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The Galaxy S25 Ultra may get some tough competition in January

A person taking the Xiaomi 14 Ultra out of a pocket.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
galaxy unpacked 2025
This story is part of our Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025 coverage

We were impressed by the Xiaomi 14 Ultra this year. Now, it looks like its successor, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, is getting closer to being released.

According to leaker Yogesh Brar, the new phone could be revealed in January in China before making its worldwide debut at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona in March. Its arrival in China would be around the Lunar New Year, which is January 29.

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Limited information is currently available about the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. However, Brar suggests that the phone could compete with Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is also expected to be released early next year.

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Brar also mentions that the new Xiaomi phone might be equipped with the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip and, similar to its predecessor, feature a quad-camera system. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip will likely be a vital component of the Galaxy S25 series.

A leaker claimed in June that the chip would make its global debut on Xiaomi’s new phone. Digital Chat Station also stated that the phone would feature a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 50MP ultrawide camera, and a 50MP vertical telephoto macro with 3X zoom. Brar also mentioned these specifications in his X post.

The Xiaomi phone is also rumored to have up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of internal storage for improved performance. It may also feature an enhanced stereo speaker setup and a larger battery capacity compared to the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

In recent weeks, we’ve heard a lot more about Samsung’s next flagship device. The Galaxy S25 Ultra, which could be called the Galaxy S25 Note, is expected to offer a fresh new look and include several new features compared to the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

It will be interesting to see just how similar the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is to the Galaxy S24 Ultra/Note. We should know early next year.

Bryan M. Wolfe
Bryan M. Wolfe has over a decade of experience as a technology writer. He writes about mobile.
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