OnePlus 15 Review

It’s about time for the next-generation OnePlus phones, and the 15 is right on time. The new handset gets a complete design overhaul, upgraded hardware (in most cases) and keeps the familiar formula to undercut the mass flagship phones without making too many compromises along the way.

Then again, the OnePlus 15 starts at a little below the €1,000 mark, but we already have a handful of flagship phones from this year that cost around that much, so the newcomer will be facing some serious competition.

Luckily, the OnePlus 15 has the hardware and features to compete. It’s, of course, running the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, flagship-grade LTPO OLED panel with up to 165Hz refresh rate and complete camera hardware.

OnePlus 15 specs at a glance:

Body: 161.4×76.7×8.1mm, 211g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum alloy frame, glass back (Gorilla Glass 7i or Crystal Shield Glass) or glass fiber back; IP68/IP69K dust tight and water resistant (high pressure water jets; immersible up to 2m for 30 min).
Display: 6.78″ LTPO AMOLED, 1B colors, 165Hz, PWM, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, 800 nits (typ), 1800 nits (HBM), 1272x2772px resolution, 19.61:9 aspect ratio, 450ppi; Ultra HDR image support.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM8850-AC Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm): Octa-core (2×4.6 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix L + 6×3.62 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix M); Adreno 840.
Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 16GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM, 1TB 16GB RAM; UFS 4.1.
OS/Software: Android 16, ColorOS 16.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56″, 1.0µm, multi-directional PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 50 MP, f/2.8, 80mm, 1/2.76″, 0.64µm, 3.5x optical zoom, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 50 MP, f/2.0, 16mm, 116˚, 1/2.88″, 0.61µm, PDAF.
Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.4, 21mm (wide), 1/2.74″, 0.8µm, AF.
Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@30fps, 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, Auto HDR, gyro-EIS, Dolby Vision, LUT; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS, HDR.
Battery: 7300mAh; 120W wired, 120W UFCS, 55W PPS, 36W PD, 36W QC, 50% in 15 min, 100% in 40 min, 50W wireless, 10W reverse wireless, 5W reverse wired, Bypass charging.
Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 6.0, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, LHDC 5; NFC; Infrared port.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); stereo speakers.

On the other hand, the camera hardware has been changed, and it’s not necessarily for the better. You still get the wide + telephoto + ultrawide combo on the back, but with smaller sensors. The optical zoom has been upgraded to 3.5x, though, so there’s some silver lining.

OnePlus promises improved photography through software tricks. The OnePlus 15 uses its own DetailMax Engine, while real-time Tone Mapping and True-to-Live video recording ensure accurate color temperature and color reproduction overall. It remains to be seen whether AI and software optimizations can offset the slightly downgraded hardware.

Perhaps the most notable upgrade this year is the battery and charging. The OnePlus 15 features a massive 7,300 mAh battery, which is not just for China but is available across all markets. The charging rate has also been improved, and the phone now supports 120W fast charging over OnePlus’s proprietary SuperVOOC charger and 50W over the AirVOOC wireless charging pad. That’s a very impressive battery setup, and we have high hopes for its battery life.

Now let’s dive deeper and see how the OnePlus 15 stacks against the competition in different aspects.

Unboxing the OnePlus 15

We received the European OnePlus 15 unit, which means it ships without a charger in the box – just a USB-A to USB-C cable.

We also got another USB cable, but it’s not just any cable. This one can be used to charge your OnePlus Watch and your OnePlus phone simultaneously. We also received a Hole-Pattern Magnetic case, which is usually an extra purchase, but more on that later.

Design and handling

The new OnePlus 15 adopts a new design language that’s very similar to the one we saw with the Oppo Find X9 series. The camera arrangement on the OnePlus 15 is slightly different, though.

Subjectively speaking, we like the new design better as it’s slicker and less flashy. The device has a flat design – flat front and back panels and flat side frame. Depending on the color you choose, however, you will get a different back material. The Ultra Violet color we have in the office has a light-responsive surface, but it’s still made of glass, Gorilla Glass 7i, to be exact. Interestingly, the back surface feels very rubbery and soft to the touch. It’s even hard to believe that this is glass. It doesn’t attract fingerprints and smudges, and it’s quite grippy.

The Infinite Black paint job uses AG glass, while the Sand Storm variant uses fiberglass back. Notably, the Sand Storm version uses a different paint process for the side frame, called MAO (micro-Arc Oxidation), which is allegedly more environmentally-friendly compared to the usual anodization of aluminum. It’s also marketed as being more durable than anodization.

Speaking of sturdiness, the display is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 sheet, and the phone itself is IP68/IP69K-rated, which is a step up from last year’s model and slightly above the industry’s standard even for flagship devices. OnePlus says it can be submerged up to 2 meters for 30 minutes.

The side frame of the phone is business as usual, except for the Plus Key located on the left side of the frame near the upper corner. You can assign different quick actions or shortcuts to the dedicated button. Additionally, OnePlus has included an IR blaster housed between the camera sensors on the back. As for the SIM card tray, it holds two physical SIM card slots, but if you use eSIM, one of them will be disabled.

The fingerprint reader is ultrasonic, and it’s conveniently placed under the screen. It’s not too high up the panel or too close to the bottom bezel. It’s fast, responsive and reliable. No issues at all.

All in all, we like the design and feel of the handset, but make sure to check out all three colors as each has its own distinct in-hand feel, and you might like how some of these feel and dislike others.

165Hz LPTO OLED display for gaming

The new OnePlus 15 features a slightly smaller 6.78-inch display, compared to the previous generation, and has a lower 1272 x 2772px resolution, down to FHD+ from QHD+. The downgrade may not look good on paper, but it’s merely a sidestep. These resolution changes are far less noticeable, if at all, in such small screens.

On the other hand, the newer display is marketed as brighter and supports a refresh rate of up to 165Hz. Speaking of, this is the industry’s first 165Hz display with a resolution higher than 1080p. So in a way, OnePlus traded a few pixels for a higher refresh rate.

When it comes to HDR support, the display has it all – HDR10+, HDR Vivid and Dolby Vision. Last but not least, the display supports the Ultra HDR image standard in its native gallery.

Performance-wise, the OnePlus 15’s display doesn’t disappoint. It reached 787 nits in manual mode and boosted up to 1,364 nits in auto mode with 75% white fill. At 10% fill, the display achieved 1,940 nits.

Interestingly, the display can go brighter when viewing photos and videos in the default Gallery app. For instance, the 75% fill pattern boosted the display to 2,187 nits, while at 10%, the screen got almost 3,390 nits.

Refresh rate

The OnePlus 15 refresh rate implementation is par for the course. The system will dial down to 1Hz when the screen is idle and will boost to 120Hz in most cases. However, in apps such as Chrome, the software caps at 90Hz, which is a behavior we see more often than in recent times. In most other apps, like system ones, or menus, the display will boost to 120Hz.

Additionally, OnePlus 15 boasts 165Hz refresh rate in select games. The company lists Call of Duty, Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars, Real Racing 3, Standoff 2 and Blood Strike-FPS as natively supported games at 165Hz. That doesn’t mean all these games will run at 165 constant fps, though, but you will get the benefit from the high-refresh-rate gaming nonetheless.

Notably, this isn’t some sort of interpolation trickery. OnePlus promises that these games will run natively at 165 fps and we confirm that you can play them at 165Hz.

However, in games where the system can’t saturate the display’s maximum refresh rate, it will resort to interpolation. For instance, BGMI/PUBG will use frame interpolation to reach 165 fps, and we are not fans of how interpolation looks during games.

OnePlus says it will eventually push an update that will allow you to set 165Hz to other apps, besides games, as long as you enable the said option in the developer options.

Battery life

The OnePlus 15 features a more-than-generous 7,300 mAh battery, which is just a tad below the Oppo Find X9 Pro (7,500 mAh), but a significant upgrade over the OnePlus 13 with its 6,000 mAh battery. Unsurprisingly, the OnePlus 15 is the new chart-topper, scoring better than any phone we’ve tested so far.

The Active Use Score is 23:07h, but the web browsing and video playback runtimes are particularly impressive.

As we’ve seen with the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is certainly capable of some excellent battery scores, but OnePlus has undoubtedly added some of its own software magic to reach these chart-topping numbers or they are nerfing some of the performance during activities such as web browsing and video playback.

Charging speed

The OnePlus 15 uses a 120W proprietary SuperVOOC charger, which is an upgrade over the 100W chargers that older OnePlus models use. The phone also supports 50W wireless charging over OnePlus’ AirVOOC charging pad. 10W reverse wireless, 5W reverse wired and bypass charging are also on the menu.

Moving on, the results from our charging test are nothing short of impressive. The phone fully charged in just 41 minutes and nearly matched the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max at the 30-minute mark. In any case, charging a 7,300 mAh battery in such a short amount of time is outstanding. The peak charging output we recorded was about 77W.

We also took the time to test the OnePlus 15 with a compatible Power Delivery charger, as the handset supports 55W over PD with PPS. The 15 paked at around 40W during the charging process and got pretty close to the charging times achieved with the stock 120W SuperVOOC charger.

In case you feel anxious about battery degradation, OxygenOS has a few built-in battery health-oriented features. For instance, Smart Charging learns your charging habits and tops-off the battery right before you are supposed to pick up your phone. You can also set up a charging limit in 5% increments between 80 and 100%. Turning off the Smart Rapid Charging option will limit the charging rate altogether.

The bypass charging can also be categorized as a battery health-friendly feature, especially when gaming. The system will use the power from the charger directly, bypassing the battery in the process. This reduces heat and the charging cycles.

Speakers

The OnePlus 15 features a hybrid stereo speaker setup – a full-fledged speaker at the bottom plus one at the top that doubles as an earpiece.

Loudness is pretty solid, earning a “Very Good” -24.8 LUFS score, but audio quality leaves more to be desired. The vocals and highs are relatively clean, but the bass leaves more to be desired. Compared to the older OnePlus 13, the 15 is definitely an improvement. And compared to the Find X9 Pro, the 15 has a fuller sound.

OxygenOS 16 and Android 16

If you are familiar with RealmeUI, ColorOS or previous versions of OxygenOS, you will likely feel right at home. The new OxygenOS 16 is based on Android 16 and hasn’t changed much visually, but it does have improved animations. They feel faster and less obtrusive. As before, the OnePlus 15 owners can expect 4 major timely updates to the OS and 6 years of security patches. Like every OEM these days, OnePlus is focusing on the AI smarts. The Mind Space feature, which is a collection of your notes, screenshots, videos, photos, files, etc., analyzed by AI to answer your questions, is getting deep integration with Google’s Gemini AI. The feature hasn’t rolled out yet, but Gemini AI will give you more personalized responses by taking your Mind Space data into account.

One unique feature, which is actually a hardware one, is the Plus Key. By default, it adds stuff to your Mind Space, but you can assign all sorts of actions to it, like screenshot, launch the Camera app, use the flashlight, activate DnD or put the phone to vibrate only, etc.

Another notable addition with this year’s OxygenOS 16 is the seamless connectivity with Windows and Mac computers, as well as iPhones. Just bring your OnePlus close to an iPhone and you can send files instantly. Just like you would do with another Android phone. Pretty neat!

The software experience, as always, is smooth, polished and even slicker than before. We liked the new animations and interactive UI elements.

Benchmark performance

The OnePlus 15 is one of the first phones to come to our office with the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a successor to the highly-regarded Snapdragon 8 Elite chip from last year.

The SoC is based on the 3nm manufacturing process and features third-generation Oryon CPU cores, promising 20% performance and 30% efficiency boost. The octa-core CPU configuration is 2+6 with 2x high-performance Oryon V3 Phoenix L cores ticking at 4.6 GHz and 6x Oryon V3 Phoenix M cores running at 3.62 GHz.

The GPU on board is Adreno 840 and also promises 23% improvement in performance and 20% in power efficiency. It should also be 25% better at ray-tracing than its predecessor.

Other notable features include Unreal Engine 5 support for console-level gaming and a Hexagon NPU with Qualcomm Sensing Hub, enabling 37% faster AI number crunching and agentic AI assistants.

The available memory configurations are 12GB/256GB or 16GB/512GB. In both cases, you are getting UFS 4.1 storage.

The OnePlus 15 benchmark results show that the device utilizes the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and performs just as expected. Its scores from the CPU-intensive and combined tests are a notch lower than the Realme GT 8 Pr, for example, but within the standard margin of error.

Interestingly, the Dimensity 9500-powered vivo X300 Pro, for example, scored slightly better in the Solar Bay test that uses Ray Tracing.

Sustained performance

We first ran the phone in standard & performance modes, and we noticed the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 CPU was not reaching the expected core clock rates even at the beginning of the test. We can only guess what the reason is for this behavior – whether OnePlus downclocks the CPU for this niche benchmark app specifically, or they are just doing it for every app that has not been whitelisted specifically to use the max performance of the hardware.

Whatever the reason, we decided to try adding the CPU Throttling test app to the phone’s Game Assistant and force it to use the best hardware performance possible. The result was a stellar performance with very stable CPU performance for the entire 1-hour test, something which we haven’t quite seen before. We’ll surely look into this in the future and test other phones in this way too.

The first two screenshots shown below are from a stress test run without Game Assistant. The first one is Balanced battery mode, while the second one is in Performance mode. The third one is with the said Game Assistant optimizations in place.

Triple 50MP camera setup

A few major changes are coming to the camera setup with this year’s OnePlus 15. First and foremost, the company is ditching the Hasselblad branding on its camera. Secondly, the camera hardware has been notably downgraded. All three cameras on the back have been downgraded to smaller sensors.

Additionally, the telephoto and main cameras get a smaller aperture, and the ultrawide shooter offers a narrower field of view. At least the telephoto unit upgrades the optical zoom to 3.5x, and the selfie camera gains autofocus. The selfie is also using a new RGBW Sony sensor.

Wide (main): 50MP Sony IMX 906, f/1.8, 1/1.56″, 23mm, 1.0µm PDAF, OIS; 8K@30fps.
Telephoto 2x: 50MP ISOCELL JN5 (S5KJN5), f/2.8, 1/2.76″, 50mm, 0.64µm, PDAF; 4K@120fps.
Ultra wide angle: 50MP OmniVision OV50D, f/2.0, 1/2.88″, 0.612µm, 16mm, 116° FoV, AF; 4K@60fps,
Front camera: 32MP Sony IMX709, f/2.4, 1/2.74″, (0.64µm-1.28µm), 21mm, AF; 4K@60fps

However, OnePlus promises to offset those downgrades with software trickery. For instance, the DetailMax Engine debuts with the OnePlus 15. When you enable the High-resolution toggle in the camera settings, the system will output 26MP images, up from the natively binned 12.5MP photos. OnePlus promises sharper, more detailed photos with wider dynamic range by stacking multiple 12MP images with a 50MP image. The DetailMax Engine works with the main and telephoto cameras.

Video recording capabilities have also been improved. It’s one of the few phones on the market that can record 4K videos 120fps in compliance with the Dolby Vision HDR standard.

The 15 is also getting real-time tone mapping. It intelligently isolates the subject from the background, applying tonal adjustments in real time.

Last but not least, OnePlus 15 not only supports Log video recording using the company’s proprietary O-Log color space, but also has a live LUT preview, meaning you can see a color-graded preview of the footage you are taking in real time.

Daylight photos

Main camera

For this review, we’ve been using the 26MP High-resolution shooting mode as the default. We discovered that the system would often switch back to “Standard” 12MP resolution when it sees fit, so most of our indoor and all of our low-light photos are 12MP.

At first glance, these 26MP photos get you a wide dynamic range and lively, but not over-the-top colors. However, upon closer examination, the detail and sharpness are not very good to the point of reminding us of an upper midrange phone and not a flagship cameraphone. Some areas of the image look overprocessed.

Compared to the 26MP photos, the 12MP images appear sharper with better contrast and rendition even if they are a bit more processed. You also seem to get better dynamic range due to the improved HDR algorithms at this resolution. Honestly, the 26MP mode feels like a gimmick here, so you are better off leaving the default “Standard” image format as is.

2x crop zoom

The 2x crops from the main camera will always turn out in 12MP resolution. They have about as good image quality as the 26MP photos – decent, but not great, especially with more distant objects.

3.5x telephoto camera

Again, most pictures from the 3.5x telephoto camera are 26MP, but this camera is even more eager switch down to 12MP, sometimes even in broad daylight.

In any case, the end result is better than we initially expected from the given hardware. The photos are sharp and detailed. The contrast and colors are great, and even fine detail in the shadows is rendered very nicely.

Comparing the 12MP photos to the 26MP ones, we find the 26MP at the same level of sharpness, dynamic range, contrast, and colors, so you only get the net benefit of the higher resolution and more detail. We often found ourselves leaning toward the 26MP mode, but it has its missteps too.

Video recording

The OnePlus 15 can record 8K videos at 30fps using its main camera or 4K at 120fps, while the rest of the cameras support up to 4K@60fps. Notably, the telephoto shooter can also do 4K@120fps. All footage is electronically stabilized.

The main camera’s videos are great across the board. The videos are quite sharp, detailed and free of noise. Contrast is good, dynamic range is wide and colors are lively, but close to real life. This video camera really stands out in low-light. And video stabilization on the main cam does a solid job at smoothing out the footage even when walking.

The 2x crop zoom videos are both noticeably softer, but while the daylight one is quite usable, the low-light one isn’t up to snuff.

We are pretty impressed with the 3.5x footage as well. Dynamic range is a bit limited and contrast is low on the low-light clip, but overall quality is quite dependable. Noise isn’t all that noticeable at night and there’s plenty of detail to go around. We just wish it had better stabilization.

The 7x crop videos are pushing the boundaries of the small sensor. Both the low-light and daylight videos are generally soft and fuzzy-looking.

And finally, despite the limited dynamic range and slightly muted colors, the ultrawide video is pretty okay in daylight. We can’t say the same for the low-light footage, though, as it’s quite noisy and soft.

Market alternatives

The OnePlus 15 is a proper flagship phone with the latest hardware, premium build and high-end software features. And even if it’s not as affordable as OnePlus’ flagships once were, it still undercuts the majority of the competition. Maybe not at launch, since the handset is asking €950 for the base model, or €999 for the higher memory trim if you catch the early bird sale, while most top-tier flagships go beyond the €1,000 mark. But what are the alternatives, and what would you be missing out on if you decide to “settle” for the OnePlus 15?

One popular and similarly priced alternative is the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Even though the Galaxy S25+ is considered to be a more direct competitor, the S25 Ultra’s price is now comparable to the OnePlus 15’s months after release. But even then, it’s hard to say which one is better. The OnePlus 15 has a newer, more powerful chipset, much longer battery life, faster charging and maybe a similar camera experience to some extent. Notably, the S25 Ultra’s ultrawide camera and selfie cameras are nicer and it offers a 5x telephoto shooter. In short, get the S25 Ultra for the cameras, get the OnePlus 15 for the whole package.

Alternatively, you can grab a Google Pixel 10 Pro for around the same price and enjoy the vanilla Android experience with some decent cameras. Once again, the competition has a better selfie and the ultrawide cameras. OnePlus’ offering, on the other hand, has quicker charging, better battery life and a faster chip.

In case you like the OnePlus 15 for the overall user experience, you are fond of the design, and you love the software, but the camera hardware doesn’t cut it, consider the more expensive Oppo Find X9 Pro. It’s the same phone, but with more potent camera hardware.

Alternatively, save some cash and grab the Realme GT 7 Pro with a very similar user experience (same software), but less impressive camera hardware. Or maybe wait for the Realme GT 8 Pro as it will feature the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 like the OnePlus 15.

The OnePlus 13 is another alternative worth considering. OnePlus is promising 4 major OS upgrades for its phones, so the 13 will remain relevant for the next few years. The older Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC is still very powerful in today’s context, and the camera hardware is arguably better than the OnePlus 15’s. The latter’s camera changes are a side step at best. However, getting the cheaper OnePlus 13 will leave you with slightly shorter battery life.

Verdict

With the new 15, OnePlus is seemingly changing its strategy. By removing the Hasselblad branding and downgrading the cameras from the OnePlus 13, the newer OnePlus is focusing more on the other aspects, leaving the Oppo Find X9 Pro as the absolute best cameraphone in the family. This way, the company is avoiding direct, homegrown competition with Oppo.

But even with the downgraded camera hardware, the OnePlus 15 offers more than a decent camera experience overall. It’s not entirely flagship-worthy and the ultrawide and selfie cameras leave more to be desired, but the phone easily compensates in other aspects.

The handset runs on the latest and greatest from Qualcomm, handling high loads very well. It has an excellent display, fast charging, chart-topping battery life, and a robust design that’s easy to like. Don’t forget the smooth and convenient software experience. It’s an excellent all-rounder with some camera missteps.

Competitiveness will improve over time once the OnePlus 15’s price settles down, but at launch, the phone is facing hard competition from more prominent flagships with better camera systems.

Pros

Slick and easy-to-like design, IP68/IP69K ingress protection.
Magnetic accessories support.
Chart-topping battery life without sacrificing charging speed.
Good camera experience from the main and telephoto cameras.
Polished software entitled to 4 major OS upgrades.

Cons

Camera quality could be better.
The telephoto camera can’t focus close.