There’s one more major mobile for 2025, as a big brand from China makes an official entrance in Australia.
If you thought the phone launches were done for the year (and we sure did), think again. A surprise entrance has arrived, as Xiaomi is making an official appearance.
It’s technically not the first appearance for Xiaomi in Australia, mind you. The phone maker has arrived randomly throughout the years, once through an Australian distributor and more recently through the Poco brand, though that may not be a thing anymore.
However, Australia has never seen an official official appearance of its mobiles, particularly focusing on its flagship handsets.
This time it is, it seems. For real life.
In the past few years, Xiaomi has even teamed up with Leica for its smartphone cameras, taking over from Huawei’s collaboration years ago. Yes, that Leica.
And good news, because Australia will be getting those Leica phones, too, plus a bunch of other Xiaomi gear alongside.
Set to launch on October 10, Australia will see Xiaomi 15T, a 5G phone sporting Android and Xiaomi’s own overlay, arriving in two versions, the regular 15T and the 15T Pro.
Both are 6.83 inch Full HD+ phones sporting big batteries and three Leica cameras, albeit in different ways.
In the 15T, there’s a 50 megapixel 23mm main wide camera (1X) with an F1.7 aperture, a 12 megapixel F2.2 ultra-wide roughly equivalent to 15mm, and a 50 megapixel 46mm telephoto F1.9 camera which roughly covers 2X.
The 15T Pro keeps the same 50mp wide and 12mp ultra-wide, but ups the telephoto game by including a 50 megapixel F3.0 camera roughly equivalent to 115mm using a periscope camera, covering what should essentially be 5X zoom.
There are also other differences between the 15T and 15T Pro, including a faster chip in the Pro model (MediaTek Dimensity 8400 Ultra vs Dimensity 9400+), slightly faster screen (120Hz vs 144Hz), thickness and weight, and battery charging speed.
But they’ll both get a massive 5500mAh battery, and they’ll also get a bit of AI, because, you know, phones in 2025 all seem to have AI onboard. They’ll both also sport IP68 water resistance.
In Australia, the phones will launch with a $200 discount initially, the Xiaomi 15T arriving from $799 in a 256GB model and $899 for its 512GB equivalent, before going back to $999 and $1099 respectively in November. Meanwhile, the Xiaomi 15T Pro will be found for $1099 for 256GB and $1199 for 512GB, with November seeing the prices rise to $1299 and $1399 respectively.
Xiaomi’s flagship phone won’t be the only gadgets to be offered locally, with the official arrival of Xiaomi also including two Redmi Pad tablets, two sub-$90 Redmi smartwatches and smart bands, a pair of earbuds, several power banks, and even a few robotic vacuum models, one of which will launch for $629 down from its normal price of $1199.
“We are launching in Australia with what we believe is our most compelling product lineup to date, headlined by the groundbreaking Xiaomi 15T Series,” said Jephix Liu, Director of Go-to-Market for Xiaomi.
“The partnership with Leica on this series is a game-changer, putting professional-grade mobile photography within reach of more Australians than ever before,” he said.
“But our commitment to innovation extends across our entire ecosystem. Across our entire lineup, from the fitness trackers on your wrist to the robot vacuums in your home, every product is designed to set a new standard for a class-leading experience.”
We’re checking to find out whether this launch also extends to New Zealand, though right now it appears Australia is the main target, with October 10 the launch of Xiaomi locally. Hopefully that includes some foldables in the near future, because Xiaomi has been making those for years, as well.
