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OnePlus 15: Two-minute review
If a smartphone genie offered me three wishes for my dream phone, I couldn’t have created a device as great as the OnePlus 15. It delivers more than the most demanding smartphone fans could wish for, with priorities that reflect the ways I really want to use my phone.
My three wishes? First, I’d wish for a battery that lasts all day. The OnePlus 15 watches my dream phone fall asleep then parties hard for another day and a half. I let this phone go uncharged for three days during my review and I still had some juice left. And that’s not to mention the incredibly fast charging speeds.
My second wish would be for a durable phone, water resistant with glass that is tough enough it won’t break if I drop it. OnePlus makes its flagship phone more durable than any Samsung or Apple telephone you should buy. I watched final yr’s OnePlus 13 survive a run via a dishwasher, and the OnePlus 15 is even more durable than that. Deliver on the new water jets!
My remaining want can be to get again a number of the nice smartphone options we have misplaced through the years. I bear in mind when Android telephones have been about character and customization. Now you’ll be able to’t even arrange your app drawer on a Pixel telephone.
The OnePlus 15, on the other hand, is the phone for people who love smartphones. You can customize it, but it looks great even if you don’t. It has a ton of unique widgets that add functions to your home screen, or you can hide those on a separate shelf.
Oh, and it has an IR blaster. Remember when phones had those? Every Galaxy S6 might change the channel in your TV (or the bar TV taking part in Fox Information), and the OnePlus 15 brings that again. It may well act as a common distant management, a function I treasure once I lose my TV distant after I end up the lights.
The OnePlus 15 is nice at all the things you wish to do in your telephone. For gaming, it is a next-level handheld. I used to be capable of play video games with Settings within the Experimental realm. The OnePlus 15 pushes previous limits you by no means seen on different smartphones, and there are sufficient recreation builders on board to make the benefit worthwhile.
Call of Duty seemed pretty much as good on my telephone because it does operating on a console, with a fair higher body charge, and I say that as a very long time gamer, not an off-the-cuff interloper.
What is the catch? Effectively, you might need to clarify to individuals who OnePlus is after they ask about your telephone, as a result of most individuals I speak to have by no means heard of them.
That is as a result of OnePlus would not promote its finest telephones in service shops. You will not see the OnePlus 15 accessible free with a contract and a commerce on AT&T or Vodafone. Meaning you pay extra up entrance, which is a disgrace. Numerous my mates would love this telephone, however do not have tons of to shell out. No less than OnePlus normally has respectable trade-in affords while you purchase instantly from the corporate.
There are a number of different shortcomings, however they do not quantity to a lot when you think about this telephone competes with the bottom mannequin iPhone 17 and Galaxy S25, though it affords as a lot as an Extremely or Professional Max.
We used to name this a flagship killer. Now I simply name it the most effective telephone you should buy, and the primary telephone I’ve examined that deserves an ideal rating.
OnePlus 15 review: Price & availability
- Black version costs $899.99 / £899 for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage
- Other colors available for $999.99 / £999 with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage
The OnePlus 15 is a flagship smartphone, but it isn’t the most expensive flagship around. It costs more than the iPhone 17 but less than the iPhone Air. It’s costlier than a Google Pixel 10, however lower than the Pixel 10 Professional. The Galaxy S25 Plus is costlier than the black OnePlus 15 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Sadly, the most effective colours are solely accessible on the costlier mannequin with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. I’m positive the lower-spec OnePlus 15 performs admirably, however my evaluation pattern is the Sand Storm mannequin with extra goodness inside. It’s not a mandatory improve, however even at this $999.99 / £999 worth, it’s an excellent deal for such a powerhouse telephone.
OnePlus solely makes one flagship – there is not a Professional or an Extremely or an XL mannequin with higher cameras or a sooner chip. Whereas Samsung and Apple lure you in with aspirational fashions that value greater than $1,000 / £1,000 / AU$2,000, the OnePlus 15 is the corporate’s finest telephone, not a step down.
Up to now, OnePlus has provided nice trade-in offers that knock at the very least $100 off the value within the US, nevertheless it hasn’t introduced comparable affords for the OnePlus 15.
I’d nonetheless suggest this telephone at its full worth. You received’t discover a extra succesful telephone with out paying tons of extra, and even the costliest telephones – the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max come to thoughts – can’t beat the OnePlus 15 within the issues it does finest.
|
Storage |
US Worth |
UK Worth |
AU Worth |
|
256GB |
$899 |
£899 |
AU $TBD |
|
512GB |
$999 |
£999 |
AU $TBD |
OnePlus 15 review: Specifications
The OnePlus 15 features a unique spec list that highlights it’s capabilities. It’s the first phone most of us can buy with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset inside, and that platform seems to pay dividends in performance and power management.
The OnePlus 15 has a 7,300 mAh battery inside, which should make the phone enormous, but it’s actually just as thin as an iPhone 17. That huge battery equates to the best battery life I’ve ever experienced on a smartphone. The OnePlus 15 also has 80-100W charging (80W on my US review sample), and it can charge wirelessly up to 50W, if you have a OnePlus AirVOOC charger.
The display on the OnePlus 15 can refresh up to 165Hz in gaming mode. It can also force itself to draw 120fps consistently on certain competition games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
|
Dimensions: |
161.42 x 76.67 x 8.1mm |
|
Weight: |
211g |
|
Display: |
6.78-inch LTPO OLED |
|
Resolution: |
2772 x 1272 pixels |
|
Refresh rate: |
1-120Hz; 165Hz for select games |
|
Peak brightness: |
1,800 nits |
|
Chipset: |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5 |
|
RAM: |
12GB/16GB LPDDR5X Ultra/Ultra+ |
|
Storage: |
256GB/512GB/ UFS 4.1 |
|
OS: |
OxygenOS 16.0 based on Android™ 16 |
|
Main cameras |
50MP main; 50MP ultrawide; 50MP 3.5x telephoto |
|
Selfie camera: |
32MP |
|
Battery: |
7,300mAh |
|
Charging: |
80-100W wired; 50W wireless |
|
Colors: |
Infinite Black, Ultra Violet, Sand Storm (tested) |
OnePlus 15 review: Design
- Incredible durability – can withstand more than you’ll encounter
- Restrained colors and design compared to past OnePlus flagships
I’ve tested phones that were as durable as the OnePlus 15, and phones that packed a battery just as large or larger. They were as big as school buses and just as heavy. The OnePlus 15 is a marvel of design because it looks simple and refined – totally normal. It isn’t trying to be gorgeous; it’s just a very nice looking smartphone.
Astonishingly, the OnePlus 15 packs the largest battery of any smartphone I’ve tested, but it’s only a hair thicker than the iPhone 17, which has a battery almost half the size.
Does that mean the OnePlus 15 could have been much thinner with a normal battery? Who cares, apparently nobody wants a thin phone with a small battery. The OnePlus 15 is the phone you’ve been asking for instead of the iPhone Air.
The OnePlus 15 is more restrained than previous OnePlus phones, and while I miss the navy blue curves of the OnePlus 13 and the swirling jade green OnePlus 12, I perceive the impulse to be much less flashy. These digicam bumps have been very massive. The telephones have been downright wobbly.
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The OnePlus 15 seems prefer it might descend from the identical lineage because the Google Pixel 10. It has a distinguished digicam bump that feels exactly machined, taking on a sq. of the nook on the again. The curves of the telephone, the digicam bump, and the digicam lens home windows are all symmetrically aligned on the identical axis.
The colour choices for the OnePlus 15 are a bit staid in comparison with beforehand flashy hues, however every comes with its personal advantages. My evaluation unit got here within the Sand Storm colour that OnePlus claims is barely extra sturdy than the remaining, owing to the electrified method the colour is utilized to the body. The lilac colour will likely be extra restricted, which solely makes me need it extra.
OnePlus 15 review: Display
- Excellent display for gaming with special features
- Bright, colorful, and incredibly responsive
The OnePlus 15 has a display made for serious gaming. That doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy its benefits if you don’t play hardcore, online multiplayer games. It’s still incredibly bright and colorful. But for gaming it stands out like no other phone I’ve tried.
How fast is the OnePlus 15 display? You’re going to need to find the Experiment settings in Call of Duty Mobile to truly take advantage of what this phone can do. For a number of games, the OnePlus 15 can refresh up to 165 Hz. For the rest of its functions, it refreshes from a 1Hz always-on sleep screen to 120Hz.
I was a big fan of the OnePlus 13 fingerprint sensor, and I’m pleased to report the OnePlus 15 has the most consistent scanner I’ve used on a phone this year. While Samsung phones regularly fail to register my fingerprint, the OnePlus 15 opened the first time I tried, every single time. Only Apple’s FaceID system is this consistent and quick, other Android makers haven’t been able to match this convenience.
Is this the best display around? Our lab tests say the Google Pixel 10 Pro is much brighter, with better color. I definitely preferred the Pixel 10 Pro for taking photos outdoors, but the OnePlus 15 still has a great display, and its fast response time pushes it to the top.
OnePlus 15 review: Software
- Oxygen OS 16 is a polished and friendly version of Android
- Plenty of features to reward power users and iPhone switchers alike
OnePlus has its own version of Android 16, Oxygen OS, and it’s a very elegant design that takes great advantage of the sharp resolution of the display. You get plenty of tools like a widget shelf and a pop-up sidebar, or you can just ignore all of those an enjoy the uncluttered, effective look.
There are tons of unique features built in that are actually useful and don’t require too much digging. If you’re daring, try the Zen Space, which will lock you out of your own phone for a minute. No joke, no half measures. Nothing you do can get you back in. Like I said, it’s daring.
I like Oxygen OS, it’s clearly inspired by iOS without feeling derivative or amateur. It rewards OnePlus owners who know other OnePlus owners with special sharing and communication features that work between devices. If you’re an iPhone owner considering a switch, this is the first Android stop I’d recommend on your bus out of Apple town.
Image 1 of 3
There are AI tools on the OnePlus 15, and even a button that will take a screenshots to save to a special AI mind space. This is similar to Google’s Screenshot app on its Pixel phones, and it’s an unobtrusive way to let AI collect your personal data on your own terms. The OnePlus AI also did a fine job transcribing my recordings, which is an AI tool I use frequently across my devices for meetings and interviews.
OnePlus says this phone will get four years of major Android updates, hopefully taking Oxygen OS 16.0 all the way up to Oxygen OS 20, though we’ll have to hold OnePlus to this promise. It will get six years of security updates as well, even after the OS updates stop.
OnePlus 15 review: Cameras
- Versatile cameras with effective zoom that captures great detail
- Best action camera for fast-moving subjects in any light condition
With the OnePlus 15, you get a versatile camera array that rises to any occasion. For hundreds less than a Pixel 10 Pro XL or Galaxy S25 Ultra, you get a camera with the same capabilities – especially a real 3.5x optical zoom lens.
The photos I got from the OnePlus 15 were usually just as good as pics from the best camera phones, and in some cases the OnePlus 15 shots were the best. Compared to the Pixel 10 Pro and Galaxy S25 Ultra, for instance, the OnePlus 15 camera achieves more clarity edge to edge in most photos.
The OnePlus 15 does have some special tricks up its sleeve. It’s the best camera phone I’ve used when I am shooting a fast moving subject. For my kid’s football games, the combo of zoom plus action mode means I get shots with the ball hovering in mid air, taken from high up in the bleachers. Other phones can manage the same zoom, but not the same speed.
Maybe there are too many modes in the camera, but there are some I’m dying to try, like the underwater mode that balances for the blue light and gives you controls to use when the screen doesn’t work. I’ll need to wait until it’s warmer for that one.
Is the OnePlus 15 the absolute best camera phone? I still think the iPhone 17 Pro is tops, but for the price, the OnePlus 15 offers unique features and excellent quality, and it surpassed my expectations once again.
OnePlus 15 review: Camera samples
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OnePlus 15 review: Performance
- Stellar performance from Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
- Gaming mode pushes display to 165 Hz for superlative gamers
As one of the first smartphones with the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset inside, I knew the OnePlus 15 would be incredibly fast, but I usually wonder where all that speed goes? Thankfully, OnePlus offers concrete examples for gamers, and if you haven’t taken mobile gaming seriously before, maybe it’s time.
I usually test phones by playing Call of Duty Mobile with my Xbox controller on Bluetooth. I max out the settings and play multiplayer games to test the frame rate. Not only did the OnePlus 15 play CoD better than any previous phone I’ve used, I maxed out all the settings, including every option in the Experiment mode, and the game ran just as smoothly. It looked like a current-gen console game running on my phone.
The OnePlus 15 even supports a 165Hz display refresh rate, which means some games will be able to run at a theoretical 165 fps. Those include: Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars, Real Racing 3, Standoff 2, Blood Strike – FPS for all, and of course Call of Duty.
Even if you’re not a gamer, you’ll still appreciate the smooth performance of the OnePlus 15 in everyday tasks. Oxygen OS offers a variety of visual transitions between your home screen panels, for instance, as well as other pop-up features. All of these respond instantly as you tap and swipe.
We’ll probably see a slightly faster version of this chipset when the Samsung Galaxy S26 is launched in early 2026, but the big question will be what Samsung does with so much power. Will the next Galaxy have a high-refresh rate display and a stable of games ready to run fast? Or will that power be squandered on AI? The benchmarks might give Samsung a future win, but the OnePlus manages to put all of its power to use, for once.
OnePlus 15 review: Battery
- Unbelievable battery life – lasted 3 days in my testing
- Super-fast charging, wired or wireless (with a OnePlus charger)
Last year’s OnePlus 13R was my pick for the best phone to buy for battery life, but this year’s OnePlus 15 raises the bar higher than I thought possible. Its battery seems obnoxiously large on paper, but the phone feels no heavier or thicker than any other flagship smartphone. Is there really a 7,300 mAh cell inside? Our Future Labs test say yes, indeed, and it’s more impressive than it sounds.
How long should a smartphone last? A day? Two day? I woke up on Wednesday with a fully charged OnePlus 15. I went to bed on Friday night and the phone still had battery power in the single digits. It lasted nearly three full days of use. You can leave your charger at the office for the weekend without worrying too much.
Even better, bring the charger along, because the OnePlus 15 charges faster than any other phone you’ll find. In 30 minutes of charging with the included 80W charger (it can charge to 100W in regions outside the US) I had more than 80% battery life. In less than 45 minutes I was fully charged.
That means you might get a week of real world use from this phone with just over an hour sitting on the wired charger. Want to go wireless? Like everything else on the OnePlus 15, wireless charging will demolish your expectations. This phone can charge faster on a OnePlus AirVOOC wireless charger than an iPhone 17 Pro can charge with wire.
Too bad it doesn’t have magnets built-in, then, but I highly recommend getting a OnePlus case. All of the new OnePlus 15 cases have magnets that align the wireless charging with your favorite MagSafe accessories, but I highly recommend splurging on AirVOOC. A few moments on a charging stand and you’ll be ready for hours more play time.
Should you buy the OnePlus 15?
|
Value |
Priced less than competitors’ Pro and Ultra models, with features that blow those flagships out of the water. I wish it were available on a payment plan, but it’s a fantastic value nonetheless. |
5/5 |
|
Design |
A more refined design gives up flashy colors and a ginormous camera bump for extreme durability and classy looks. It’s astonishing OnePlus got so much tech into this phone, especially the huge battery. |
5/5 |
|
Display |
Excellent display is bright and colorful, and capable of extreme gaming performance with the right titles. It can refresh up to 120Hz, or up to 165Hz on select games, and you can really see the difference when you play. |
5/5 |
|
Software |
Smooth and polished version of Android 16 in Oxygen OS, with plenty of useful customization options and features, and just the right touch of AI (that you can also ignore). This phone also has 4 years of updates on the way. |
5/5 |
|
Cameras |
Excellent camera quality beats anything at this price range and aims to be one of the best camera phones you can buy. For action shots and detailed zoom photos, the OnePlus might be the best choice, but all of my pics looked good and there are camera modes I still want to try. |
5/5 |
|
Performance |
Top notch performance makes this phone a benchmark champ, and OnePlus puts all of that power to use in fantastic gaming. Max out the graphics on your favorite title, this phone can defeat whatever monsters you throw its way. |
5/5 |
|
Battery |
Unbelievable battery life thanks to a massive cell hidden inside the svelte design. This phone beats everything by hours and hours – it lasted almost three days in my real world testing. Also it charges super fast, if you ever need to charge it. |
5/5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider…
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
OnePlus 15 |
Apple iPhone 17 Pro |
Google Pixel 10 Pro |
|
Price: |
$899 / £899 |
$1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,999 |
$999 / £999 / AU $1,699 |
|
Processor: |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
Apple A19 Pro |
Google Tensor G5 |
|
Display: |
6.78-inch OLED up to 165Hz |
6.3-inch 1-120Hz OLED |
6.3-inch 60-120Hz OLED |
|
Battery Test Results (HH:MM:SS) |
26:25:00 |
15:21:36 |
13:43:30 |
How I tested the OnePlus 15
I have been using the OnePlus 15 for more than two weeks as my primary business phone, with all of my personal and work accounts loaded onto the device. I used the phone on AT&T’s 5G network in the greater New York Area, including around our Times Square offices and my home in Connecticut.
I used the OnePlus 15 as my camera, testing almost every camera feature (I couldn’t test the Underwater mode). I connected the OnePlus 15 to my OnePlus Watch 3, my OnePlus Buds Pro 3, and many other Bluetooth headsets and devices. I used Android Auto in my Kia and my friends’ Acura and Subaru cars, and connected to Bluetooth in an older BMW.
I’ve been testing phones for more than 20 years, since the days of BlackBerry and Palm OS smartphones and Samsung flip phones. I’ve tested hundreds of devices myself, and our Future Labs experts have tested hundreds more.
Future Labs tests phones using a mix of third-party benchmark software and proprietary, real-world tests. We use Geekbench, CrossMark, JetStream, WebXPRT and Mobile XPRT, and 3DMark for performance testing. We test a phone’s performance on video editing tasks using Adobe Premiere Rush. We additionally measure show colour output and brightness.
For battery testing, we now have proprietary rundown assessments which are the identical for each telephone, which we use to find out how lengthy it takes for the battery to run down.
First reviewed November 2025
