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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.

Samsung or Apple phone you can buy. I watched last year’s OnePlus 13 survive a run through a dishwasher, and the OnePlus 15 is even tougher than that. Bring on the hot water jets!

My final wish would be to get back some of the great smartphone features we’ve lost over the years. I remember when Android phones were about personality and customization. Now you can’t even organize your app drawer on a Pixel phone.

OnePlus 15 in Times Square New York City on the busy street showing the cameras and sides of the phone in addition to home screen panels and Settings menus

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Galaxy S6 could change the channel on your TV (or the bar TV playing Fox News), and the OnePlus 15 brings that back. It can act as a universal remote control, a feature I treasure when I lose my TV remote after I turn out the lights.

The OnePlus 15 is great at everything you want to do on your phone. For gaming, it’s a next-level handheld. I was able to play games with Settings in the Experimental realm. The OnePlus 15 pushes past limits you never noticed on other smartphones, and there are enough game developers on board to make the advantage worthwhile.

Call of Duty looked as good on my phone as it does running on a console, with an even better frame rate, and I say that as a long time gamer, not a casual interloper.

What’s the catch? Well, you might have to explain to people who OnePlus is when they ask about your phone, because most people I talk to have never heard of them.

OnePlus 15 in Times Square New York City on the busy street showing the cameras and sides of the phone in addition to home screen panels and Settings menus

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

That’s because OnePlus doesn’t sell its best phones in carrier stores. You won’t see the OnePlus 15 available free with a contract and a trade on AT&T or Vodafone. That means you pay more up front, which is a shame. Lots of my friends would love this phone, but don’t have hundreds to shell out. At least OnePlus usually has decent trade-in offers when you buy directly from the company.

There are a few other shortcomings, but they don’t amount to much when you consider this phone competes with the base model iPhone 17 and Galaxy S25, even though it offers as much as an Ultra or Pro Max.

We used to call this a flagship killer. Now I just call it the best phone you can buy, and the first phone I’ve tested that deserves a perfect score.

iPhone Air. It’s more expensive than a Google Pixel 10, but less than the Pixel 10 Pro. The Galaxy S25 Plus is more expensive than the black OnePlus 15 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

Sadly, the best colors are only available on the more expensive model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. I’m sure the lower-spec OnePlus 15 performs admirably, but my review sample is the Sand Storm model with more goodness inside. It’s not a necessary upgrade, but even at this $999.99 / £999 price, it’s a great deal for such a powerhouse phone.

OnePlus only makes one flagship – there isn’t a Pro or an Ultra or an XL model with better cameras or a faster chip. While Samsung and Apple lure you in with aspirational models that cost more than $1,000 / £1,000 / AU$2,000, the OnePlus 15 is the company’s best phone, not a step down.

In the past, OnePlus has offered great trade-in deals that knock at least $100 off the price in the US, but it hasn’t announced similar offers for the OnePlus 15.

I’d still recommend this phone at its full price. You won’t find a more capable phone without paying hundreds more, and even the most expensive phones – the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max come to mind – can’t beat the OnePlus 15 in the things it does best.

Swipe to scroll horizontallyOnePlus 15 pricing

Storage

US Price

UK Price

AU Price

256GB

$899

£899

AU $TBD

512GB

$999

£999

AU $TBD

OnePlus 12, I understand the impulse to be less flashy. Those camera bumps were very large. The phones were downright wobbly.

Image 1 of 4

OnePlus 12 from the back in Flowy Emerald colorThe OnePlus 12 design, especially in Flowy Emerald, was gorgeous, but divisive(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)The OnePlus 12 phone, from the backThat camera bump is admittedly very large(Image credit: Future)OnePlus 13 from back in blue showing cameras and H Hasselblad logoThe OnePlus 13 tried for classier color options, but the cameras still stand out(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)OnePlus 13 in blue from back showing camerasOnePlus reps said its own fans were asking for a smaller camera bump on the back(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

The OnePlus 15 looks like it could descend from the same lineage as the Google Pixel 10. It has a prominent camera bump that feels precisely machined, taking up a square of the corner on the back. The curves of the phone, the camera bump, and the camera lens windows are all symmetrically aligned on the same axis.

The color options for the OnePlus 15 are a bit staid compared to previously flashy hues, but each comes with its own benefits. My review unit came in the Sand Storm color that OnePlus claims is slightly more durable than the rest, owing to the electrified way the color is applied to the frame. The lilac color will be more limited, which only makes me want it more.

Adobe Premiere Rush. We also measure display color output and brightness.

For battery testing, we have proprietary rundown tests that are the same for every phone, which we use to determine how long it takes for the battery to run down.

First reviewed November 2025