OnePlus 15 features an all-new design, and it is a change for the better. Here's our review.
OnePlus 15 price in India is set at Rs. 72,999
What truly constitutes a great flagship in 2025? Is it merely a checklist of the brightest and most vivid display, versatile cameras, the fastest chipset, the cleanest software, and the longest-lasting battery? While these are crucial, the list has expanded in today's market. Artificial intelligence (AI), for instance, has evolved from a buzzword into a staple inclusion expected in every high-end phone. Into this hyper-competitive arena steps the newly launched OnePlus 15.
The OnePlus 15 price in India is set at Rs. 72,999 for the base variant with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. However, its arrival has been met with hot debate, sparked by the company's decision to cut down on some specifications to improve others. As we know, however, on-paper specifications don't always tell the story. Where the OnePlus 15 cuts corners and where it actually shines, I will explain in my review.
The OnePlus 15 features an all-new design, and it is a change for the better. Gone are all the curves, and the front and rear panels are now entirely flat. One of the most underrated benefits of this change is that it should make it easier to find a screen protector for the phone. This also applies to the handset's frame, which is flattened, but not to the extent that it starts to dig into your palms, courtesy of its heavily rounded corners. In terms of usability, the OnePlus 15 feels well-built. It has a nice weight to it (211g), which gives you confidence to hold it without feeling too heavy.
The OnePlus 15 comes with a redesigned camera deco
Another big change is the camera deco of the OnePlus 15. It features a square camera island that closely resembles the unit on the recently introduced OnePlus 13s, and it looks better than the unit on its predecessor. This also brings the handset closer to its sister brand's flagship models, the Oppo Find X9 series, in terms of appearance.
The OnePlus 15 is available in three colourways — Infinite Black, Sand Storm, and Ultra Violet, and all of them bring different aesthetics. The Infinite Black makes it look like something that Batman would use, bearing the deepest black finish I've seen on a smartphone yet. Meanwhile, Ultra Violet is the most vibrant option among the bunch, showing off a shade of lavender and an iridescent colour shift.
The handset has excellent ergonomics and feels comfortable to hold
My personal favourite, however, is the new Sand Storm colour, which also happens to be the lead option for the OnePlus 15. It is a textured material that almost feels identical to ceramic, and has a similar treatment on both the mid-frame and the camera deco. It does not pick up any fingerprints or smudges.
Unlike the other two finishes, which have Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the Sand Storm colour of the OnePlus 15 has a fibreglass back, making it more durable than the rest. And talking about durability, it is IP66+IP68+IP69+IP69K rated for dust and water resistance, giving you more peace of mind while using it outdoors.
With the OnePlus 15, the brand has completed the transition from its alert slider to the Plus Key, a new button for summoning the Plus Mind AI feature, on its latest smartphone lineup. While this move seems to be in line with the recent trend of having AI at the core, the alert slider was an extremely useful feature and a signature on OnePlus handsets. Thus, its exclusion is disappointing.
The display of the OnePlus 15, along with its cameras, has been at the centre of the debate. Over the years, the brand has built its reputation on the quality of its screens, and the latest flagship carries that torch, but not without caveats. It sports a 6.78-inch 1.5K (1,272 x 2,772 pixels) flexible AMOLED screen with a 165Hz refresh rate and 1,800 nits (HBM) peak brightness.
The display has been upgraded to a 165Hz on the OnePlus 15
It is unmistakably a OnePlus display, with punchy colours, vibrant visuals, deep blacks, and a level of saturation that makes the interface pop. It is fantastic for binge-watching content, with HDR and Widevine L1 certifications now being the staple inclusions.
What's new here is the 165Hz refresh rate — a first for the company. As expected, it delivers exceptionally smooth animations when scrolling through social media, browsing the web, and navigating the user interface. There's an added benefit for gamers, too, with the brand offering a native 165Hz support in Battlegrounds Mobile India, Call of Duty: Mobile, Real Racing 3, and select other games, using frame interpolation. The high refresh rate comes in handy when playing first-person shooter games, with the reduced motion blur making aiming and movements more precise.
The company has cut some corners and used a lower resolution panel
However, this is where the story of this display becomes complicated. In a surprising and frankly, a little frustrating move, OnePlus has taken a step backwards and equipped the OnePlus 15 with a lower resolution screen for the first time since the OnePlus 7 Pro. It scales back from a crisp 2K (Quad HD+) resolution to 1.5K (FHD+). While the panel is still great at producing visuals and not a blurry mess, details are just a fraction less crisp and are not the "pixel-free" experience that we've become accustomed to.
The leap from 120Hz to 165Hz, in my opinion, offers diminishing returns and feels more like a step towards winning a numbers game than delivering a tangible benefit to users. This mars what is otherwise an excellent piece of hardware.
OnePlus 15 runs on OxygenOS 16, the company's own iteration of the latest Android 16 firmware. It isn't a big departure from OxygenOS 15, but it includes several quality-of-life upgrades that combine and result in a great software experience. The design philosophy behind OxygenOS 16 has clearly been modelled after Apple's Liquid Glass concept in iOS 26, and it borrows similar elements, such as Gaussian blur effects and translucent layers across the Quick Settings, system menus, and animations.
OnePlus 15 introduces a dedicated Plus Key and has the Plus Mind AI feature
The Quick Settings screen is also one of the best upgrades brought forth by OnePlus. While the panel may appear very similar to OxygenOS 15, there are a lot of new customisation options. The same also applies to the home and lock screens, which can be customised to a high extent. For example, you can apply video wallpapers to both screens and loop your favourite memories.
Another notable addition is the Predictive Back gesture, which anticipates which app experiences you're moving to and from, and provides a visual cue of the previous screen. This helps prevent accidental exits and improves the navigation flow. There's also a new dedicated AI section within the phone settings, from which you can tweak staple OnePlus AI features, such as AI Search, AI Writer, and Plus Mind.
The handset introduces Gemini integration in the Plus Mind feature
Talking about the latter, it can be accessed using the new Plus Key, which replaced the signature three-stage alert slider. Apart from a new facet where it can now work with Gemini to help recall information with natural language prompts, the feature works exactly like the one on the OnePlus 13s. You can read more about the Plus Key, Plus Mind, and all of the functionalities in our OnePlus 13s review here.
While the display choice is a point of contention, the performance of the OnePlus 15 unequivocally secures its flagship status. It is powered by Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, becoming the first smartphone to bring this processor to the Indian market. It is coupled with other high-end components, such as a OnePlus Performance Tri-Chip, up to 16GB of LPDDR5X Ultra+ RAM, and up to 512GB of UFS 4.1 onboard storage.
There are several gaming-centric features on the OnePlus 15
As expected, day-to-day usage is flawless and entirely lag-free. Whether navigating the UI, rapidly multitasking between a dozen apps, or loading intensive media, the OnePlus 15 maintains the smooth fluidity of a flagship. Its true test, however, is when playing graphics-intensive games. And here, the OnePlus delivers a great sustained performance, helped by its proprietary OP Gaming Core technology.
A key part of it is the new OnePlus Performance Tri-Chip, which integrates three physical chips and combines optimisations with hardware and software tools for improved control, responsiveness, and stability. It delivers a consistent performance with fantastic touch response and manageable thermals.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset on the OnePlus 15 is an absolute powerhouse
In popular titles such as Battlegrounds Mobile India and Call of Duty: Mobile, the OnePlus 15 manages to sustain high frame rates, even with the graphics settings pushed to the maximum. The company claims native 165Hz support for the aforementioned titles, and the handset comfortably delivered a constant 155-160fps without any aggressive throttling or heat buildup. While the computational load does increase in demanding titles like Genshin Impact, the handset managed to maintain a 60fps frame rate at the Render Resolution and everything else set to 'high'.
Only after prolonged gaming sessions does the OnePlus 15 begin to show noticeable warmth. Even then, it is usually confined to the top half of the body and away from the main areas where you hold it, never becoming uncomfortably hot. This is perhaps due to the new 360 Cryo-Velocity Cooling system, which has a larger VC, built from a tearable steel material.
Yet another controversial change on the OnePlus 15 is its camera system. While it still features a 50-megapixel triple camera unit, there are sensor downgrades for virtually all of the cameras, at least on paper. However, this seldom translates into the real-world experience, so how does the OnePlus 15 camera system fare? In short, it is a mixed bag.
OnePlus 15's camera system has been a hot topic of debate
To begin with, the 50-megapixel primary sensor performs surprisingly well in both daylight and low-light scenarios. In well-lit conditions, the handset manages to capture fine details and also handle difficult exposures by managing highlights. The same applies to low-light photos, which tend to have impressive detail and minimal noise.
OnePlus 15 daylight and low-light primary camera samples (tap to expand)
A consistent issue, however, is that some photos tend to appear a bit oversaturated, even without any specialised modes used. I'm not entirely sure what it may be attributable to, but the only culprit appears to be the new DetailMax engine, which compensates for the smaller size with additional processing. With Hasselblad now out of the picture, OnePlus is expected to bring its proprietary imaging technology to all of its future models. Furthermore, I also noticed another tendency of the software to aggressively brighten faces, much like a Pixel does.
The 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens on the OnePlus 15 is also a competent performer in good light. It has a wide field of view (FoV) but manages to keep barrel distortion at bay. Its low-light performance is passable, although it captured photos that are softer and have more noise than the primary sensor.
OnePlus 15 daylight and low-light ultra-wide-angle camera samples (tap to expand)
The OnePlus 15 also gets a 50-megapixel telephoto camera that supports 3.5x optical zoom and 7x hybrid zoom. It manages to capture well-balanced shots with a decent amount of detail, not just in optimal light but also in low-light conditions. The 7x hybrid zoom is also usable in decent lighting, but noise creeps in when conditions are not favourable.
OnePlus 15 daylight and low-light 3.5x telephoto camera samples (tap to expand)
Overall, the phone supports up to 120x magnification. At this level, the subject appears a grainy mess in the camera viewfinder, but the post-processing works wonders and makes them semi-recognisable. You will, however, still notice smudging and smoothening at the edges of objects, due to the attempted noise reduction.
OnePlus 15 7x telephoto camera samples (tap to expand)
In terms of portrait photography, the OnePlus 15 manages to capture the edges well, and there's good separation between the subject and background. However, its portrait photography is still not quite up to the level that we've seen from Vivo and OnePlus' sister brand Oppo, despite improvements.
OnePlus 15 macro camera samples (tap to expand)
Moving on, the selfie camera is a reliable performer across the board. It is good for both daylight, low-light, and portrait shots. The 32-megapixel sensor provides detailed images with good exposure.
Battery Capacity - 7,300mAh
Wired Charging - 120W
Wireless Charging - 15W
Charger - 120W
With the OnePlus 15, the company has nearly ended battery anxiety, courtesy of the massive 7,300mAh cell. Battery life on the new flagship is truly great. If you're a casual user who engages in tasks like browsing, messaging, and light media consumption, the phone can last up to two days on a single charge. With normal usage, I got about 12–13 hours of screen-on time, which is excellent.
OnePlus has managed to fit a 7,300mAh battery and still keep the OnePlus 15 fairly slim
Power users will still be able to extract more than a day's performance from the OnePlus 15 before needing a top-up.
The charging speed on the OnePlus 15 is perhaps the fastest I've ever experienced on a smartphone. It can get charged from 0 to the "Fully Charged" status in about 35 minutes, which is ridiculously fast for a phone with a 7,300mAh battery, thanks to 120W wired charging support and up to 50W wireless charging. Its charging capabilities easily surpass the 45W standard that another smartphone, widely believed to be the best flagship smartphone, currently uses. (Yes, we're looking at you, Samsung).
Writing the OnePlus 15 verdict is a conundrum, and perhaps a study in conflicting priorities. It is an extremely powerful handset, which is held back by some puzzling decisions. The handset delivers flagship-tier performance thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, remains cool due to its new thermal management technology, and offers extended battery life with its massive 7,300mAh battery. Additionally, the software is polished, fast, and feature-rich.
However, the sacrifice of the 2K display resolution for a 165Hz refresh rate feels like a misstep. Additionally, the downgrade of the camera sensors and their tendency toward oversaturation mean it doesn't quite manage to bag the title of the best camera smartphone in the market.
Ultimately, if a sustained flagship performance and multi-day battery life are your priorities, then the OnePlus 15 is a no-brainer. However, it is not without its caveats, and those seeking the sharpest screen or imaging excellence may need to look elsewhere. The upcoming iQOO 15 and Realme GT 8 Pro are two upcoming smartphones that should be taken into consideration.
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