Design, build quality, handling
The new Redmi Note 15 Pro+ isn’t a big departure from the previous Pro+ in terms of design. Quite the opposite – it adopts a near-identical look with a squircle-shaped camera island on the back and curved back and front panels.
The only notable change is the side frame, which is now flat instead of curved. This way, the phone aligns with the current design trends. Also, the display is now curved on all four sides and feels a lot like a higher-end Xiaomi phone, say like the 15 Ultra.
Interestingly, while the previous Redmi Note 14 Pro+ stood out from the rest of the Redmis in the family when it comes to design, the 15 Pro+ blends with the rest because the vanilla Redmi Note 15 and the regular Pro adopt the same design language.
Color schemes are different, though. In addition to the standard Black, you can also choose between Glacier Blue and Mocha Brown. Depending on the colorway, you get either Gorilla Glass 7i glass back or vegan leather. The Mocha Brown variant we got has a vegan leather finish. The side frame remains aluminum, of course.
Regardless of the paint job, the display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 sheet, like last year. The newer model, however, gains IP68/IP69K protection against water and dust, which is a step up from the previous generation.
Redmi Note 15 Pro+
As is often the case with some midrangers, the Note 15 Pro+ has its optical fingerprint reader placed way too close to the bottom edge of the display, which makes it a bit awkward to use. At least it’s reliable and snappy.
The power button and the volume rocker are both conveniently placed on the right side of the frame, while the bottom is home to the dual SIM card slot, with no option for microSD. eSIM is supported.
All in all, the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ doesn’t bring any surprises to the table and offers a familiar design with small, barely noticeable changes. Kudos to Xiaomi for upgrading the ingress protection and shaving off almost a millimeter from the chassis’ thickness.