There’s a certain heft to the Xiaomi 15T Pro. And by that I don’t mean it’s heavy, but it brings with it a certain kind of feel to it. Perhaps the best way to express this is in Filipino, where it isn’t “mabigat” but it is “bigatin.”

I have been using the phone for about a week and a half, and it feels like I’m only scratching the surface of what it can do. It feels like I was handed a sports car, but I’ve only been driving in the city. So where there might be a sense of power, the limitations have been with what my uses are, as opposed to what this phone could actually do if run to its limits.

One of the striking things about the phone is its 6.83” screen with 1.5mm ultra narrow bezels. It has a 1.5K resolution and can do Dolby Vision and HDR10 playback. In use, the screen real estate was big and vibrant and felt fluid. It also has professional color grade accuracy, so it really feels like things are popping.

I’ve always been a fan of smaller phones that fit in my clumsy paw for fear of dropping a bigger phone. In the hand this is a big phone but it feels nicely balanced and allays my fears. Even better, the big screen, whether held vertically or horizontally, made working on documents, spreadsheets, kanban boards, and photo edits so much easier, even if I was swiping around with my sausage fingers.

Part of what gives the Xiaomi 15T Pro some real heft is that when you flip it over you will see four camera lenses and the Leica name found between them. Between the lenses, signature filters, and other features, the phone promises a pro-grade Leica experience. It has a 5X telephoto lens which offers 5x optical zoom, 10x lossless zoom, and up to 100x Ultrazoom. The pro-grade Leica Main Camera has a Leica Summilux lens, superior light intake, and rich tonal range.

Caveat here that I am nowhere near a pro photographer. But what I think creative people like me would be looking for is something that inspires us, that makes us want to explore and see how we might be able to express ourselves. In this respect, the Xiaomi 15T Pro checks all the boxes and then some. It has so many options, especially with the filters and bokeh effects for portraits, that it can spark creativity.

The phone also has pro-grade video recording, so you’re covered if creating content or just shooting for personal projects or memories. It’s also fully powered so that it can easily edit those projects on the fly.

The phone runs on a MediaTek Dimensity 9400+. One of the biggest features of this chip is its ability to run on-device AI, as well as have the power to perform heavy-duty tasks that include 8K editing. Using it as a creative and a manager, any kind of work I’ve thrown at it, so far it has handled easily. It also seems fine-tuned to deliver good battery performance, something that the power efficiency of the Dimensity contributes to. I’ve gone a good day and a half on one full charge with normal work use.

We can expect AI features in everything that ships these days. The Xiaomi 15T Pro reinforces the professional experience with its choice of AI enhancements. The phone has both Xiaomi HyperAI and features that seamlessly integrate with Google Gemini.

One of my most used features was the AI recorder, which allowed me to record meetings and interviews, and instantaneously subtitled those meetings as we talked. Not necessarily the most groundbreaking, but definitely a much-appreciated onboard feature. Similarly the AI-powered notes, where you can brainstorm with AI and mind-map aren’t super flashy, but they are very helpful.

Sometimes I take the phone out of its case so that I can enjoy its nice matte black finish. Like I mentioned earlier, makes me feel like I’m playing with the equivalent of a sports car, in this case with its sleep design and the power it has lurking within it. It also has Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, and an IP68 water and dust resistance.

For what I would do on the day to day, the Xiaomi 15T Pro far exceeds expectations.