Smartphone camera showdown: Testing two of 2025's best phones in Barcelona
A duel beneath the palm trees.
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra and Honor Magic7 Pro go head-to-head in our camera comparison. But not just anywhere – in Barcelona, where we take a stroll through the Spanish coastal city to determine which phone is better suited for travel photography.Florian Schmitt, 👁 Florian Schmitt, ✓ Louise Burke (translated by DeepL / Ninh Duy) Published 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...
Barcelona is one of Europe’s top destinations and it’s easy to see why. With its Mediterranean charm, mild climate, vibrant shopping scene and UNESCO World Heritage sites, including iconic Modernisme architecture and parks, the city has something for everyone.
Beyond the famous landmarks, like the medieval cathedral, Tibidabo amusement park and the Montserrat Monastery nestled in the Catalan mountains, Barcelona offers endless attractions to explore.
We grabbed two of the best camera smartphones on the market and headed to Barcelona to find out: which phone captures your memories with more reliability, beauty and versatility: the Xiaomi 15 Ultra or the Honor Magic7 Pro?
Key facts and an initial comparison
Our two test candidates are high-end smartphones.
- The Xiaomi 15 Ultra has a 50-megapixel main camera with a 1-inch Sony sensor. The wide-angle and telephoto lenses for 3x optical zoom also have a 50-megapixel resolution. In addition, there is a dedicated periscope zoom camera with 200 megapixels. The entire camera system was developed in collaboration with Leica, the renowned German optics company, and Xiaomi's premium smartphone is priced at around €1,500, for example, on Amazon.de.
- The Honor Magic7 Pro is available at a slightly lower price of around €1,140 on Amazon.de. However, this comes with one fewer camera: In addition to the 50-megapixel main camera with a variable aperture, it includes a wide-angle lens with the same 50 megapixels and a periscope zoom lens with 200 megapixels.
Even in Barcelona, the weather isn’t always sunny. on our first outing, morning fog still lingers over the city, obscuring the Sagrada Familia, one of Antoni Gaudí's most iconic works.
Both cameras struggle with accurately capturing the details hidden in the mist. However, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra performs better in showing details such as the cranes and the arms of the TV antenna on the roof in the foreground.
On the promenade
Avenida Diagonal lives up to its name, stretching diagonally through the city centre, from the mountains to the sea. At the outskirts, we mostly find modern architecture. The high-rise building is noticeably clearer and sharper in the photo taken with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is noticeably clearer and sharper while the image from the Honor smartphone renders many details in a rather blurry manner.
How many major streets in Barcelona offer the Avenida Diagonal, which in the middle provides a wide, plane tree-lined promenade for pedestrians and cyclists? The sharper image in detail is again provided by the Xiaomi smartphone, although both smartphones offer a good representation when looking at the crane arm on the right with its fine supporting struts.
Both smartphones also capture the lighting mood created by the still low sun very well, with the Xiaomi phone showing a slightly cooler colour balance. The Honor Magic7 Pro brightens dark areas a bit better.
A sleek modern metal gate marks the entrance to Parc del Centre del Poblenou, standing as a contemporary gateway to the park. Both phone cameras capture the gate in great detail, even making the vegetation behind the holes in the gate clearly visible.
The sign next to the entrance remains legible in the image enlargement on both smartphones but the Xiaomi 15 Ultra performs better here: it shows higher sharpness and better avoids artefacts around the letter edges compared to the Honor smartphone.
More photos from the morning walk
Zooming in on the Sagrada Familia
We now approach the iconic Sagrada Familia. To begin with some key facts: construction of the church began in 1882 but it remains unfinished, with completion currently expected in 2033.
The most famous architect behind the design is Antoni Gaudí, although the original idea for a church on this site didn’t come from him. Antoni Gaudí is the most renowned architect behind the design, although the original concept for a church on this site was not his. Gaudí, who came to the project by chance, took inspiration from the natural world for his designs. He conceived 18 towers and a wealth of sculptural decorations for the church, dedicating 43 years to the project until his death in 1926. Since then, many other artists have left their mark, transforming the Sagrada Familia into a truly unique masterpiece.
Starting from several kilometres away, we begin zooming in on the building. Here, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra truly excels: even with the 120x magnification of the angels atop the spires, the image remains sharp and highly detailed. In contrast, the Honor smartphone delivers noticeably softer images, lacking the clarity of the Xiaomi.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
Honor Magic7 Pro
Equally impressive up close
Finally, we stand in front of the Sagrada Familia. Both cameras capture the birth façade designed by Gaudí with high quality. The Honor Magic7 Pro offers a slightly more vibrant colour palette but the image overall appears less sharp and softer, which even complements the basilica's sugary-sweet style.
In close-up shots, such as the one featuring the Tree of Life and numerous doves, the Honor Magic7 Pro shows a significantly stronger brightening of the arches in the shadows. However, the colours appear slightly oversaturated and the bright areas are slightly more overexposed compared to the image from the Xiaomi smartphone. The Xiaomi's image, by contrast, offers greater detail and sharper clarity.
More pictures of the Sagrada Familia
A night walk along La Rambla to the harbour
La Rambla, which literally translates as "the riverbed," hints at what used to be there before the famous promenade. It stretches from the central Plaça de Catalunya, through the Gothic Quarter, all the way to the harbour.
At first glance, the shots of the street appear quite good. However, upon closer inspection, both phones show some blurry areas and shaky objects, such as the street lamps. This effect is even more pronounced with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
One street corner further on, a pharmacy cross flashes and a neon sign points to a steakhouse.
In the image from the Xiaomi phone, they might almost be overlooked, as the phone doesn't really make them stand out. The camera in the Honor phone makes them shine more clearly. However, the image produced by the Xiaomi 15 Ultra is once again noticeably sharper.
As we reach the harbour, we catch sight of a circus in the distance, nestled between the masts of the boats.
This is where the Honor phone struggles again: the shot from the Xiaomi camera appears less shaky. In terms of colour balance and brightness, both photos are consistent.
More nighttime shots
Old Town, Casa Batlló and Park Güell
Our visit to Barcelona is coming to an end but there’s still so much to see. So, we take a stroll through the Old Town, heading towards the Gothic Cathedral. Its tower rises above the rooftops. Both phones capture the intricate supporting structure well but the Xiaomi 15 Ultra renders the statue at the top much sharper.
After a brief tour of the interior, we move on to the next highlight: Casa Batlló, a magnificent mansion also designed by Antoni Gaudí. The ocean theme served as his inspiration, and as you walk through the staircase, you truly feel as if you’re in an underwater world. Unfortunately, the Honor Magic7 Pro doesn’t fare much better here either, presenting the scene with less sharpness and more blur compared to the Xiaomi phone.
Next, we quickly head to the third and final must-see of the day: Park Güell. Here, once again, Gaudí worked his magic, creating a park that was originally intended to be a residential area for wealthy families. However, due to strict building regulations and poor connections to the city at the time, the project failed. Luckily for us, the park is now open to the public. However, due to the large crowds of tourists, an entrance fee is now required.
The iconic bench, encircling the central square of the park and adorned with colourful mosaics, is already brimming with visitors by morning. Once again, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra captures sharper photos.
More photos of the landmarks
Which smartphone comes out on top in vibrant Barcelona?
Neither of the two smartphones is inexpensive, and when spending that much money, you naturally want the best camera system for your travel photos. Our trip to Barcelona showed that there are indeed differences in the quality of the shots taken with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and the Honor Magic7 Pro.
In terms of image sharpness, the Xiaomi phone clearly comes out on top, leading from the very first comparison shot and delivering impressive detail even at 100x zoom. The Honor phone also takes good photos and brightens dark areas better from time to time, although the colours often appear quite vivid and the images look slightly soft.
Overall, the Xiaomi delivers the better camera system but you pay a hefty premium compared to the Honor Magic7 Pro. We were also somewhat frustrated with Xiaomi’s camera software: The zoom was quite slow, particularly when attempting to get close to an object. The preview image also froze intermittently, forcing us to restart the app. In contrast, the Honor camera app performed flawlessly.
Barcelona's UNESCO World Heritage sites are very crowded, even outside peak season. You also need to factor in high entrance fees (Casa Batlló costs between €30 and €60) when planning your travel budget. In return, you get unique architectural landmarks, the Mediterranean charm of a seaside city and plenty of exceptional shopping opportunities, such as on a peninsula in the harbour or in the former bullfighting arena.
The smartphones were kindly loaned to us by the respective manufacturers for the trip.
