The Redmi Note series has always focused on balance, delivering solid specs at reasonable prices. Like many smartphones today, the Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G isn’t immune to rising prices, but Xiaomi does offer something in return by doubling down on durability, a growing trend across brands this year. It also brings meaningful upgrades, including a shift to a flat display, a larger battery, and a more capable camera setup.
After using the Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G as my daily phone during our recent Cebu trip, I’ve gathered some real-world impressions. The big question now is whether these improvements are enough to justify the price increase. Let’s find out.
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Design
At first glance, the Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G looks very familiar. It closely resembles last year’s Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G, but Xiaomi has switched to a flat design instead of curved edges. I actually prefer this change, as it makes the phone easier to hold and gives it a more modern look. The REDMI branding is now written in uppercase and centered on the back, which helps the design feel more balanced.
The camera island remains in the same position, featuring four cutouts for the dual cameras and flash. It also looks noticeably slimmer this time around, with the 200MP marking clearly stamped in the center.
Our unit comes in a silver finish that looks clean and sophisticated. It honestly made us hesitate before testing its toughness, despite Xiaomi’s “Titan Tough” branding. The phone is rated IP69K for dust and water resistance, which is impressive for a midrange device, though the back panel is a clear fingerprint magnet.
Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G Staple Gun Durability Test
That said, the durability of the Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G genuinely surprised me. During our testing, it survived multiple drops from around chest height on a staircase without breaking. At the launch event, it was also subjected to extreme stress tests, including a pendulum slam test, submersion in boiling water on an induction cooker, and immersion in ice-filled water.
The most extreme test for me was firing an industrial-grade staple gun directly at the display. It was honestly nerve-racking to watch and felt a bit too much. Even then, the Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G survived, further backing up Xiaomi’s durability claims.
Display
Sticking with the flat design, the Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G sports a 6.83-inch 120Hz AMOLED display with 1.5K resolution. It supports the DCI-P3 wide color gamut, and combined with the sharp resolution, it’s very easy on the eyes.
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| Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G Display |
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| Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G Display |
What I really like is its slightly softer, more comfortable look, likely thanks to the 3840Hz PWM dimming and TÜV Rheinland low blue light and flicker-free certifications. It’s also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It may not be the brightest display out there, but it still looks better than many phones in its price range.
Sound
One standout feature here is the 400 percent max volume mode, which is something you don’t see often. While it’s not a replacement for a dedicated speaker, it gets impressively loud that it easily filled our hotel room.
Sound quality doesn't sound too thin, but nothing that will blow you away. It is a stereo speaker setup tuned by Dolby Audio and its still a noticeable step up from typical budget phones.
Performance
The Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G isn’t heavily marketed for performance, but it holds up really well. It runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 7400-Ultra and scored close to 1 million on AnTuTu in our tests.
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| Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G AnTuTu Benchmark Score |
In real-world use, performance matches those numbers. The phone feels snappy and fluid, with no noticeable hiccups during everyday tasks. I even used it as my main phone during our Cebu trip on mobile data, and everything worked smoothly.
That said, I still find it awkward going back to Xiaomi’s default task manager layout with split windows, and there’s still no double-tap-to-lock in normal mode, something I’ve been wishing for since the Xiaomi 12 Pro days.
For gaming, this phone surprised me. It can run Genshin Impact at the highest settings at 60FPS. There are slowdowns during heavy scenes, but it mostly stays above 30FPS, which is very playable for this chipset. Dropping settings to medium improves stability even more.
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| Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G Genshin Impact FPS |
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| Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G Playing Genshin Impact |
It’s impressive how modern midrange chips now offer this level of performance while being more power-efficient.
Battery and Charging
The Redmi Note 15 Pro packs a massive 6580mAh battery. While bigger batteries have become more common since last year, this one still delivers excellent endurance. I started the day fully charged at around five in the morning, with heavy camera use for videos and photos during our tour. On days like this, most phones would be nearly dead or already charging by around three in the afternoon, but I still had about 70 percent battery left.
Pretty solid based on my experience.
Camera
Camera performance is surprisingly good and easily one of the phone’s biggest strengths for its price. The 200MP main camera uses a large 1/1.4-inch sensor, which allows for decent in-sensor zoom and improved low-light performance.
In a more extreme shooting scenario, like photographing fire dancers in motion, the phone still managed to capture usable, slightly zoomed shots despite fast movement and almost no ambient light.
Daytime photography is where the camera really shines. It captures plenty of detail across most scenes, and sharpness is generally consistent. Colors do lean a bit on the pale side across the camera system, so I often ended up using the built-in camera filters. Thankfully, these can be adjusted, making it easy to dial in the right look. Some users might actually prefer the more muted colors since they leave more room for post-processing, especially since detail is well preserved.
Even without a dedicated telephoto lens, I wasn’t hesitant to use zoom, and results held up better than expected.
The front camera is decent as well. At 20MP, it’s more than enough for selfies. At first, it seemed locked at 1x, but once the camera detects two or more faces, it automatically switches to 0.8x. You can also manually toggle this by tapping the 1x icon above the shutter.
One odd behavior I noticed is with video. You can’t switch below 1x once recording starts, but if you begin recording at 0.8x, you can zoom past 1x. The catch is that it doesn’t actually switch sensors and instead just crops in from the ultrawide lens.
It’s a bit strange, but this feels more like a software quirk than a hardware limitation.
Conclusion
With an added PhP 2,000 price increase across variants, the REDMI Note 15 Pro 5G is a bit harder to recommend at first glance. That said, there are meaningful improvements here that help justify the bump. While Xiaomi is clearly riding the tough phone trend, the upgraded durability feels far more confident this time around. Where the previous generation seemed to hold back, this one feels more assured.
Setting the durability trend aside, this is simply a very well-balanced device. The tougher build is nice to have, but what really stands out is its overall performance. The cameras are solid, the display looks great, and even smaller extras like the 400 percent volume boost add to the experience.
Overall, the Redmi Note 15 Pro 5G delivers a strong all-around package, with a better camera and display than many competitors in the same segment. If you’re okay spending a bit more, I don’t think you’ll feel shortchanged. That said, I would’ve personally preferred a telephoto camera over extra durability, but that’s just me.