{"id":224044,"date":"2026-01-08T23:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/224044\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T23:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T23:22:09","slug":"this-new-phone-is-faster-than-the-galaxy-s25-ultra-its-300-cheaper-and-it-comes-with-a-free-100-gift-card-what-are-you-waiting-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/224044\/","title":{"rendered":"This new phone is faster than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, it’s $300 cheaper, AND it comes with a free $100 gift card \u2014 what are you waiting for?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’ve been waiting for the OnePlus 15 to hit retail store shelves in the United States, you’re in luck: Best Buy finally got the flagship phone in stock, and it’s slapping on an unmissable deal for a limited time.<\/p>\n

Buy the OnePlus 15 through the retailer’s site and you’ll get a free $100 gift card<\/a> with your purchase. Best Buy will also throw on up to $600 of trade-in credit if you have an old or broken phone lying around. Both the 512GB and 256GB versions of the phone will land you the free cash, although you’ll have to buy from Amazon<\/a> if you prefer the latter configuration.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We called the OnePlus 13 a ‘nearly perfect smartphone’, but the OnePlus 15<\/a> actually improves upon its predecessor in a few important ways. Now available at most big box stores in North America, the phone is powered by the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset (making it faster than the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra<\/a>), plus you get a IP69K durability rating with a stunning 6.78-inch 165Hz flat OLED display.<\/p>\n

The OnePlus 15 also boasts a gargantuan 7,300mAh battery that provides up to three days of battery life on a single charge, and the camera tech could easily holds its own against the best devices from Samsung or Google.<\/p>\n

So what are the downsides? Well, it makes the most sense to compare the OnePlus 15 with its most obvious rival<\/a>, the aforementioned Galaxy S25 Ultra. For starters, the OnePlus 15 only has six years of guaranteed OS upgrades compared to Samsung’s seven, and the OEM has never been as interested in AI integration as Samsung and Google seem to be.<\/p>\n

\n

\"A\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

The Samsung phone<\/a> also comes with a built-in stylus and a larger display, and one could argue that the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s camera system is a bit more versatile than the OnePlus’ tech. On the other hand, the OnePlus 15 wins out with battery life, charging speeds, and its lightweight build.<\/p>\n

For most folks, the decision will come down to price. Is it worth spending $300 more to get marginally better AI features and software support? It’s totally your call, but if you want to branch out beyond the confines of Samsung and Google and save a little cash in the process, the OnePlus 15 is the best of the best. If money isn’t an object, however, consider the following:<\/p>\n

\u2705Buy the OnePlus 15 if.. you want an ultra-powerful phone that’s great for gaming, with an eye-friendly display and unbelievable battery life.<\/p>\n

\u2705Buy the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra if.. you want a large phone with a built-in stylus, loads of AI features, and some of the best camera tech in the biz.<\/p>\n

It’s also worth mentioning that the Galaxy S26 Ultra is set to be revealed<\/a> sometime in the next couple of months. Will the new Samsung flagship give OnePlus a run for its money in 2026? Only time will tell.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Today’s best OnePlus 15 deals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you’ve been waiting for the OnePlus 15 to hit retail store shelves in the United States, you’re…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-224044","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-mobile","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224044\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}