The OnePlus 15 smartphone is here, follow-up to the OnePlus 13 (who needs a 14, anyway?) and boasting several upgrades, including improved performance, advanced cameras, more intelligent AI, a bigger, even longer-lasting battery, and the cool Plus Mind experience.
Key Specs of The Follow-up Phone
The phone uses a triple-chip system for smooth operation combined with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile processor for multitasking and, for those who partake, mobile gaming. The 360° Cryo-Velocity Cooling System that dissipates heat further ensures smooth and pleasurable game play. A UAV-grade gyroscope with ±4000 DPS precision helps accurately translate subtle hand movements into precise in-game control, minimizing drift to maintain steady aim even when using high magnification scopes.
The touch response chip enables 3,200Hz instant touch sampling for ultra-smooth visuals while it has an independent Wi-Fi chip that purports to provide a stronger, more stable connection, even in congested environments. Parallel Processing 2.0 ensures system-wide smoothness during app switching, navigation, and multitasking. The interface features seamless motion animations that provide visual previews of transitions, creating a naturally responsive feel. The Dual App Control feature enables simultaneous operation of two applications on a single screen, enhancing productivity.
Featuring a 6.78-inch 1.5K, 165Hz LTPO display, high brightness is 1,800 nits for outdoor visibility. You can also dim it to one nit for comfortable nighttime viewing. The display is certified by TÜV Rheinland Intelligent Eye Care 5.0 for enhanced viewing comfort.
Battery Life Will Blow You Away
The battery in the OnePlus 13 was certainly something to write home about, and the OnePlus 15 blows even that out of the water. It’s a 7,300mAh Silicon NanoStack battery with 15% silicon content that is long lasting, able to run for up to two days per charge. It also maintains over 80% health after four years, and can operate reliably even at -20°C, something Canadians will appreciate. It further supports 80W SUPERVOOC wired charging and 50W AIRVOOC wireless support so it charges quickly as well. It comes with a charging brick and cable in the box affording 80W wired charging in Canada and the U.S. and up to 120W internationally, so you don’t need to buy a separate adapter, which is a huge plus.
Smaller Sensors, Still Good Photos
The cameras are powered by the new DetailMax Engine versus Hasselblad in the OnePlus 13. This works alongside the triple 50MP camera array. The 50MP main camera has optical image stabilization and is joined by a 50MP ultra-wide camera featuring autofocus for both expansive scenes and close-up macros, and a 50MP periscope telephoto lens offering 3.5x optical zoom and 7x high-quality lossless zoom. There’s also an Ultra Clear 26MP mode for capturing more detail in daylight along with Clear Burst for sharp action shots, and Clear Night Engine for cleaner low-light photography.
It’s not going to blow you away but you can take some really great shots with some zoom limitations. I took the OnePlus 15 with me on a recent trip to Spain for the Upscale conference and took some photos on the afternoon I arrived to test the cameras. Here are a few examples.
For video creation, the OnePlus 15 supports Android’s 4K, 120fps Dolby Vision recording, along with LOG support for flexible colour grading and real-time LUT previews. This will be a game-changer for serious content creators.
AI All Around, Plus
The phone is powered by OxygenOS 16 with OnePlus AI and Google Gemini. The AI experience is centred around Plus Mind. By pressing the dedicated Plus Key on the left-hand side of the device, or swiping up with three fingers, you can save on-screen content to a unified Mind Space knowledge base. Double press to record a voice memo, great for brainstorming or logging things you want to add to your calendar once you get home, for example. It’s sort of like a digital vault of your thoughts or items you want to bookmark.
In addition, Google Gemini can now connect with Mind Space to pull information and provide personalized suggestions based on what you’ve saved, all in a single prompt. For example, ask for help creating travel itineraries and Gemini will connect with Mind Space to generate a personalized plan based on your stored data.
Additional AI tools include AI Writer for content drafting and summarization, AI Recorder for real-time meeting transcription with speaker identification, and AI Portrait Glow for intelligent photo enhancement. I used AI Recorder throughout a conference in Spain and it worked flawlessly. I recorded every main stage speaker talk then had every recording transcribed into a text document I was able to reference from which to pull quotes. Being able to do this with phone and live conversations is huge as well. You can even create an AI summary of the transcript, a sort of 21st Century version of Coles Notes.
Those who purchase the OnePlus 15 can enjoy a three-month trial of Google AI Pro at no extra cost, which includes more access to new and powerful features in the Gemini app, higher usage limits in NotebookLM, and Gemini in Gmail, Docs and more, to enhance productivity and creativity. The offer expires on August 1, 2026 and Google AI Pro is $20/mo. after should you choose to keep it.
This Phone Can Take a Beating
Visually, the phone has rounded edges and is designed for even weight distribution so it’s comfortable to hold. It comes in Infinite Black with advanced AG glass, Sand Storm featuring a MAO-treated frame that’s 3.4 times harder than conventional aluminum and 1.3 times more resilient than titanium, and Ultra Violet with a light-responsive dual-texture coating.
Like the OnePlus 13, it meets both IP68 and IP69 certification, but it also adds IP69K certification. This means it can withstand not only dust as well as water submersion for a limited period of time, but also high-pressure water jets, and high-pressure water jets at close range, as well as extreme temperatures. So yes, like the OnePlus 13, you can toss it in the top rack of your dishwasher if you’re so inclined, run a cycle, and it will be fine. (I didn’t try it but did see demos of this at the OnePlus 13 launch, so I’ll take their word for it!)
MagSafe Cases & Pricing
Complementing the OnePlus 15 is a curated collection of premium accessories, including magnetic-compatible cases in a range of finishes, each incorporating a built-in magnetic ring for full compatibility with MagSafe accessories. (Sadly, the phone does not have built-in Qi2 like the Pixel 10 series line and MagSafe enabled iPhones).
The OnePlus 15 is now available in Canada staring at $1,300 for the 12GB RAM version with 256GB storage (only available in Infinite Black) or $1,400 for the 16GB, 512GB version in all three colours. The magnetic cases are $45 each, an upgraded fibre magnetic one for $60. Interestingly, given everything going on in the U.S. right now with the government shutdown, the phone hasn’t made its way stateside just yet.
Stay tuned for my review!