Xiaomi 15 Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.73-inch Xiaomi 15 Ultra (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite) that was released on February 27, 2025, against the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, which is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and came out 2 years and 1 month before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Xiaomi 15 Ultra
  • 72% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3030K versus 1762K)
  • Shows 16% longer battery life (30:03 vs 26:01 hours)
  • Better camera quality (According to DxOMark rating)
  • Has 50% more RAM: 12GB versus 8GB
  • Delivers 25% higher peak brightness (1588 against 1266 nits)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (90W versus 45W)
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • Slow-motion recording at 1920FPS
  • Has 2 SIM card slots
  • The phone is 2 years and 1 month newer
  • Has a built-in infrared port
Reasons to consider the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
  • The rear camera has a 10x optical zoom

Review

Evaluation of Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
DeviceFacts Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate DeviceFacts Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 87% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to Xiaomi 15 Ultra is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: gaming, performance, and camera.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests

Display

Type AMOLED Dynamic AMOLED
Size 6.73 inches 6.8 inches
Resolution 1440 x 3200 pixels 1440 x 3088 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 19.3:9
PPI 522 ppi 500 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (1-120 Hz) Yes (24-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1600 nits 1200 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 3200 nits 1750 nits
HDR support Yes, Dolby Vision Yes, HDR10+
Touch sampling rate 300 Hz 240 Hz
Screen protection Xiaomi Shield Glass 2.0 Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Screen-to-body ratio 90% 89.5%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
- DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.7% 96.9%
PWM 120 Hz 240 Hz
Response time 1 ms 2 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Peak brightness test (auto)
15 Ultra +25%
1588 nits
1266 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 161.3 mm (6.35 inches) 163.4 mm (6.43 inches)
Width 75.3 mm (2.96 inches) 78.1 mm (3.07 inches)
Thickness 9.35 mm (0.37 inches) 8.9 mm (0.35 inches)
Weight 226 g (7.97 oz) 233 g (8.22 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IP68
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber Vapor chamber
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors White, Black, Silver, Green White, Black, Gray, Blue, Green, Red, Purple
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-display
Repairability Average (2.61/5) -
Drop resistance Good (C) · 90 drops -
Screen-to-body ratio
15 Ultra +1%
90%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy
Max clock 4320 MHz 3360 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (1 + 2 + 2 + 3)
Architecture - 6 cores at 3.53 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix M)
- 2 cores at 4.32 GHz: Oryon (Phoenix L)
- 3 cores at 2 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A710
- 2 cores at 2.8 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 3.2 GHz: Cortex-X3
L3 cache 8 MB 8 MB
Manufacturing TSMC TSMC
Lithography process 3 nanometers 4 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Hexagon
GPU
Graphics Adreno 830 Adreno 740
GPU shading units 1536 1536
GPU clock 1100 MHz 680 MHz
FLOPS ~3379.2 GFLOPS ~2089 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
15 Ultra +55%
3106
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
15 Ultra +85%
9710
Compute Score (GPU)
15 Ultra +163%
24339
Compute Score (GPU) 24339 9254
Single-core score 3106 2010
Multi-core score 9710 5245
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
15 Ultra +72%
3030376
CPU 912791 556398
GPU 1097348 445907
Memory 440343 285085
UX 579894 474949
Total score 3030376 1762339
Samples [12 tests] [31 tests]
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
15 Ultra +96%
2151
Stability 76% 81%
Graphics test 16 FPS 8 FPS
Graphics score 2151 1098
3DMark Solar Bay
15 Ultra +82%
9815
Stability - 77%
Graphics test 37 FPS 20 FPS
Section 1 42 FPS 23 FPS
Section 2 38 FPS 20 FPS
Section 3 32 FPS 18 FPS
Graphics score 9815 5383
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
15 Ultra +51%
5626
Stability 85% 69%
Graphics test 33 FPS 22 FPS
Graphics score 5626 3723
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
15 Ultra +15%
18823
Web score 19993 17072
Video editing 8213 7852
Photo editing 36597 33655
Data manipulation 17882 13329
Writing score 22481 19857
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#111th place)

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-27 (dmxsan)AnTuTu 123059557
📘 2026-07-07 (average f-4 enjoyer)AnTuTu 112993761
📘 2026-06-28 (Mansur)Battery lifeSOT 12:59 / 16:48
📘 2026-02-22 (XX5mipiXX)AnTuTu 113108699
📘 2026-01-27 -> MiEmirrGeekbench 6 CPU3127 / 9465
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-10-03 -> ThekinggoatAnTuTu 121914947
📘 2026-10-03 (Thekinggoat)Geekbench 7 CPU1471 / 4766
📘 2026-10-03 (Thekinggoat)AnTuTu 121914947
📘 2026-09-28 -> Saad_irqAnTuTu 121959121
📘 2026-09-23 (Horizon377)AnTuTu 121894819

Memory

RAM
RAM size 12 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR5X
Memory clock 5300 MHz 4200 MHz
Channels 4 4
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.1 UFS 4.0
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 15 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) Android 13 (Can be upgraded to Android 16)
ROM HyperOS 3.0 One UI 8.0
OS size 23.9 GB 39.9 GB
OS updates 4 years 4 years
Security updates 7 years 5 years

Battery

Capacity 5410 mAh 5000 mAh
Max charge power 90 W 45 W
Battery type Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (80 W) Yes (15 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) Yes, (wireless)
Bypass charging No Yes
Fast charging Yes (72% in 30 min) Yes (68% in 30 min)
Full charging time 0:51 hr 0:59 hr
Battery cycles 1000 cycles -
Battery life tests
Web browsing 12:19 hr 09:57 hr
Watching video 18:43 hr 15:38 hr
Gaming 06:45 hr 06:22 hr
Standby 141 hr 130 hr
General battery life
15 Ultra +16%
30:03 hr
26:01 hr
Smartphones With Long Battery Life (45th and 139th place)

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 200 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 16320 x 12240
Zoom Optical, 4.3x Optical, 10x
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording Up to 30FPS Up to 30FPS
4K video recording Up to 120FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 120FPS
Slow motion 1920 FPS (1080p) 960 FPS (1080p)
Angle of widest lens 115° 120°
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Telephoto: 200 MP
3) Telephoto: 50 MP
4) Ultrawide: 50 MP
5) Depth
1) Standard: 200 MP
2) Telephoto: 10 MP
3) Telephoto: 10 MP
4) Ultrawide: 12 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 200 MP
Aperture f/1.63 f/1.7
Focal length 23 mm 23 mm
Sensor Sony LYT-900 Samsung ISOCELL HP2
Sensor size 1/1.0" (≈ 1 inch) 1/1.3" (≈ 0.77 inch)
Pixel size 1.6 micron 0.64 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Laser autofocus
Stabilization Optical Optical
Telephoto lens
Image resolution 200 MP 10 MP
Aperture f/2.6 f/4.9
Focal length 100 mm 230 mm
Sensor Samsung ISOCELL S5KHP9 Sony IMX754
Sensor size 1/1.4" (≈ 0.71 inch) 1/3.52" (≈ 0.28 inch)
Pixel size 0.56 micron 1.12 micron
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12 MP
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.2
Focal length 14 mm 13 mm
Sensor Samsung S5KJN5 Sony IMX564
Sensor size 1/2.76" (≈ 0.36 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 0.64 micron 1.4 micron
Stabilization Digital Digital

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
15 Ultra +20%
167
Video quality
Generic main camera score
15 Ultra +14%
159
Bokeh 170 70
Preview 89 73
Zoom 166 141
Samples Photo samples of Xiaomi 15 Ultra from DxOMark Photo samples of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra from DxOMark

Selfie camera

Megapixels 32 megapixels 12 megapixels
Image resolution 6528 x 4896 4000 x 3000
Aperture f/2.0 f/2.2
Focal length 22 mm 26 mm
Sensor Omnivision OV32B Samsung S5K3LU
Sensor size 1/3.14" (≈ 0.32 inch) 1/3.24" (≈ 0.31 inch)
Pixel size 0.7 micron 1.12 micron
Autofocus No Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No
DxOMark front camera
Photo - 139
Video - 145

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 6.0 5.3
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes Yes, DP 1.2
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port Yes No
Network
Number of SIM* 2 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* - 20
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos Yes Yes
Speakers test
Max loudness
92.1 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced February 2025 February 2023
Release date February 2025 February 2023
Launch price (MSRP) $1099 $1199
Successor - Xiaomi 17 Ultra - Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
SAR (head) - 0.96 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.4 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
- Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Yes, 90 W Not included
Further details
Notes on 15 Ultra:
    - The Chinese version of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has a 6000 mAh battery, while the international model comes with 5410 mAh, leading to a noticeable difference in battery life.
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
25 (71.4%)
10 (28.6%)
Total votes: 35

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