After two months using this phone, I’m perilously close to leaving my compact camera at home

Anyone who knows me knows that my Fujifilm X100VI is pretty much glued to my hand, so it’s incredibly rare that a phone tempts me to leave my trusty compact at home. Yet the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has been doing just that since it landed on my doorstep a few months ago.

Its headline act is a compact camera-rivaling 50MP 1-inch main sensor behind a Leica-designed Summilux 23mm equivalent lens. This main sensor is paired with a 14mm ultra-wide and dual telephotos, the first a 70mm and the second a 100mm periscope with a frankly bonkers 200MP 1/1.4-inch sensor.

On paper, it reads like a specs wish list; in practice, the results are disarmingly good. Specs alone, though, were never going to pry me away from a “real” camera. I still crave physical dials, at least.

However, slip the 15 Ultra into Xiaomi’s Photography Kit and the phone morphs into something that feels alarmingly close to my compact: a half-press shutter button, zoom rocker and exposure dial enable me work by touch instead of diving into menus and breaking my flow.

I'm not going to get carried away and say this is close to replacing a proper interchangeable lens camera – photos still look like they are shot on a phone, and I don't think we are near the point where algorithmic trickery can match natural results from a larger sensor.

But, for compact cameras with smaller sensors and fixed lenses, it's become a much tighter race.

All cameras have a "look"; that's why photographers choose Fujifilm, Sony, Canon or indeed Leica. Compared to cameras, phone images are usually hallmarked by over-sharpening, exaggerated HDR and flat images dictated by the limitations of their tiny sensors and lenses. And I think this is what has caused the resurgence in people shopping for more lo-fi compact cameras.

Yet the Xiaomi has the most un-phone-like phone images I have come across – and that might just be down to its partnership with Leica. Unlike other phone brands that have partnered with camera companies, Leica’s involvement here feels like far more than just a logo on the back.

The 15 Ultra's Leica-designed lenses, alongside the "Leica Authentic" and "Leica Vibrant" profiles, deliver the tone and color-shifts I normally expect of JPEGs from a Leica M-series camera, while Leica’s high contrast black-and-white profile emulates the street photography style of the M11 Monochrom.

But where the Xiaomi actually falls down is with customization of images beyond its Leica looks. Leica color is lovely, but it doesn’t scratch the itch for Fujifilm’s Film Simulations and custom recipes.

Will my Fujifilm X100VI start gathering dust? Absolutely not. The tactile joy of dedicated manual controls, a shutter leaf and an optical viewfinder still has its pull. The X100VI is still the optically superior camera with its APS-C sensor.

However, for much of my daily shooting, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is already in my pocket – and that is often enough of a reason to leave my camera at home.

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