Thinking of buying the Redmi Note 15 Pro+? Here are 4 reasons to buy and 3 to skip
The Redmi Note 15 Pro+ is the most complete Redmi Note phone from Xiaomi yet, but it’s not perfect. No phone is, for that matter. Buying the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ largely depends on two things: what matters most and whether those aspects are enough to justify upgrading from an older Redmi phone. For the most part, the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ is a solid upgrade if you’re using a two to three-generation-old Pro+ model. And if you’re a non-Redmi user looking to make that leap, the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ offers a few compelling reasons to consider. At the same time, there are a few areas where the phone falls short of expectations.
If you want a deep dive into the Redmi Note 15 Pro+, you can check out my review here. If you’re pressed for time, here’s a quick breakdown of why you should buy and skip the phone.
Reasons to buy Redmi Note 15 Pro+
Large and bright AMOLED display
The Redmi Note 15 Pro+ is for those who prefer using big phones. You get a 6.83-inch AMOLED display that is bright, crisp, and vibrant. The screen is great to look at both indoors and outdoors, with a peak brightness of 3200 nits. There is some curvature around the edges of the display, but not so much as to register accidental touches.
During my time reviewing the phone, I had a good experience streaming shows on platforms like Netflix or watching crisp, high-res content on YouTube. It’s a screen that offers plenty of real estate and good viewing angles if you like consuming content on the move, such as when travelling by metro or bus.
Impressive battery endurace and fast charging
The Redmi Note 15 Pro+ gets a marginal bump in battery capacity from 6,200mAh to 6,500mAh. While this might not seem like much on paper, the result is a phone that comfortably lasts a full day and sometimes more, depending on the usage. For moderate to heavy users, expect the device to last the entire day, with a top-up needed in the morning when you wake up.
Much like the battery, fast charging has also seen a slight bump from 90W to 100W. In our testing, it took about 38 minutes to charge the device from 20 to 100 percent. This makes it one of the fastest charging phones under Rs 40,000.
Improved durability with IP ratings
Xiaomi has strengthened the internals with what it calls the Redmi Titan Structure, designed to improve resistance against drops and structural stress. On top of that, durability credentials have been expanded significantly, with IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K ratings. That’s a step up from the previous model’s IP68 certification and, at least on paper, places the Note 15 Pro+ among the more rugged options in its segment. I didn’t put it through extreme durability tests, but there’s a certain reassurance in knowing it’s built to better handle dust accumulation and unexpected splashes, whether you’re caught in the rain or around water.
Strong daylight photography
Upgrading to a 200MP primary sensor instantly makes the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ a solid camera phone in daylight scenes. The camera captures sharp, detail-rich photos with pleasing colours and balanced dynamic range. witching to the full 200MP mode takes this a step further, delivering extremely crisp images that hold their clarity even when cropped or zoomed in. The trade-off, however, is larger file sizes that can quickly eat into your storage. But this is largely where the camera is at its best. Read on to see where the camera system falls short.
Reasons to skip Redmi Note 15 Pro+
No telephoto lens, portraits look lacking
Xiaomi decided to drop the telephoto lens on the Redmi Note 15 Pro+, thinking the 200MP primary camera would make up for it. However, that wasn’t the case as portrait photography is underwhelming. I wasn’t satisfied with the daylight portraits. At a glance, they appear well-exposed with pleasing colour tuning, but closer inspection shows softer facial details and limited texture retention, particularly with human subjects. My colleague Dhruv observed a similar pattern on the Redmi Note 15 Pro, which isn’t surprising given that both devices share the same rear camera hardware.
The Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 is a reliable performer and didn’t struggle for the most part during the review period. However, if you’re comparing the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ to the OnePlus Nord 5 and Realme 16 Pro Plus, you’ll see that the brand isn’t using the best-in-class chipset. In synthetic benchmarks like AnTuTu, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chip powering the Redmi phone trails behind the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and Snapdragon 7 Gen 4.
While gaming performance is decent and popular titles run well in medium to high settings, the phone isn’t designed keeping gamers in mind. You won’t get the extremely fluid refresh rates as you do on the Nord 5, nor do you get additional gaming features that give you a competitive edge.
Ships with Android 15 instead of Android 16
On the one hand, Xiaomi is promising long-term software support with a 4+6-year upgrade policy, which is great and gives a sense of comfort that the phone will stay up to date. On the other hand, the phone ships with Android 15 out of the box, which is disappointing given that Android 16 has been available for a while now.
Xiaomi says the latest HyperOS 3 will be coming soon, but it would have been nice to see the phone ship with the latest OS out of the box.
Conclusion
In simple terms, you should consider buying the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ if you want a big, bright display, excellent battery life, fast charging, and a phone that feels sturdy enough to last a few years. It’s especially worth upgrading to if you’re using a Redmi Note Pro+ model that’s two or three generations old, as the improvements in endurance, durability, and overall polish are meaningful.
However, if you’re coming from a recent high-performance mid-range phone, care deeply about portrait photography, or want the most powerful chipset available under Rs 40,000, there are better options to explore, such as the Realme 16 Pro+, OnePlus Nord 5, or even the older Realme GT 7.
The Redmi Note 15 Pro+ isn’t trying to be the fastest or the most versatile; it’s trying to be dependable. And for many users, that should be enough.
