Redmi 15 Review: Big daily driver with a battery for really long drives!

It might no longer be the number one smartphone brand in the country, but Xiaomi’s Redmi range continues to be a frontrunner in the budget phone segment. The Redmi 14c launched earlier this year, was a bestseller, and now comes the latest addition to the Redmi number series – the Redmi 15. As always, it tries to deliver a lot of value for not too much money. But this time, it puts a few spins on its usual winning formula. Does it still pack enough of a budget punch?

Redmi 15 Design and appearance: Big, hefty…and yet beautiful in white, smart in black, and ‘look at me” in purple!

At 168.48 mm in height and 80.45 mm in width, the Redmi 15 is one of the biggest phones around, though it is relatively slim at 8.4 mm, and its weight of 217 grams is light for its size. But big though it is, it does look beautiful. Well, our Frosted White unit certainly does. Its front is the usual: flat display with slim bezels. And so are its straight, “carbonate looking like metal” sides. The back, however, turns heads, though, with elegant silver patterns that shift and shimmer as the light falls on it. Another distinct feature of the back is a large vertical camera unit that is made of “aerospace-grade metal,” which Xiaomi insists is some kind of design USP. This metal plate has three spheres, two of which contain cameras, the third being a decorative dot of darkness.

The camera unit and the back give the phone a very classy look, one which it retains in the slightly shimmery ‘Sandy Purple’ and ‘Midnight Black’ shades too. We think Frosted White works best as its blend of elegance and class will attract some attention, Midnight Black is perfect for those who want a phone that’s smart rather than spectacular, while Sandy Purple is the one that unabashedly says “look at me!”

Which is why the Redmi 15 is that rare gadget – a big phone that manages to look beautiful too. It will definitely stretch palms and pockets (in the physical and fabric sense), but is a handful that is an eyeful too. It is reasonably tough as well, with Gorilla Glass 3 protection in front and an IP64 rating that keeps it safe from water splashes.

Redmi 15 Specs and hardware: Big on battery, big on display

Redmi has gone to town with the battery of the Redmi 15, and with good reason. It comes with the biggest battery we have seen in its price zone: a 7000 mAh battery. “Biggest” incidentally refers to the mAh in its, rather than its size, as thanks to EV Grade Silicon-Carbon tech, it does not weigh a ton or take up too much space. It also charges at 33W, which is reasonably quick for its price, and in a very nice touch, also reverse-charges devices at a very respectable 18W, allowing it to double up as a power bank. Another spec sheet star of the phone is its display, which is a massive 6.9 inches with FHD+ resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate. Some might have expected an AMOLED display, but LCD displays remain popular at these price points, and the one on the Redmi 15 does look like a good one, although its peak brightness of 850 nits is on the modest side

Powering the Redmi 15 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chip, which is a steady mid-segment performer. It comes paired with equally mid-segment LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage combinations of 6 GB/ 128 GB and 8 GB/ 256 GB, with support for up to 2 TB expandable storage. The two cameras on the metal panel on the back are a 50-megapixel main sensor and an unidentified secondary “auxiliary” sensor, while an 8-megapixel camera in the punch hole notch in front handles selfies.

Rather surprisingly, the Redmi 15 does not have a 3.5 mm audio jack, which is an expected feature at this price point – even the Redmi 14c had one. Some might also feel a little let down by the absence of stereo speakers, although the single speaker on the phone comes with a volume boost. The LCD display means that the power/display button on the right side of the phone doubles up as a fingerprint scanner, while an infrared blaster on the top of the phone allows one to use it as a remote. The Redmi 15 runs on Android 15 out of the box with HyperOS on top of it and comes with an assurance of two years of OS updates and four years of security updates.

Redmi 15 performance: A daily driver that goes on and on, rather than a camera wiz or a gaming beast

Given its emphasis on battery life and big display, it is hardly surprising that the Redmi 15 is all about the big display and big battery experience. The large, wide display is not crazy bright but is terrific for viewing content, be it videos, shows, or even good old basic browsing. The single speaker churns out impressive volumes, and the volume boost does make a big difference for those times when you want to pump up the volume – audio clarity remarkably does not get compromised even at higher levels. For under Rs 15,000, the Redmi 15 is about as good as it gets when it comes to multimedia consumption. And thanks to that massive battery, one can watch films, shows, reels, and the like for hours on end.

We actually found ourselves being able to easily see out two days of normal usage on the phone, and with some care, even took the phone into day three. Mind you, ‘normal usage’ in this case covers calls, messaging, mails, social media browsing, and lots of Internet surfing and video watching, as well as some spells of casual gaming. Let’s face it, the Redmi 15 is built more for stamina than for sheer speed. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chip can handle casual games but is not really designed to run the likes of Call of Duty or Asphalt Racing at high settings, although games like Carrom, Ludo, Subway Surfer, and Candy Crush sail along effortlessly on it, and one can switch between half a dozen or so apps without too many problems.

In photography, the rear camera delivers very pleasant results in good light conditions, with slightly bright colors and a fair amount of detail. Rather surprisingly, we even got reasonably good low-light snaps, provided we could keep the camera stable and use night mode. Videos are, however, best taken in daylight. Portrait images are quite good, and the selfie camera will insist on smoothing out your skin, but will deliver good-looking pictures in daylight (do not use it much in low light conditions or be ready for noisy shots). This is a classic point-and-shoot camera. Keep things stable, keep the light good, and you will keep getting good snaps and videos.

HyperOS runs smoothly on the Redmi 15. There is some bloatware, but that can be uninstalled, and the interface comes with some handy features, such as an excellent Notes app and an easy-to-use Mi Remote app for the infrared blaster. There are even some AI features thrown in, such as Circle to Search (handy on such a large display) and Gemini, and they work reasonably well. Call quality is good, and we had no problems with the fingerprint scanner being on the side rather than in the display, as it worked smoothly and swiftly. The 33W charger in the box recharges the phone in about 85-95 minutes, which is handy enough considering the size of the battery. The 18W reverse charging speed is handy for quickly keeping another phone running, or to top up a TWS or smartwatch, and if you keep your Redmi 15 charged, you can retire your power bank, as it has enough to keep itself, another phone, and a TWS running for the most part of a day.

The Redmi 15 is a classic daily driver. And thanks to that battery, its drives can last really long!

Redmi 15 Pricing: Competitive pricing, which faces competition (duh!)

The Redmi 15 is available in two RAM and storage options at the following prices:

• 6 GB/ 128 GB: Rs 14,999
• 8 GB/ 256 GB: Rs 16,999

At those prices, it faces competition from the iQOO Z10x and the very similarly specced Vivo T4x, which come with a more powerful Dimensity 7300 processor, but have a smaller display and battery. Another challenger for the Redmi 15 is the Poco M7 Pro, which comes with a slightly more powerful Dimensity 7025 chip and also brings an AMOLED display to the table, but has a smaller display and battery. Of course, spending a little more can get one into the AMOLED display and stereo speaker zone with devices like the Oppo K13, the CMF Phone 2 Pro, and even the Redmi Note 14, but then spending a little more will almost always get one a better device. The challenge is to get more while spending less!

Redmi 15 Review Verdict: Big, beautiful mid-segmenter with terrific battery life

The Redmi 15 is one of the best options out there for those looking for a do-it-all phone on a budget of about Rs 15,000. Yes, we would have liked an AMOLED display, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and a few more megapixels on the other cameras, but we think that the massive battery and display do compensate for them. In many ways, the Redmi 15 is a classic Redmi mid-segmenter, with some distinctly Note-able genes of the Redmi Note kind. It just does everything pretty well, and thanks to that big battery, does so for a long time. It does well enough to have been a Note. Higher praise than that we cannot give in the mid-segment.

Buy Redmi 15