OnePlus 15 Review: Flagship With More Sense Than Hype

Edited By Ayaz FarooqiWritten By Ayaz FarooqiPublished: Nov 28, 2025, 20:49 IST | Updated: Nov 28, 2025, 20:49 IST

OnePlus 15 is selling at Rs. 72,999 for the 12GB/256GB variant. Its 16GB/512GB variant is priced at Rs. 79,999.

After spending three weeks with the OnePlus 15, testing its camera system, pushing its performance limits, and living with it as my daily driver, I've come to realise something important. This phone represents a significant shift in OnePlus's flagship strategy. Whether that shift works in its favor is what we're here to explore. I feel that OnePlus isn’t trying to reinvent the smartphones. Instead, with the OnePlus 15, it is focusing on doing the important things well. Fast performance. Long battery life. Great display. Solid build. Capable cameras. So, if you're considering an Android flagship, the OnePlus 15 deserves serious attention, and here’s why?

Design & In-Hand Feel: OnePlus has overhauled the design of its flagship this time and given it a more refined appearance. The circular camera module that we saw on the OnePlus 11, OnePlus 12, and OnePlus 13 is now gone. It’s replaced with a squarish camera module, similar to the OnePlus 13s. It looks quite modern, and I would say visually appealing too. Personally, I still preferred the design of the old OnePlus 10 Pro more, but this is how the flagship lineup has evolved. The OnePlus 15, by comparison, plays it safer. The Oppo Find X9, if you're keeping track of corporate family trees, shares this exact design philosophy. Makes sense when you remember that OnePlus and Oppo are the same at the top tier.

The build quality as usual is excellent and the phone feels premium in the hand. The OnePlus 15 comes in three colours: Infinite Black, Ultra Violet, and Sand Storm. The Black variant stands out with its deep matte finish. It has a metal frame and a smooth glass back that does not attract fingerprints. Now if you prefer something a little more expressive, Ultra Violet is the one that visually stands out. It brings a subtle lavender tone with a soft iridescent shift under light. Sand Storm, on the other hand, feels slightly different. OnePlus has used a fiberglass back, which brings a more rugged texture to it. The side frame use the same either. OnePlus has applied a Micro-Arc Oxidation (MAO) process on the frame’s paint.

The sides are flat, and the phone feels comfortable to hold. It is 8.1mm thick, yet surprisingly offers a good grip. At around 211 grams, the weight is well-balanced, so even with prolonged usage the hand doesn’t feel strained. You can comfortably use it for long sessions. The phone comes with IP68/IP69K certification for water and dust resistance. IP69K means it can withstand high-pressure water streams.

The iconic alert slider was removed earlier, and now we have a “Plus Key”. It works like a programmable action button, similar to the Action Button on the iPhone. You can assign it to launch the camera, flashlight, or any shortcut you prefer from those available. You can also use it to access the AI-powered Mind Space feature.

Overall, the OnePlus 15 delivers a proper premium flagship feel. The Black version looks minimalistic and stealthy. Build quality feels very solid, reducing concerns over scratches or routine wear. In terms of design and in-hand experience, OnePlus gets a definite thumbs-up.

Display: OnePlus has traditionally offered great displays, and this time it feels even better. The OnePlus 15 features a 6.78-inch Super AMOLED LTPO panel with ultra-thin bezels. On first glance, it almost feels like the front is all-screen, resulting in a highly immersive viewing experience. The 165Hz refresh rate is the highlight here. Scrolling and animations feel exceptionally smooth. During gaming, the display also reaches 165Hz, allowing better frame advantages in supported games. According to OnePlus, games like Call of Duty, Clash of Clans, Brawl Stars, Real Racing 3, Standoff 2, and Blood Strike - FPS support the high refresh rate. It doesn’t necessarily mean the games will constantly run at 165 FPS, as frame rates do drop occasionally, but overall, it’s a definite advantage for gaming.

The display is 1.5K resolution (2772 × 1272 pixels). A downgrade as It’s not QHD. But the difference isn’t noticeable in regular usage. The quality feels completely flagship-grade. Colours are punchy yet accurate, contrast levels are strong, and being OLED, blacks are deep and well-defined. HDR10+ is supported, and brightness is excellent outdoors. With 1800 nits peak brightness, the display remains clearly visible even under direct sunlight.

Overall, the display delivers a flagship experience, whether you're scrolling or watching Netflix or YouTube. Users who prefer curved displays may miss it, as this is now a fully flat screen. The OnePlus 13 had micro curved edges. Personally, I prefer flat displays since accidental touches are rare and screen protectors are easier to apply.

Camera: First, the elephant in the room. OnePlus has officially removed Hasselblad branding, which had been part of their camera identity since the OnePlus 9 series. Secondly, and somewhat disappointing, camera hardware has been downgraded. All three rear cameras now use smaller sensors. Aperture sizes for the main and telephoto lenses have been reduced.  The positive is that telephoto now offers 3.5x optical zoom, an upgrade from 3x on the OnePlus 13. The front camera is autofocus, and OnePlus is using a new Sony RGBW sensor which improves light and skin tone accuracy.

It’s a mixed setup, but OnePlus has compensated for this through software tweaks. They’ve introduced DetailMax Engine technology for image processing. This software tuning enhances detail and sharpness, resulting in significantly better images. You’ll see its impact in the camera performance.

Daylight shots come out very crisp, and the phone captures beautiful colours, natural yet punchy. When you look at the image after clicking, you’ll definitely notice improved results. The photos I captured looked excellent. I found consistency in every shot. Colours were accurate and there was no over-processing, the slight warm tint that used to appear with the OnePlus/Hasselblad tuning is now replaced by a more neutral tone.

The ultrawide camera uses a 50MP sensor, maintaining the high-resolution approach that's become standard. Images captured through this lens come out with good details. You can even take macro shots, close-ups of flowers or objects with fine detail.

The telephoto lens uses a 50MP sensor, so zoom shots also retain decent detail. In my testing, 3.5x zoom portraits looked very genuine. The background blur is natural and subject focus remains sharp. Up to 5–10x digital zoom, photos are usable, although at extreme zoom levels, they start softening, which is expected. 

When it comes to video, OnePlus has included several creator-focused features. You get 4K 120fps video recording with Dolby Vision support, which gives HDR cinematic video quality with properly graded, richer colours and contrast. For creators who like to do colour grading manually in post-production, the OnePlus 15 also offers LOG video capture. The phone can even preview LUTs in real-time directly in the viewfinder. That means while you are recording, you can see how the final grade will appear.

The front camera is 32MP and is quite good for selfies. It captures sharp and well-balanced images. Overall, the camera setup on the OnePlus 15 is an all-rounder. Whether it’s daylight, ultrawide landscapes, or portraits, it delivers decent to great results across scenarios.

Performance: The OnePlus 15 is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, currently the most powerful Android processor. Paired with 12GB/16GB LPDDR5X RAM, performance is extremely smooth. Whether daily tasks, heavy apps, or multitasking, everything runs instantly. App switching shows no delay at all. The UI is completely stutter-free, and OxygenOS optimisation feels very well executed. In both benchmarks and real usage, the OnePlus 15 delivered impressive results. It even feels more responsive than the OnePlus 13, which was already quite fast.

Gaming performance is also top-notch. Heavy games like BGMI and Genshin Impact ran at max settings smoothly with stable frame rates. The benefit of the 165Hz display is very visible while playing Call of Duty Mobile, ultra-high FPS feels great. BGMI also runs smoothly, with frame rate interpolation pushing higher FPS. I played for extended periods and never experienced lag or stutter.

OnePlus has introduced new hardware tuning for performance. A new 360 Cryo-Velocity Cooling setup and a sizable 5,731 sq mm 3D vapour chamber to cool things off during intense gaming and streaming. In my experience, after 1–2 hours of gaming, the device was only mildly warm. There were no overheating or throttling issues. OnePlus also claims this cooling ensures heat doesn’t transfer to your fingers, and in real usage, that felt accurate. Even with ultra settings gaming, screen recording, and 10–15 apps running in the background, the phone handled it all without a hiccup.

Software: On the software front, the OnePlus 15 runs OxygenOS 16, based on Android 16, out of the box. OxygenOS was once the heart of OnePlus smartphones due to its stock Android-like feel and smoothness. Now, it’s almost ColorOS, but OnePlus has optimised it really well. The UI experience felt very fluid to me. OxygenOS 16 comes with new AI-powered features such as AI Search, AI Writer, AI Translate, AI Voice Scribe. All are quite useful. Their Mind Space feature is also there. So, in terms of AI, OnePlus has not fallen behind. The gallery also has an AI editor, which you can use.

In terms of updates, OnePlus has promised four years of Android version upgrades and six years of security patches. That means theoretically, it should receive updates up to Android 20, which is very good support.

Battery: This time, OnePlus has offered a massive 7300mAh battery, something you don’t see in any mainstream flagship. With this, the OnePlus 15 practically delivers two-day battery life under normal usage. In my usage pattern - heavy social media scrolling, 1–2 hours gaming, some camera usage, 5G/WiFi on all the time - I got around 7–8 hours of screen-on time, and by the end of the day, still had around 40 per cent battery remaining. Light users can easily stretch it to 2 days on a single charge. Battery anxiety is gone,  even if you are travelling or spend an entire day outdoors, the phone keeps going strong.

Along with the large battery, it supports 120W fast charging. The company claims it charges from 0 to 100 per cent in just about 40 minutes, and in my tests, this was almost accurate. It went from zero to full in around 42-43 minutes using the bundled fast charger. The OnePlus 15 also supports up to 50W wireless charging.

Final Verdict

The OnePlus 15 is a complete flagship. This phone impressed me in every aspect. If you want a phone that delivers an absolute seamless performance, offers two-day battery life, features a top-class display and design with great in-hand feel, and has a good camera setup, then this is definitely a phone to consider. OnePlus 15 is selling at Rs. 72,999 for the 12GB/256GB variant. Its 16GB/512GB variant is priced at Rs. 79,999. Now compare that to other Android flagships. Samsung’s flagship lineup, the Galaxy S25 starts at Rs. 80,999 and the Galaxy S25+ begins at Rs. 99,999 and goes higher with more storage. 

When it comes to the Google Pixel 10 Pro, it’s priced even above that at Rs. 1,09,000. Sure, the Pixel does offer a great camera system, but it’s undeniably an overpriced phone for what it delivers. The OnePlus 15 undercuts both Samsung and Google by a margin while still matching their some of their capabilities. In this price band, the iQOO 15 has also been launched recently. However, iQOO has raised its pricing this year. Traditionally, iQOO positioned its phones around Rs. 55,000, but the iQOO 15 now starts at Rs. 72,999 as well. 

So, considering OnePlus 15’s all-round performance and competitive pricing, it seems to be an easy value-for-money recommendation in the Android flagship segment.