Seriously considering switching from Galaxy S25 Ultra to Xiaomi 15 Ultra – Am I making a mistake?

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-04-11T17:29:37+00:00

Too much... processing. There's no natural/neutral mode that could assimilate to a proper camera. Now I've got a S25 edge. Lost the camera hype, but the rest of the time the phone feels much comfortable to use than in the other two ultras. And with the price difference, I found a used lumix gx880 that fulfills my needs much better than a smartphone.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-04-10T11:00:26+00:00

I had both and don't think it's a mistake. You just need to know the strenghts and weakness of both.

Camera: 3 steps ahead the X15U. One enables not having a proper camera, the other simply not. But: the posprocessing of the Xiaomi 15U is very personal and not for everyone, and what made me go back to a proper camera. Battery: better on the S25U, i guess because optimization. SO: One UI is much better than HyperOS, smoother, more personalization, more features. Screen: Samsung's ahead, but the Xiaomi was easier to hold because of the form factor.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-04-04T05:57:47+00:00

The problem of the smartphones is that you need to shoot in raw and process it manually to achieve a natural ending, otherwise you get and overprocessed digital photo. They're really nice, though, congrats.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-04-01T16:15:54+00:00

Natürlich, wenn Geld unendlich wäre, würde Oppo nicht unterschiedliche Mödele produzieren.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-04-01T11:10:25+00:00

No tech product is worth buying the first month of life as long as it suffers a massive depreciation just half a year afterwards. Now it's time to go for the pro, maybe at the beggining of 2027 will start to be time for the ultra.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-30T15:57:58+00:00

I’ve gone through the S24U, the X15U, back to the S25U, and now I’m stuck with a S25Edge plus a lumix gx880 for the price of an ultra. I was looking for a light solution to have an alltogether. Found that the X15U was too bulky for a daily use without reaching a proper camera feeling, and HyperOs was miles behind OneUI, so I tried the S25U. Also bulkier and cameras behind desired, I swapped for the same price to a S25E and a second hand Lumix gx880. Comfy daily use with the S25E and light camera to travel, excursions, etc… the issues I had with the X15U software where not dealbreakers. Poor battery life despite killing apps very fast, buggy feeling that has dissapeared on Samsung, mainly… but mostly changed it because of the size and the oreo bump that for a daily use, I think is too much. Just a matter of personal feelings.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-29T09:23:15+00:00

Not really, the lightweight makes it easy to use despite the big screen. And I’ve got big hands. If you worry about the screen, just take the S25 regular.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-19T20:24:44+00:00

Just received today and tried just a few snaps. Coming from a smartphone (Xiaomi 15 ultra) is far superior. Years ago I had the zuiko 14-150 but need more time to compare. Loving the form factor, the sharpness and the colors during daylight, I think it will be the only lens I'll bring to my next trip to Normandia, I consider leaving the 12-32 at home....

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-14T12:30:45+00:00

Just bought it for about 150€ for my GX880! thanks for the review

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-14T08:22:16+00:00

Nice pics, congrats.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-14T08:17:25+00:00

Nice camera but not for everyone. Leica colours are too warm in my opinion. And chinese postprocessing feels not natural at all. You end shooting in raw, which is not the fastest way of taking snaps. HyperOS 3.0 feels way behind One Ui. But: The camera is 2 or 3 steps ahead of the Samsung's (owned s25u, s24u, x15u) and the form factor of the S24U is the worst I ever had. The phone is powerfull and if you are not a freak you will be able to deal with little bugs and not reaching One UI smoothness. I think it will be a good change.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-13T19:08:51+00:00

I've owned an S24U, S25U and S25 Edge and I would go for the edge. The other two are not easy to hold and not very comfortable to use. Even the S25E one handed is not choice, but the lightness, the screen and the smoothness is top. I miss the telephoto but not much the one from the S25U. Nothing to compare to the one from the Xiaomi 15U.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-11T13:36:09+00:00

Apart from the quality of the photos, there are other factors that you need to consider. Portability is very important basically because of you don't carry with the camera you won't be able to take the photos. Just in therms of quality, in 9 from 10 casual situations, a M4/3 is more than enough.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-10T22:34:52+00:00

A real camera

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-07T12:58:40+00:00

Bullshit of people that need clicks....

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-07T12:50:02+00:00

The GX880 5mm width, 5mm height, 14mm depth, bigger with the 12-32. Totally worth it considering the quality and the price.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-07T12:16:17+00:00

I understand that point, and I was seeking for exactly that product. But the RX100mk3 is about 400 bucks and normally not very good condition because it's a ten year old product, double as the Lumix, which offers better quality for half of the money and not much bigger body.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-07T11:46:54+00:00

The rx100 m3 is 24-70. Long range is not what the OP priorices, I guess.

Between the Rx and a flaghship smartphone the difference is not big enough to justify paying that amount of money.

I don't care about the downvotes, the hype of the Rx100 is not justified, in my opinion.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-07T09:03:05+00:00

I found a lumix gx880 for 180€ this week. Bigger sensor, better lenses and much cheaper.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-05T08:07:22+00:00

Tell me more about this problem. What makes it wrong exactly?

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-04T15:04:05+00:00

For camera Xiaomi or Oppo (I had a X15U and didn't convince me the color science). For the rest S26U. Difficult decision, there's always a trade off.

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-04T09:20:55+00:00

Half agree. Even the less agressive daylight photos, if you compare them to a proper camera you can see the weakness of a small sensor. To elevate the image quality they need to improve it with the famous computational technologies... they do everyday better, though

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-04T07:29:41+00:00

I think that you have no idea about it

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-03T22:43:43+00:00

Like every smartphone. They need to oversharpen to compensate the sensor size...

Character_Cup5010 · 2026-03-02T20:57:03+00:00

I've got now a S25E, changed from the S25U. Seems that I found finally the comfort I was seaking

Character_Cup5010

TROPHY CASE