Xiaomi 15S Pro vs iPhone 16 Pro vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Real-World Performance Test

When Xiaomi announced their new 15S Pro powered by the in-house XRing 01 chip, many wondered how it would hold up against the latest flagship processors like Apple’s A18 Pro and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite. So, I put the Xiaomi 15S Pro side by side with the iPhone 16 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra to see how they really compare. Let’s dive into the results.

Benchmark Performance: Who Wins on Paper?

First up are the benchmarks—Antutu, Geekbench 6, and 3D Mark. While benchmarks don’t tell the whole story, they give a snapshot of raw power.

Starting with Antutu, the X-Ring 01 in the Xiaomi 15S Pro came out on top, outperforming both the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the A18 Pro by a noticeable margin, especially in CPU and GPU performance. The A18 Pro, surprisingly, trailed behind, holding its ground only in the UX scores.

On Geekbench 6, the A18 Pro claimed victory in single-core performance, with the Snapdragon 8 Elite coming in second and the X-Ring 01 close behind. For multi-core, it was the Snapdragon 8 Elite leading the pack, followed by the X-Ring 01, with the A18 Pro in last place.

In 3D Mark’s Steel Nomad Light test, both the XRing 01 and Snapdragon 8 Elite dominated, leaving the A18 Pro far behind.

Real-World Speed and RAM Management

Benchmarks aside, I also ran a real-world speed and RAM management test. I loaded 10 different apps on each phone to see how they handle multitasking in real-life scenarios.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite was the fastest in the first round, completing the cycle in just 1 minute 16 seconds. The Xiaomi 15S Pro with the X-Ring 01 followed closely at 1 minute 19 seconds, while the iPhone 16 Pro took 1 minute 26 seconds.

For the second round, which focuses on RAM management, the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the iPhone 16 Pro kept all apps in memory, finishing at 1 minute 40 seconds and 1 minute 48 seconds, respectively. The 15S Pro had to reload a game and finished last at 1 minute 54 seconds.

Video Rendering Test: The Real-World Challenge

Next, I tested video rendering, a crucial task for many users. I loaded a 1.5-minute video into each phone and rendered it in 4K at 60fps.

Here, the A18 Pro on the iPhone 16 Pro breezed through the task, finishing first. The Snapdragon 8 Elite took second, while the X-Ring 01 struggled, taking the longest to complete the render. This test shows that while benchmarks may favor Xiaomi’s chip, real-world tasks can tell a different story.

5G Connectivity Test

Lastly, I checked 5G performance. The Xiaomi 15S Pro, being a China-exclusive model, showed some inconsistency in speeds, maxing out at around 650 Mbps. In contrast, both the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the A18 Pro on the iPhone 16 Pro and Galaxy S25 Ultra hit 1 Gbps without issue.

Final Thoughts

So, what’s the verdict? The Xiaomi 15S Pro with the XRing 01 chip shows impressive benchmark numbers, but in real-world tests, it lags behind Apple and Samsung’s flagships in some key areas like video rendering and RAM management. It’s a solid effort, but not quite the game-changer some might expect.

That’s all for this breakdown! I had planned to include gaming tests as well, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the Xiaomi 15S Pro long enough for that. Hopefully, I’ll get to do a dedicated gaming review soon.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments—do you think benchmarks matter as much as real-world performance? Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more insights!