Overpriced midranger
There’s no other way to put it — the OnePlus 15R is $100 more expensive than its predecessor while losing a few things that made the OnePlus 13R great. It’s a fast performer with extra-long battery life, but omissions like a telephoto lens or a unique design seriously hurt this phone’s appeal.
Pros
- Large and bright display
- Fast Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor
- Multi-day battery life with 7,400mAh capacity
Cons
- $100 more expensive than OnePlus 13R
- Lacks telephoto lens and has generally worse cameras
- The design looks like an iPhone clone
The flagship
While the OnePlus 15 is decidedly better than the OnePlus 15R, in terms of both value and feature set, it’s still lacking compared to the OnePlus 13 it replaces. We like the durable design, fast performance, and long battery life, but aren’t a fan of the missing alert slider and Qi2 magnets. The bland design doesn’t help the OnePlus 15 stand out in a crowded market.
Pros
- IP69K durability rating and an industrial design language
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for best-in-class performance
- Multi-day battery life and fast charging speeds
Cons
- Camera downgrades and no Hasselblad processing
- Lower-res display with higher 165Hz refresh rate
- Overheats under high load
OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Design and display
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Both the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R use the design language introduced on last year’s OnePlus 13T/S. It’s kind of an iPhone clone, ditching OnePlus’ iconic circular camera housing and curved design in favor of a flat, boxy chassis. To many OnePlus fans, this is a downgrade. The squircle camera arrangement and rectangular build on the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R do little to differentiate these models from competitors.
From a durability standpoint, OnePlus is still an industry leader. It supports the standard IP68 water- and dust-resistance ratings we commonly see on Android phones, but adds the rarer IP69 and IP69K certifications, too. These add high-pressure and high-temperature liquid resistance in addition to protection against submersion. In layman’s terms, these phones should survive a dishwasher run, though that’s all in theory, and we wouldn’t recommend trying it yourself.
Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 covers the front of each model, but the back material varies by color. Some colorways use a plastic back, and others use a Gorilla Glass 7i back.
Aligning with the new design language, the displays on the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R are completely flat. The flagship OnePlus 15 is equipped with a 6.78-inch OLED screen that tops out at a higher 165Hz refresh rate than its predecessor in some situations, like while playing select games. However, that comes at the expense of resolution. It has a 1.5K resolution (1272 x 2772 pixels) with a pixel density of 450 pixels-per-inch (ppi).
The screen size of the OnePlus 15R is slightly larger, but shares the same pixel density as the OnePlus 15. It uses a 6.83-inch OLED display panel with a 1272 x 2800 resolution. Like its flagship companion, the OnePlus 15R peaks at 165Hz in select situations. Both phones have a high brightness mode that tops out at 1,800 nits.
Neither the OnePlus 15 nor the OnePlus 15R have the classic OnePlus Alert Slider. Instead, they have a customizable “Plus Key,” and it’s similar to the Action button on iPhones.
OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Hardware and specs
Both the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R use the latest Qualcomm processors, which may give them a leg up over the competition. Specifically, the OnePlus 15R might have an advantage over phones like the Google Pixel 9a and the Samsung Galaxy A56, which use lesser in-house Tensor and Exynos chips. However, despite the OnePlus 15R and OnePlus 15 both using “Gen 5” processors from Qualcomm, they’re not equal.
The flagship OnePlus 15 is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which is the successor to last generation’s groundbreaking Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform. It represents even further performance gains and efficiency improvements. The phone pairs that chip with either 12GB or 16GB of RAM, depending on the configuration.
While both the OnePlus 15R and OnePlus 15 use UFS 4.1 flash storage, the former maxes out at 512GB and the latter has a 1TB variant. Additionally, the OnePlus 15R is only offered in 12GB RAM, a technical downgrade compared to the 16GB variant of the OnePlus 13R.
|
Category |
OnePlus 15R |
OnePlus 15 |
|---|---|---|
|
OS |
Oxygen OS 16 (Android 16 based) |
Oxygen OS 16 (Android 16 based) |
|
Display |
6.83-inch flat OLED, 1272 x 2800 resolution (450 PPI), 165Hz, 1,800 nits HBM, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
6.78-inch flat OLED, 1272 x 2772 resolution (450 PPI), 1-165Hz LTPO, 1,800 nits HBM, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
|
Processor |
Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 |
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
|
Memory |
12GB RAM |
12GB, 16GB RAM |
|
Storage |
256GB, 512GB UFS 4.1 |
256GB, 512GB, 1TB UFS 4.1 |
|
Camera 1 (Main) |
50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm |
50MP Sony IMX906, 1/1.56-inch sensor, f/1.8, OIS |
|
Camera 2 (Ultrawide) |
8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 112-degree FOV |
50MP OmniVision OV50D, 1/2.88-inch sensor, f/2.0 |
|
Camera 3 (Telephoto) |
N/A |
50MP Samsung S5KJN5, 1/2.75-inch sensor, f/2.8, OIS |
|
Selfie Camera |
32 MP, f/2.0, 25mm |
32MP Sony IMX709, 1/2.74-inch sensor, f/2.4, autofocus |
|
Battery |
7,400mAh; Silicon NanoStack |
7,300mAh (dual 3,650mAh cells) Silicon NanoStack |
|
Charging |
80W wired, 50W wireless |
80W/120W wired, 50W wireless |
|
Protection |
IP68, IP69, IP69K, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
IP68, IP69, IP69K, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
|
Security |
Ultrasonic in-glass fingerprint sensor |
Ultrasonic in-glass fingerprint sensor |
|
Connectivity |
5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 |
5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 |
|
Dimensions |
163.4 x 77 x 8.1 mm or 8.3 mm |
161.4 x 76.7 x 8.1 mm |
|
Weight |
213 g or 219 g |
211g |
|
Colors |
Charcoal Black, Mint Breeze, Electric Violet |
Infinite Black, Ultra Violet, Sand Storm |
Meanwhile, the OnePlus 15R uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, which is in a lower tier compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Although it isn’t clocked as high as the flagship chip, performance is still good. Our reviewer found its performance comparable to the iQOO 13, which had a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. That’s a good sign — the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a fantastic chip, and it still holds up in 2026.
On the connectivity side of things, the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R have all the latest standards covered, including 5G, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6.
OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Cameras
The camera situation on the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R is tricky. There are clear hardware downgrades, and both phones lose Hasselblad image processing. However, that doesn’t always mean camera quality is worse. In fact, on the OnePlus 15, we’ve found results that are the opposite.
OnePlus launched its own DetailMax Engine with the OnePlus 15, and paired with the new sensors, photo quality is generally better than the OnePlus 15. There’s a trio of 50MP rear camera sensors led by the primary Sony IMX906 shooter. The telephoto camera provides 3.5x zoom natively, with up to 7x optical-quality zoom available via sensor crop.
The OnePlus 15R’s camera setup is harder to defend. The primary 50MP camera is pretty good, as it uses the exact same Sony IMX906 sensor as the OnePlus 15. However, the only secondary camera is an 8MP wide-angle lens. No, you aren’t imagining things — the OnePlus 13R did pack a 50MP telephoto lens for optical zoom, and OnePlus removed it here. That alone may make the OnePlus 15R a non-starter for some buyers.
OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Which one should you buy?
Our review of the OnePlus 15R makes one thing clear: this phone isn’t a good value. It charges more for less, and the OnePlus 13R looks like a better choice. In fact, the perplexing downgrades and even more confusing price hike make me suspicious that the OnePlus 15R only exists to push buyers to the OnePlus 15.
With only a $200 difference separating the two models, it’s easy to justify paying more for a better Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, a more robust camera system with a telephoto lens, and more RAM. If that was OnePlus’ goal, the company achieved it. The OnePlus 15 is assuredly the better value Android phone, making the OnePlus 15R’s retail price look comically inflated.
If we pretend only the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R exist, the $900 flagship takes the crown. It has the value proposition down, challenging the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL and the eventual Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra while costing less. The OnePlus 15R, however, is unfit to succeed in a budget market that includes the Google Pixel 9a — a phone that’s $300 cheaper at the time of writing.
Unless you’re married to OxygenOS or OnePlus hardware, the OnePlus 15R doesn’t make sense in a competitive budget Android phone market. The OnePlus 15, no matter how boring, provides decent hardware while hitting a price point low enough to challenge the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Google.
The budget option
If you have $600 or less to spend and need a OnePlus phone, the OnePlus 15R might be a decent option. However, the Google Pixel 9a and even the older OnePlus 13R provide more features at a lower price.
The best option
Out of these two phones, the OnePlus 15 is the more fully-featured option. It sports a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor for blazing-fast performance, a high refresh rate display panel, and a high-capacity battery. Still, it’s pretty expensive for what you get, and these are less differentiators to pull you away from Samsung or Google.
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