G36, Xiaomi is going big on battery for its new budget phone range. The Redmi 15 4G packs a whopping great 7,000mAh battery.
The battery isn’t the only thing that’s getting bigger. The Redmi 15 is fronted by a 6.9-inch FHD+ (2340 x 1080) display, up from 6.67-inch in the Redmi Note 14. It’s got an elevated 144Hz refresh rate, too, while brightness tops out at 850 nits in HBM.
Xiaomi
Redmi 15 4G camera mystery
Also notable, but for less positive reasons: a single 50MP camera on the rear (there’s also an 8MP selfie camera). Like last year’s Redmi Note 14 4G, there’s no ultra-wide or telephoto sensor.
In fact, Xiaomi doesn’t even say that there are supplementary depth sensors or macro cameras with this year’s model, which makes us wonder what those extra camera elements are for. Are they fake? We’ve reached out to Xiaomi and will update if we hear back.
The design includes an IP64 certification, like the Redmi Note 14 5G, and it’ll ship in Sandy Purple, Ripple Green, Titan Gray, and Midnight Black. That huge battery will result in a hefty 214g body, with a thickness of 8.4mm.
It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 685, which is a notable departure from the previous phone’s MediaTek component. It’ll come with either 6 or 8GB of RAM, and 128 or 256GB of storage.
The Redmi 15 4G will be available in the UK from 22 September, with prices starting from £159 for the 6GB/128GB model. The step-up 8GB/256GB model will cost £189.
We haven’t heard anything about a 5G model as yet, but we’ll keep you in the loop.
Author: Jon Mundy, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Jon is a freelance journalist who got his start covering mobile games at the dawn of the App Store. He has since covered everything from smart home tech and laptops to food and culture, but always seems to return to his fascination with smartphones.