Redmi 15 5G First Impression: Budget king or just another clone?

The Redmi 15 5G is finally here, and this phone isn’t just competing with other brands. It’s also stepping on the toes of its own sub-brand, Poco.

The Poco M7 Plus launched not too long ago, and on paper, these two phones are basically twins. They have the same specs and positioning but come in slightly different designs.

So what’s Redmi’s play here? And more importantly, does the Redmi 15 5G have anything that makes it worth picking over the competition?

Redmi 15 5G First Impression: Design

Let's start with the design.

The Redmi 5G goes for a clean, premium look with its marble-like white back that resists smudges. You get a dual-camera setup tucked neatly into a metallic module with an LED flash.

Both the back and sides are plastic, which is expected in this segment, but the finish feels solid. The phone will be available in three colors — Sandy Purple, Midnight Black, and this Frosted White.

On the front, you get a central punch-hole display.

At the bottom, you’ve got a single speaker grille and a Type-C charging port. The speaker itself is pretty loud—perfect for casually watching YouTube or scrolling through reels. Clarity isn’t amazing, but it’s okay.

And if you want to crank it up, there’s a “200% super volume” mode that really pushes the sound a bit further.

As for utilities, you get dual-sim support, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner that works reliably, an IR blaster for controlling appliances, and an IP64 rating for dust and water resistance—so it’s reasonably protected against everyday spills and dust.

Now, this is a big phone and the weights 217 grams, so it does feel a bit hefty but it’s still comfy to hold because of the rouned corners.

And Thanks to silicon-carbon battery tech, the Redmi 15 5G manages to pack its massive 7,000mAh battery while staying slim at just 8.40mm.

BTW, the OPPO K13 Turbo Pro is another solid phone that comes with a 7,000mAh battery.

Redmi 15 5G First Impression: Display

The display uses a 6.9 inch Full HD+ panel with a 144Hz refresh rate. Bezels are fairly slim—yes, you’ll notice them, but on the sides especially, they’re kept nice and narrow. The display quality itself is solid.

And the fact that it’s Full HD+ is a big win, because in this price range, brands usually cut corners with HD or HD+ panels, which honestly just don’t look as good.

The display quality is actually good for a phone under ₹15,000. But you won’t get HDR or 4K playback, and you are stuck to 1080p on YouTube. It’s also an LCD panel, not AMOLED, but colors are punchy and viewing angles are respectable. Outdoors, the brightness can feel a bit limited, so you might have to squint under harsh sunlight.

The 144Hz refresh rate should have a big highlight here but the interface tops out at 120Hz. We only saw it hit 144Hz on the calculator app, which is pretty common in budget phones. Case in point, the Tecno Pova Curve 5G

That said, the touch response is very smooth, and scrolling through apps or browsing the web feels satisfying and fluid.

Redmi 15 5G First Impression: Cameras

Now, the cameras. You get a 50MP main sensor and a 2MP depth sensor on the back and an 8MP selfie camera up front. Overall, the cameras are decent. Nothing extraordinary, but good enough for the price. Daylight photos are okay, details are fine, but in low light the phone struggles a lot.

Redmi 15 5G First Impression: Performance

Moving to performance, the phone is powered by the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chip, paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. That’s the same setup on the Poco M7 Plus, which means performance here is predictable.

It’ll handle day-to-day tasks, multitasking, and even some gaming without sweating too much. But if you’re hoping for sustained high performance—say, long BGMI sessions—it will start to throttle, because at the end of the day, this is still a budget chip.

Redmi 15 5G First Impression: Battery

Battery is the big highlight here: a 7000mAh battery with 33W charging support. The backup is excellent—easily 1 and half days, maybe even two depending on your usage more. Charging is slow though... It takes about 1.5 hours to top up the phone fully. On the plus side, you also get reverse charging, so the phone can double up as a power bank when required.

Redmi 15 5G First Impression: Early Verdict

The display is impressive for the price, performance and battery are also solid. The cameras are just average—nothing special.

Overall, its a good phone for the price if your expectations are balanced. Whether you pick the Redmi 15 or the Poco M7 Plus doesn’t really matter since both offer the same hardware and software experience. At the end of the day, it’s more about which brand you trust more.