OnePlus 15 review: already the best smartphone of 2026?

OnePlus 15 after weeks of testing

Last month, DroidApp travelled to the Czech capital Prague to be among the first to get acquainted with OnePlus' brand new high-end smartphone: the OnePlus 15. Indeed, the successor to the OnePlus 13, which we put to the test extensively in the OnePlus 13 review earlier this year. No OnePlus 14, then, because the number 4 causes bad luck, it is believed in home country China. OnePlus itself gives the reason: because it is so many steps ahead, so actually two generations ahead. It just depends on what spin you want to put on it. Or is there a grain of truth in it?

In stunning Prague, we were able to get a taste of the OnePlus' camera beforehand. We shared the first results in the dedicated article. In our OnePlus 15 review, we discuss the camera in even more detail. How good is it compared to the OnePlus 13, and does the device hold up well compared to the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL?

Unboxing

Like previous generation smartphones, the OnePlus 15 comes in the familiar red rectangular packaging. In it, we find some paperwork, the familiar red cable and a SIM needle. A screen protector is immediately stuck on the device. However, this plastic screen film is very scratchy. Should you want to protect the screen properly, we would recommend a glass screen protector.

A case is not included, although OnePlus has released several original accessories. For instance, you can get started with a back cover with holes, in which you can insert red rubber cubes and thus personalise the case. This case is the Hole-Pattern Magnetic Case, which means it is also magnetic.

Design and interface

The design of the OnePlus 15 is significantly different from previous models. This is immediately noticeable at the back. No longer the circular camera module, but a square island that houses the lenses. There are three colours to choose from, with the gold-coloured Sand Storm boasting a micro-arc oxidation layer, which is even sturdier and more scratch-resistant. The black colour we have is called Infinite Black. It has a matt finish, which makes it sit well in the hand. The layer allows you to 'scratch' it with your nail, for example, but it is easily wiped away. Finally, you can choose from a lilac colour, which listens to the name Ultra Violet.

On the front of the OnePlus 15, things are less exciting. There is a 6.78-inch screen with a 2772 x 1272 pixel resolution and a high refresh rate of up to 165Hz. Incidentally, that is only for games, and for other things it is variable between 1-120Hz. Interestingly, the resolution is slightly lower than on the OnePlus 13, where the maximum resolution came out to 3168 x 1440 pixels, although this setting was not set by default. We don't actually see any difference, and the OnePlus 15 has a very good screen. In dark environments the light can be dimmed enough, while on sunny days the brightness is excellent for good readability. Inside the punch-hole is a 32-megapixel front camera.

The alert slider we know from previous generations of the brand's devices has given way to a physical button. With it, you can not only set your device to silent, vibrate or sound, but also attach other shortcuts, for instance. For instance, you can quickly save content in Mind Space, which we will come back to later in the review. Options like activating Do Not Disturb mode, torch, recorder or translation function are also among the possibilities. Hanging an app on the hotkey itself is not possible.

Although the device is not incredibly light at 215 grams, it is lighter than several other devices in the high-end segment, despite the gigantic battery. For instance, the Galaxy S25 Ultra weighs 218 grams and the Pixel 10 Pro XL weighs 232 grams.

Interface

OnePlus provides the OnePlus 15 with Android 16 straight from the box, along with also the brand's latest skin, OxygenOS 16. This update was announced earlier. We see several improvements and new features, including Flux Theme 2.0 with its dynamic canvas. This gives you depth effects in the lock screen. Like a mountain peak behind which the clock partially 'disappears'. You can find all the new features in the article on OxygenOS 16.

If you're already used to OxygenOS from a previous OnePlus device, it won't be a huge change. You can personalise the necessary things and it offers plenty of options as well. You can further use a handy gesture, by swiping down on the home screen, to then search for apps or files, without having to scroll through the entire menu. It works pleasantly and quickly.

There are also some AI features available in the OnePlus 15. For instance, the phone can help you write a text, or translate it. However, that translation only works in a few languages, and that does not include Dutch. OnePlus has also added an AI recorder and a VoiceScribe function that records, summarises and can translate (in supported languages). In terms of AI functionality, it does not go as far as Samsung, for example, so we barely used it.

Mind Space

I personally see little benefit in Mind Space, which can be used to analyse content. But this could well be personal. Perhaps you want to easily store all the concerts you have on, or your recipes. In doing so, Mind Space can easily analyse the information on the screen, but that only works if it is on one screenshot, and like the preparation of a dish, it usually takes up much more space. It has potential, but in my opinion needs some further elaboration.

Communication and multimedia

The OnePlus 15 has room for twice a nano SIM card. If you prefer to opt for an eSIM, that's obviously no problem either. Call quality is more than good and we never encountered any problems with it. In addition, the OnePlus phone offers support for WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6, NFC and the necessary capabilities to determine your location.

If you use the phone for multimedia, the OnePlus 15 will not disappoint. The smartphone offers a nice screen, but the speakers for listening to music also leave a very positive impression. The sound can be loud and sounds very pleasant to listen to. You immediately hear that you are dealing with a premium smartphone. Nothing to complain about!

Camera

Not only a new camera module, but also no longer the addition of Hasselblad. The partnership is only ongoing with sister company Oppo, but OnePlus is opting for its own image processing. The so-called DetailMax Engine should take even better photos, not just during the day, but especially in the dark hours. OnePlus makes it clear to us that the photos are better than ever before. We are not very sensitive to marketing language anymore, so we prefer to experience it for ourselves. How do you like the OnePlus 15's camera?

For taking photos, the '15' is equipped with three cameras. These are a 50-megapixel main camera, a 50-megapixel wide-angle lens with a 116-degree field of view and a telephoto lens of also 50-megapixel. The latter offers 3.5x optical zoom, 7x zoom in optical quality and 120x Ultra Res zoom, zooming in digitally. A special AI function should ensure that portraits are always correctly exposed.

We did a lot of photography with the OnePlus 15 in recent weeks, and the camera app is pleasant to use and really needs no special explanation. Photos are taken quickly and, of course, we are incredibly curious about the end result. Because that's what it's all about, of course.

Photo quality

OnePlus has obviously been serious about the improved camera. What we were most impressed by: it doesn't really matter what you want to photograph, you can assume with the device that this will always be fine. And with that, it's an improvement over the OnePlus 13, which already didn't have a bad camera, but compared to the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, it did regularly leave stitches, with the OnePlus 13 regularly tending to capture the image a bit drab. We don't see that at all with the OnePlus 15.

If we put both devices side by side, and then also add Google's Pixel 10 Pro XL(review), we see that the OnePlus 15's camera takes great photos. The smartphone takes photos that are actually always spot-on, with proper exposure in situations both during the day and in the dark hours. The photos are full of detail. In the evening hours, it is noticeable that the photos tend to be warmer than those of the OnePlus 13. Often, I also find that the photos of the OnePlus 15 look more detailed than those of the Pixel. This is where OnePlus has really made a big improvement. And although the sensors are smaller, you don't notice any of this in the photo quality.

The 7x zoom is a thing though. So you can also find in the digital photo album linked below. A huge load of AI is thrown over the photo, which you can see in the photo of the seal. There is nothing natural about this anymore. Sure, it's compensation for what the lens can't capture more tightly, and AI, but we wouldn't use this 7x zoom too often.

Want to see lots of photos that came straight from the camera? Then check out the OnePlus 15's photo album here.

Video camera

The OnePlus 15's video camera lets you film in up to 8K quality at 30fps. A high frame rate can be achieved with filming in 4K, which lets you capture 120fps. Lower resolution and frame rate are also possible. The videos below were shot with the OnePlus 15 without editing. We can conclude that the optical image stabilisation does its job well. In doing so, the device delivers very good videos.

Performance and battery life

OnePlus was one of the first manufacturers to equip the phone with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. And that naturally means that speed and performance are fine. Tasks are completed quickly and we didn't experience any crashes or craziness. Our test model came with 16GB of RAM, although there is also a configuration where the device comes with 12GB of working memory.

Internal storage is 512GB in our model. If you opt for the variant with 12GB RAM, you get 256GB of storage. As is quite normal these days, this memory is not expandable through a memory card.

Battery

The endurance component naturally deserves extra attention in the review of the OnePlus 15. Never before have we seen such a large battery in a high-end smartphone you can buy here in Europe. Although the Oppo Find X9 Pro presented recently also features a large battery. It is a so-called silicon battery, which means a manufacturer can get a lot of capacity in a smaller battery. The OnePlus 15 features a 7300mAh battery.

So on paper, great battery life, but what about in practice? Even with heavy(er) usage, the device easily manages two full days. Off the charger early in the morning, back on the charger late at night on the second day, it's no problem at all. With very intensive use, 6 hours of screen-on-time on 5G is easy to achieve, but if you use more WiFi and use it a little less intensively, we easily reach a screen-time over 10 hours. Even a full day on a city trip through Antwerp and then to a concert with filming was not a tough job for the OnePlus 15, wow!

If the battery does run out, you can charge it at lightning speed. With 120W SuperVOOC charging, the battery recharges in about 40 minutes. However, you still need to provide a suitable charger yourself. Wireless charging is also possible; and with 50W.

Update policy

The OnePlus 15 comes to market with Android 16. In doing so, the manufacturer promises to give the phone four Android upgrades. The smartphone will be updated up to Android 20, and security updates will continue for a bit longer. You will be offered security patches for six years. Samsung and Google clearly go longer with this; both in terms of Android and security updates will be available for seven years for this.

Review

OnePlus can long be seen as a full-fledged player in the Android segment. With the OnePlus 15, the company has once again raised the bar for its competitors, but also for itself. The device's camera manages to deliver a perfect picture time after time, the new design is fine and sits comfortably in the hand, and the battery life is fantastic. When it comes to performance, screen and sound quality, the OnePlus 15 doesn't drop a beat either. There are no really big downsides; although the screen protector scratches quickly and the update policy does really lag behind Samsung and Pixel, for example. Then again, no device is perfect, though this OnePlus 15 comes very close. Nice bonus: for its ability and performance, the device is priced more favourably than competitors. That's a nice bonus.

You can buy the OnePlus 15 from OnePlus, Coolblue, Belsimpel, MediaMarkt, Bol and Mobile.