Original subtitles

Now, if you're after a fresh new budget

friendly blower, well, good news, cuz

Xiaomi just launched so many of the

buggers that I can't even fit them all

in my pants. As usual, the immensely

affordable Redmi Note 15 is joined by a

Redmi Note 15 Pro and a Note 15 Pro

Plus, and I've been giving them a

thorough C into so you know which one

might be best for you. Whether you're

into gaming, movies, shooting pictures

of fluffy stuff, or like most people,

simply doom scrolling until the mental

fatigue sets in and you crawl into the

shower for a good scrub and a cry.

Anyway, here's my full Redmi Note 15

versus Pro versus Pro Plus comparison.

And for more on the latest and greatest

tech, please do poke subscribe, ding

that old notifications bell. Cheers.

Now, firstly, despite being siblings,

this Redmi Trio don't actually look that

much alike. For a start, the Redmi Note

15 has a curved display sloping away at

the left and right. Whereas the front

end of the Pro and the Pro Plus,

completely flat, and those Pro models

also have a larger 6.83 in screen versus

the 6.77 in display of the Redmi Note

15, although they look the same

dimensions. And that's because the Note

15 has slightly chunkier bezels above

and below. Now, not everyone will get on

with a curved display cuz there are

slight responsiveness issues every now

and then when you're clutching the Redmi

Note 15 rather tight. You're sort of

hand fat and your pinkies intrude on the

curved edges of that screen. However,

the Redmi Note 15 certainly has the best

hand feel of this trio cuz you got a

curved back end as well as a screen. So,

it's just comfortable to clutch and that

design helps it to feel super skinny and

it's also the most lightweight as well.

Now, you do have a plastic frame for all

three of these Redmi phones. Not even

the Pro Plus model gets upgraded to

metal. And then around back, similar

aesthetics on all three. A matte finish

with a centrally housed camera bump with

a rounded square design that some people

refer to as squirle and just makes it

sound like a Pokemon. And those camera

bumps aren't really much of a bump at

all. They only just slightly out of that

back end. You still got a very different

vibe for the rear end of these three

smartphones. So, it's a simple plastic

finish here on the Redmi Note 15, but

with that curved finish at the edges.

Meanwhile, looks more like a frosted

finish here on the Redmi Note 15, even

if it is just once again matte plastic.

But my favorite is certainly the

fiberglass finish here on the Redmi Note

15 Pro Plus, which gives it a sort of

almost leather-like texture, adds a bit

of extra grip, feels nicer against the

palm, and it just looks a bit more

premium. Now, you can grab all three of

these Redmi Note 15 phones here in

Blighty in basic black or glacia blue.

And all three also have a third color

option. Green for the Redmi Note 15,

titanium for the Pro model, and mocka

for the Pro Plus. And good news if

you're a bit of a butter fingers, you've

smashed a few smartphones in the past

cuz this trio are a bunch of rugged

buggers. You got high durability glass

protecting the screen on the Redmi Note

15. That's upgraded to proper full-on

Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for the front

ends of the Pro and the Pro Plus. So,

while the Redmi Note 15 can survive

drops of up to 1.8 m, pretty impressive

in itself, that's actually boosted to

2.5 m for the Pro and the Pro Plus. And

don't stress about them getting all

scratched up either cuz you've got a

pre-installed screen protector on all

three. And while the regular Redmi Note

15 is IP64 dust and splash resistant,

that's upgraded to IP68 water resistance

on the other two. So the regular model

absolutely fine for taking out in a

serious bit of British drizzle. But if

you actually drop it and submerge it in

water, wouldn't like that too much.

You'll definitely want a Pro and a Pro

Plus if you're going to be hanging

around a swimming pool or, you know,

tick- tocking in the bath or whatever.

Now, on the software side, it's slightly

bad news actually for all three of these

Redmi phones because they're all still

stuck on Hyper OS version 2 slapped on

top of Android 15. So, it's very much

old software here despite the fact that

Hyper OS 3 and Android 16 have been

available for literally months. We've

already had it on a bunch of Xiaomi's

more premium, more expensive blowers. In

slightly better news though, Xiaomi is

at least generously offering six full

years of security patching for the Redmi

Note 15 series, which is particularly

good for the regular Redmi Note 15,

which will cost fewer than 200 of your

British pounds. And apparently across

the board, you'll also enjoy four OS

updates, although one of those updates

would of course just bring it up to date

with Hyper OS version 3 and Android 16.

So technically, you're really only

getting three updates. And I'm not

expecting those to come in a

particularly timely fashion. And to

unlock these three smartphones, well,

it's a basic optical indis fingerprint

sensor housed quite low down in that

display. This does the job absolutely

fine on all three. It's not the most

responsive. Of course, if your hands are

wet, sticky, dirty, whatever, then good

bloody luck, basically. But you do also

always have a good bit of face unlock as

a backup option, which works all right

as long as the lighting isn't total

trouser. And then once you're in there,

it's a similar HyperOS experience on all

three. You've got your usual

notifications panel, which you can drag

down like so, and a separate control

center. You've got your dedicated apps

drawer on all three, which is mostly

packed full of crapware. Unfortunately,

not even the Pro Plus model escapes on

that front stuffed full of like Teu,

AliExpress, Booking.com,

Facebook, LinkedIn, and a bunch of

crappy games that I guess you can play

if you're absolutely desperate.

Fortunately, you can bin this stuff

pretty quickly and easily. It'll just

take you a wee while. So, you know, you

might want to pop the kettle on or in my

case, make sure you got the good stuff

to hand. And this will help to free up a

bit of space on these smartphones as

well. You've got 128 or 256 gigs of

storage here on the regular Remi Note

15. And that's upgraded to 256 gigs

minimum on the Pro models. You can also

upgrade that to 512 gigs. However, only

the regular Redmi Note 15 actually

supports micro SD memory cards to expand

that storage, just make it easier to

back your stuff up. You don't get that

option on the Pro and the Pro Plus. Now,

as I say, similar experience on all

three, right down to the customization

or personalization, as it's called on

HyperOS. Unfortunately, that also

stretches to the always on display,

which isn't actually an always on

display on any of these three. You can

only have it displayed for 10 seconds

after tapping. And so, therefore, unless

you're constantly poking and proddding

your bloody smartphone, it's not always

on, is it, Xiaomi? You can ped with the

icons, the fonts, even the fingerprint

sensor effect. You got the same handy

privacy and security features on all

three. You've also got NFC support on

all three of these Redmi Note 15 phones

for a good bit of contactless payment

support. But there are some differences

between the regular Redmi Note 15 and

those Pro models as well. For instance,

only the Pros support eSIM as well as

their physical SIM as well. An eSIM

really handy if you're traveling abroad

to somewhere where your current SIM card

isn't supported. Just grab yourself an

eSIM on the internet before you even

bugger off to the airport and you'll be

able to continue using your smartphone

as soon as you touch down. There's a few

other Wii differences here and there as

well, like only the Pros have a

dedicated gaming mode to help you get

the most out of those online shooty

extravaganzas, so you can thoroughly

relish your bit of PUBG or Call of Duty

or whatever, up until some groty

10-year-old spatters your brain matter

all over the pavement, at least. Now, if

you love indulging in a bit of movies,

bit of gaming or whatever on your

smartphone, well, great news. All three

of these Redmi Note 15 smartphones have

a gorgeous AMOLED screen slapped on the

front end. Even the regular basic Redmi

Note 15, it's just slightly smaller on

that base model at 6.77 in versus 6.83.

And of course, you do have those curved

edges. The regular Redmi Note 15 also

makes do with a full HD plus resolution

2392 by 1080 pixels. That's still

perfectly fine for browsing your photos,

enjoying a bit of YouTube or Netflix or

whatever. That is upgraded to a 1.5K

resolution 2772 by 1280 pixel resolution

you on the Pro and the Pro Plus. So you

just notice a wee bit of finer detail

when you are checking out your photos

etc. And also while the regular Redmi

Note 15 has bugger support for HDR

streaming in the likes of Netflix, where

you do get HDR10 and Dolby Vision

support on the Pro and the Pro Plus

means a bit of a boost to the contrast

and the tones on the Pro models, but the

Redmi Note 15 is still perfectly fine.

Still got pretty deep blacks, some nice

natural looking color reproduction. And

in more great news, they're all

perfectly bright panels as well. Plus,

if you max out that brightness and we

tilt them all towards the rather fierce

studio lights, you'll see you barely

even notice the impact those spotlights

reflecting right off those powerful

panels. So, while the outdoor visibility

absolutely fine on all three, although I

would like to point out I have been

testing them out in the UK in February,

so to all intents and purposes, I might

as well have been living in a

cave. You got 120 Hz refresh rate

support as well. Well, they won't always

feel that silky smooth though because

HyperOS isn't the lightest of launches.

You've also got 3840 Hz PWM dimming if

you're a bit more sensitive to that OLED

flicker. It's a stereo speaker setup on

all three Redmi Note 15 phones. Although

on the regular model, it's not

particularly stereo. That earpiece

speaker is rather pants and certainly a

bit more balanced on the Redmi Note 15

Pro and Pro Plus. Although don't expect

bassy audio on any of these three, but

they're all pretty bloody loud on top

volume. 300% the Redmi Note 15 hits

compared with 400% on the Pro and the

Pro Plus. I'm sure your mathematicians

are absolutely filling their pants with

rage right about now. And when it comes

to performance, completely different

chipset running the show on all three of

these. It's a MediaTek Helio G100 Ultra

on the regular. That's upgraded to a

Dimensity 7400 Ultra on the Pro and then

it's a completely different manufacturer

Qualcomm with its Snapdragon 7S Gen 4

for the Pro Plus. That's backed by 8

gigs of RAM on my Redmi Note 15 and 15

Pro review samples, but that is upgraded

to 12 meaty gigs on the Pro Plus. Now,

also note I've got the regular 4G model

of the Redmi Note 15 here, but you can

actually upgrade it to a 5G version

which uses a different chipset. It's the

Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 and that offers up 5G

support via the built-in modem. And I

have found that the everyday performance

on the Redmi Note 15 can be rather

sludgy at times, especially if you're

multitasking or you're using the camera,

something a bit more demanding. So, if

you're going to go for the base model,

probably best that you're a light user.

You know, it's a bit of web browsing

messaging, etc. And also not the kind of

person who would get angry if you have

to wait more than a second or so for

your app to load up. But thankfully,

everything seems to be reasonably nippy

here on the Pro and the Pro Plus.

Although, of course, as I said before,

HyperOS, not the lightest of launches.

If you're a bit of a gaming fan, well,

the good news is that lighter, more

optimized fair like PUBG, Call of Duty

Mobile will play happily on all three of

these smartphones. Even the base Redmi

Note 15 handles it, no worries. However,

if you're hoping to play more intensive

fair like Wither and Waves and Genchin

Impact, you'll definitely want to

upgrade to minimum the Redmi Note 15 Pro

and preferably the Redmi Note 15 Pro

Plus. The regular Redmi Note 15 just

cannot really handle weather and waves.

I mean, it will play, it will physically

play on this thing, but that frame rate

often dips into single digits,

especially when things get a little bit

mental. The experience is certainly a

bit more fluid on the Redmi Note 15 Pro,

but I still wouldn't call it

particularly fun. Once again, some

serious performance drops when the

action gets a wee bit heated. The likes

of Weather and Waves certainly

considerably more playable and enjoyable

on the Pro Plus compared with its

siblings. The frame rate still isn't

consistent. Don't get me wrong, you'll

still see several dips in that

performance when the sticky brand stuff

slams into a fan. And if you're brave

slashfoolish enough to actually try and

bump up the graphics settings, you'll

see even more jutdder and then the fun

levels end up right in the toilet. But

the good news is those displays nice and

responsive on all three 240 Hz touch

sampling and none of them heat up under

duress either. Even with plenty of

weather and waves or Call of Duty

action, they all stay reasonably cool to

the touch. Oh, and as I mentioned

before, you only get that dedicated

gaming mode on the Pro phones. So, the

Redmi Note 15 Pro and the Pro Plus boost

the performance, record the action,

whatever you want to do. And no matter

your choice, you get a proper big

battery stuffed in there as well. It's a

6,000 mAh cell in the regular Redmi Note

15 that is boosted to 6,580

milliamp and the Redmi Note 15 Pro and

the Pro Plus almost as big as that,

6,500 mAh. And of course, they're all

powered by reasonably energy efficient

chipsets as well. So, as long as you

don't go mental on them, you're not just

non-stop video chatting or gaming,

you'll comfortably get a weekend of use

from a single charge. And even more

demanding users who are non-stop on that

camera or playing a lot of Call of Duty,

streaming lots of video, streaming lots

of music in the background, etc., you'll

still end a day, a long, long intensive

day with at least 25 30% battery

remaining. So, zero battery stress. And

if you were to play the likes of Weather

and Waves non-stop on these blowers,

well, where you could expect around five

full hours of action from the regular

Redmi Note 15, about 5 and a half hours

from the Pro model, and the Pro Plus

actually did really bloody well in this

department, gaming on weather and waves

for a solid 6 and 1/2 hours before that

battery was fully drained. And perhaps

unsurprisingly, the more money you

spend, the faster your phone will

recharge as well. You got 33 watt

charging support in the regular Redmi

Note 15 upgraded to 45 watts in the Pro

and 100 watts in the Pro Plus. But

sadly, bug roll support for wireless

charging even in that Redmi Note 15 Pro

Plus. Hey kiddies, let's finish this

lovely Wii sidebyside comparison with

the Redmi Note 15 phones by having a

good hard squint at that camera tech.

Now, the regular Redmi Note 15 uses a

different main camera sensor to the Pro

and the Pro Plus. It's a 108 megapixel 1

over 1.67 in sensor, whereas that's

upgraded on the Pro and the Pro Plus

model to a 200 megapixel camera sensor.

It's a 1 over 1.4 in sensor, which means

it's bigger than the regular Redmi Note

15 and therefore theoretically better in

lower light situations. And while it's

basically the same camera app on all

three, there are some minor differences

between them. For instance, only the Pro

and the Pro Plus have a motion capture

mode. You got the same camera modes

slapped on here. All of these, for

instance, have an ultra HD setting where

you can capture at 108 megapixels in the

case, the Redmi Note 15, 200 megapixels

on the Pro and the Pro Plus. Of course,

you got likes the portrait mode, and all

three have a dedicated pro mode,

although only the Redmi Note 15 Pro and

Pro Plus will allow you to capture RAW

images. With the regular Redmi Note 15,

you are just limited to JPEG. But as

usual with all my smartphone camera

testing, I stuck them all on the auto

mode like 99% of users will inevitably

end up doing. Just let these cameras do

their own thing. And few surprises

really when I compared my test shots.

The regular Redmi Note 15 clearly

struggles more with stronger contrast

versus its Pro siblings. You got more

obvious saturation and less natural

tones. You can generally expect warmer

results. The Note 15 Pro and the Pro

Plus also perform better in softer

light, capturing more detail with those

larger sensors. Although all three of

these Redmi blows are guilty of focus

fails when it comes to living subjects,

if that lighting is a wee bit cack. And

speaking of living subjects, any kind of

motion at all will result in a useless

bag of blurry balls, even if you switch

on that action mode on the Pro phones,

which isn't particularly ideal if you do

spend a lot of your time snapping your

kids or your pets. And of course, you

only get the single sensor here on the

Redmi Note 15, whereas the Pro and the

Pro Plus do come with a basic ultra

wideangle shooter, too. This just gives

you more flexible viewpoint when needed.

And of course, there's differences when

it comes to shooting video on these

three smartphones as well. The regular

Redmi Note 15 sadly caps offered full HD

resolution video. There's bugger all

support for 4K action there, 30 or 60

frames per second. Whereas on the Pro

and the Pro Plus, you can capture 4K

resolution video, though that is capped

off at 30 frames pers. Have to drop down

to that full HD level if you want that

ultra realistic 60fps vibe. And then if

we flip around to the front end, you've

got a 20 meg selfie cam here on the

Redmi Note 15 and the Redmi Note 15 Pro

as upgraded to 32 megapixels on the

Redmi Pro Plus. That said, you can only

capture full HD resolution video with

all three of these. There's no 4K

option, not even here on the Pro Plus.

Although, if you do go pro, you can at

least bump up the frame rate to 60

frames pers. And there you have it, my

lovelies. That in a tuy nutshell is how

the Redmi Note 15, the 15 Pro, and the

15 Pro Plus all stack up. Quite a few

differences between them as you can see,

but they're all proper durable buggers.

They've all got a decent AMOLED display

slapped on that front end and a banging

bit of battery life as well. But of

course, the more money you spend, the

faster the charging support, the better

the performance. And those Pro models

also offer extra features like eSIM

support, although it's only the base

Redmi Note 15, which actually has

expandable storage via micro SD. So,

what do you reckon? Anyway, it' be great

to your thoughts down in the comments

below. My Redmi Note 15 review is

already live, so you can check that out

for an in-depth bit of me banging on

about that one. Currently working on my

Redmi Note 15 Pro Plus review and hoping

to get a full Pro review up at some

point, too. So, please do poke subscribe

and ding that notifications bell for

more on the latest and greatest tech and

have yourselves an absolutely ruddy

wonderful rest of the week. Cheers

everybody. Love you.