We may earn compensation from reviewed products. Learn about our editorial policies.
With a host of flagship features, such as a super bright display and big battery, and a respectable main camera lens, the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ is a solid budget phone. But it faces stiff competition.
The Good
- Brilliant all-round display
- Two day battery life
- Solid main camera lens
The Not So Good
- Ultra wide lens can be hit or miss
- Bloatware
Need-to-knows
- Bright display with 120Hz refresh rate
- Good point-and-shoot main camera
- Long battery life
- Unreliable ultra-wide lens
Last year, I reviewed the Redmi Note 14 Pro and was suitably impressed by how much Xiaomi had packed into the device for what was a very low price. Obviously, some compromises stood out, like a hit-or-miss camera system outside of the main lens, but you can’t nitpick too much at this price point.
This year, I’m taking a look at their slightly more premium model, the Redmi Note 15 Pro+, which is also a touch confusing. It starts at £399, which puts it at the top-end of the ‘budget’ price range, whilst creeping up into the mid-range tier. That means there is more competition.
Still, there hasn’t been a price rise. In theory, that means that you’re getting a better phone with newer tech for the same money as last year. It should be an even better deal than before. I’m here to see if that’s true, and whether some new budget/mid-range contenders like the CMF Phone 2 Pro might be better options.
Shop the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ below!
Design and build
I won’t keep repeating this, but this phone costs £399. That means you can’t be expecting premium build materials from the Redmi Note 15 Pro+. The back is made from a faux-leather plastic, but it doesn’t feel particularly cheap, whilst the rest of the body is an aluminium alloy. As such, it looks enough like a flagship phone to get by undetected.
Impressively, the Note 15 Pro+ has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 which is a near-flagship glass spec and offers excellent durability. All of this combines to give the phone IP66/IP68 dust and water resistance which is, again, more than most competitors can say at this price point.
Related: Xiaomi 15T Pro review
You also get three colour options: Titanium, Glacier Blue, and Mist Purple, so there’s some individuality on offer too.
Display and battery
As we’ve come to expect from Xiaomi (but should equally be careful not to take for granted), the display on this phone defies all pricing expectations. The spec sheet reads like any premium flagship you’d see elsewhere.
It’s 6.83 inches, has a 1.5k resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision and 3200 nits peak brightness. Enough said. It’s stunning to look at and especially good in direct sunlight. There’s nothing to fault, barring the curved display, which, in my humble opinion, makes the phone feel a touch dated.
More: Honor Magic8 Pro review
The battery is a monster too with a 6500mAh capacity that easily lasts you two days. Plus, there’s 100W fast charging with a compatible adapter (there isn’t one included in the box).
Cameras
The Redmi Note 15 Pro+ has a dual camera system with a 200MP main camera with OIS and an 8MP ultra wide.
Let’s start with the good. As a point-and-shoot camera at 1x, the main lens is perfectly capable of capturing everyday snaps well. It deals with carrying light levels competently and the colours look accurate to real life. The overall tone of the photos produced by the Redmi is pleasing too. It’s not too contrasty and feels representative of what you’re looking at with your eyes.
It’s quite handy at 2-3x ranges as well. I could get some good macro shots out of the 15 Pro+ at these lengths and there wasn’t a huge loss in quality in general when zooming in this far, unless you start really prying.
Overall, it’s a handy camera that does the job. You aren’t going to get pro-level photos out of it, but you can get some interesting stuff if you play around with the settings enough.
Our list of the best phones!
Now the not so good. If the main camera was the highlight, the ultra-wide is more of a lowlight. It’s not terrible, but it is a bit tricky to use. It struggles getting up close and personal to subjects and the lighting massively affects the quality of the end result. I found it better to just zoom in with the main lens for your macros. Either way, it’s nice to have the option.
You do get 4K video at 30 fps too which is good to have, but video is still the area to lag behind the most when you drop down the price brackets. Again, it’s not particularly awful, but it can be a bit stuttery and overexposed.
If you’re expecting big things from cameras on a phone that costs £399, then you should probably rethink. For this price, the cameras on the 15 Pro+ are satisfactory. But I will also say that some competitors that aren’t too far away in price, like the Pixel 9a, do photography better.
Software and power
The Redmi Note 15 Pro+ hits near-flagship heights again with the processor. It’s using the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 which isn’t the fastest or highest spec in the world, but it’s absolutely fast enough for 99% of users. It has handled anything I’ve thrown at it and the phone feels responsive and fast.
As for the software, you get HyperOS 2, which is about as bog-standard Android as you can get. It works, serves its purpose and is accessible to new users. It doesn’t look particularly pretty and there’s your typical bloatware but I’m not going to mark this phone down for software that does as it should.
Final thoughts
This is an interesting case. Reviewing this phone has shown that it is a perfectly good budget/mid-range phone. There are tons of premium-level specs like the display, battery and design. The camera system is good overall and the user experience is fine.
If you were to buy this phone today and you were in need of something cheap, you’d be satisfied. My only slight niggle is the price. At £399, this phone puts itself in some pretty top-tier company.
Check out our Pixel 9a review!
For example, the CMF Phone 2 Pro starts £209 and is undeniably a more interesting device and arguably better, albeit without some of the specs the Redmi boasts. You can also, at the time of writing, buy a Google Pixel 9a new from Google for £349. That is a very hard deal to pass up for what is one of, if not the, best budget phone of recent years.
Taken on its own, the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ is a good phone with lots to shout about. But there is stiff competition out there.
