Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 4G Review

Xiaomi did not release one Redmi Note 15 but four — a 4G model, a 5G, a Pro 5G and a Pro Plus 5G. This is the cheapest of them, and it differs enough from the 5G version to deserve assessing separately rather than being treated as the same phone with a different modem.

For the money it does two things genuinely well, and one thing badly enough to affect daily use.

Visually this is the same phone as the 5G. In the hand it feels slightly heavier and thicker, which follows from the battery: 6,000 mAh here against 5,520 mAh on the 5G model.

The plastic back is well executed and does not feel cheap. Both faces are curved — a "dual curved" design no longer reserved for the Pro models — and it noticeably improves how the phone sits in the hand. Xiaomi has flattened its range so buyers at every level get a similar feel, including the same centred rear camera housing.

One practical caveat: only soft screen protectors are available for it. Given that a replacement panel costs a substantial proportion of the phone's price before labour, a breakage is unlikely to be economical to repair.

The 4G model carries IP64 certification. That is a step below the 5G version, but a clear improvement on the previous generation's IP54 — full dust protection rather than partial.

The standout feature at this price is that the panel is AMOLED, which more or less guarantees a good media experience.

It measures 6.77in, marginally larger than last year, and because it curves it occupies less width. Calibration is good overall, with accurate colour and a wide range of tones, and brightness climbs to around 1,300 nits in HDR — strong for this bracket. It runs at 120 Hz.

The curve has a cost, though. Accidental inputs are a recurring problem: a finger resting too close to the panel triggers functions unintentionally. Some manufacturers solve this with unintentional-touch detection, and that option is absent here.

The chip is a MediaTek Helio G100 Ultra, a 4G part, and performance is where the price shows. Benchmarks place it level with its predecessor, the Note 14 4G — comparison against Western rivals is difficult because most phones using this silicon are not sold here.

In practice the experience is not free of criticism. Interface slowdowns appear when a number of applications sit in the background — nothing severe, but enough to interrupt animations.

Gaming is where the limits are clearest. In Genshin Impact at maximum graphical settings the phone manages 24 fps, dropping to 18 — barely playable. Reducing quality to the default low setting brings 30 to 45 fps, which is far less attractive but genuinely playable, and a constant 30 fps is achievable with the appropriate option enabled.

There is one silver lining to a modest processor: it does not throttle, and external heat stays very low, with a peak hotspot of just 34.4°C.

The phone runs HyperOS 2.0 on Android 16. AI features are limited — Gemini plus a few photo-editing tools such as Sky and Bokeh, with productivity features reserved for premium models. Software support is reasonable for the segment at four years of major updates and six years of security patches.

The serious complaint is advertising. Intrusive adverts and preinstalled applications are pervasive, to the point where almost every Xiaomi app opens on an advert. It is possible to strip this out, but doing so takes a long sequence of manual steps to arrive at a clean system. Anyone buying this phone should budget an evening for that, and it is the single biggest mark against an otherwise sensible device.

The 4G model is less versatile than the 5G because it loses the ultra-wide. What remains is a single 108 MP wide sensor, 1/1.67in, at f/1.75, using 9-in-1 pixel binning to gather more light and attempt lossless zoom. A 2 MP depth sensor assists portraits, and the selfie camera is 20 MP at f/2.2.

In daylight the main sensor produces flattering images with vibrant colour and solid central sharpness. The lossless-zoom claim holds only so far: up to 3x the crop from 108 MP retains enough detail to look good on a phone screen. Push beyond that and digital processing takes over, with aggressive smoothing turning complex textures into flat blocks of colour.

In dark scenes the phone pushes sensitivity remarkably high — up to ISO 16,000 in testing. Noise at that level is unavoidable, but the 9-in-1 binning rescues the exposure of near-black scenes. Indoors and in moderate low light, HDR does an honest job of balancing direct light sources without crushing shadows. Portrait cutouts are generally precise, though subject separation sometimes lacks finesse. The selfie camera needs good light to perform.

A 6,000 mAh cell suggests exceptional endurance. It does not deliver it. The PCMark battery test returned 12 hours 51 minutes — respectable, but mid-table rather than leading. Streaming a two-and-a-half-hour film consumed 11 per cent of the battery, and an hour of Genshin Impact behaved similarly.

In real use it comfortably clears a day without being a class champion. Charging is limited to 33 W wired, with 18 W reverse charging.

In the UK the Redmi Note 15 4G is listed on Amazon UK in the 6GB/128GB configuration, Forest Green, and is in stock at the time of writing. The listing confirms 4G connectivity, matching the model reviewed here rather than the 5G version. Xiaomi also produces 8GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB variants.

Worth noting on the network question: 4G is expected to remain in service well into the 2030s, so choosing a 4G handset is not a meaningful limitation for anyone who does not need high performance. Modem generation and processor speed are tied together, so the trade-off is really about power rather than connectivity.

At this price the Redmi Note 15 4G is close to unopposed. The AMOLED panel at 120 Hz is very good for the money, handling and finish are better than the price suggests, and the phone stays cool and comfortable in use.

The compromises are real. Performance is limited and gaming requires lowered settings. There is only one rear camera, albeit an effective one. The screen curve causes genuine accidental inputs with no software mitigation. And the volume of advertising and bloatware is the sort of thing that sours an otherwise good product until you take the time to remove it.

For social media, streaming and everyday use at the bottom of the market, it is a sound choice — provided you accept that you will spend your first evening cleaning up the software.