OnePlus 15R Review – Trusted Reviews

Design

• All-new, premium design in lovely colours
• On the thick and heavy side
• Boosted IP68/69K protection

The OnePlus 15R doesn’t look much like last year’s OnePlus 13R – though I think that’s a good thing. 

I was never a big fan of the left-sided circular camera housing the 13R employed, even if it was supposed to mirror the then-flagship OnePlus 13 design. The redesigned rectangular module used here is much cleaner, much smaller, and just looks a little more premium – even if it is starting to veer slightly into iPhone territory. 

It ties in well with the rest of the phone, which looks pretty premium, with that combination of flat edges and rounded corners that pretty much every manufacturer is using at the moment. It’s very en vogue, especially in the Mint Breeze (light green) finish I was provided for review.

It’s colourful, with a matching aluminium housing on both the camera and the band, and the matte glass finish does an excellent job of hiding fingerprints and other smudges. There’s also the equally eye-catching Electric Violet (purple) finish, and for those who prefer something a little more subtle, there’s the classic Charcoal Black available too. 

That said, it does feel quite hefty in the hand, weighing in at either 213- or 219g depending on the variant you get. Either way, that’s an increase over last year’s 206g model, and it’s ever so slightly thicker at 8.1mm thick too. 

It’s not exactly going to win any awards for slimline design – best leave that to the likes of the iPhone Air – but that also means it can offer a beefier experience in areas like performance and battery life. More on that later.   

The phone has seen a massive uptick in the durability department too, jumping from the fine, but not amazing, IP65 of the 13R to dual IP68/IP69K dust and water resistance – the same as that of the OnePlus 15. OnePlus claims it’ll survive in up to 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes, with the IP69K rating also protecting it against high-pressure hot jets.

Screen protection isn’t quite at the same level, capping out at Gorilla Glass 7i in place of the Victus 2 often seen on phones nearing the 15R’s price point, but it should still provide solid protection against scratches and scuffs. There’s even a pre-applied screen protector, so you don’t need to faff around trying to apply one yourself. 

Screen

• 6.8-inch AMOLED screen
• 165Hz, but no LTPO
• Brighter in HBM, but 13R is better for HDR

At a glance, the OnePlus 15R has a pretty solid panel; measuring at 6.8 inches, it’s slightly larger than the outgoing 13R’s 6.7-inch alternative, mainly down to much slimmer bezels that give it a more premium look. 

It’s a lovely screen that delivers all that you’d really want, with AMOLED tech delivering those vibrant colours and inky blacks that make social media, games and movies look superb, and there’s support for HDR10+, Dolby Vision and HDR Vivid, with a peak brightness of 3600 nits. Even in regular daylight, the 1800 nit HMB is more than enough, even on the rare sunny day in the UK at this time of year. 

It’s also a faster screen, matching the OnePlus 15’s 165Hz refresh rate, complete with 165fps support in popular games like Call of Duty Mobile, so it’s more than just a marketing gimmick – especially when paired with the (near) flagship chipset on offer.

However, it’s not all rosy; for one, it doesn’t boast an LTPO-enabled screen that allows it to drop down to as little as 1Hz for a more responsive, battery-friendly experience – a notable downgrade over the LTPO 4.1 present on the 13R.

It’s also not as bright as last year’s panel when watching HDR content, with the 13R’s screen able to reach a peak brightness of 4500 nits, though whether that matters depends on how you use your phone. Will HDR movie fans notice a difference? Most likely. But the 13R’s 1600 nits HBM trails behind the 15R, and that’s the key metric for everyday use.  

For the vast majority of users, the OnePlus 15R’s screen is more than enough – it could’ve just been that little bit better. 

Performance

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 and 12GB of RAM
• Strong everyday performance, if not quite flagship
• Effective cooling provides a more stable gaming experience

It might not pack the same flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 as the flagship OnePlus 15, but make no mistake, the OnePlus 15R is very much focused on performance. 

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 found within is only a step down from Qualcomm’s top-tier chipset, paired with either 256GB or 512GB of super-fast UFS 4.1 storage and 12GB of LPDDR5X Ultra RAM. Combined, the 15R delivers impressive performance in both real-world use and benchmarking software.

Benchmarks paint a largely positive picture, with the OnePlus 15R outcompeting similarly priced alternatives like the Xiaomi 15T Pro and Samsung Galaxy S25 FE in both CPU and GPU tests, scoring 9050 in Geekbench 6’s multi-core test and a solid 5551 in the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme test. 

It can even handle real-time ray-tracing with a score of 35.7fps in 3DMark’s Solar Bay test, though it’s not quite as capable as proper flagships in this regard.

Yes, the 15R trails behind the likes of the OnePlus 15 and the RedMagic 11 Pro with the 8 Elite Gen 5, but you wouldn’t notice the difference in everyday use, especially paired with the 165Hz refresh rate that helps things feel slick – and you can actually hit 165fps in games like Call of Duty Mobile with official support on offer. 

It also features the flagship alternative’s Cryo-Velocity cooling system, which helps minimise throttling, with a stability score of 70.7% in our demanding 20-minute gaming benchmark to back it up, beating much more premium phones like the Honor Magic 8 Pro.

So, while it’s not up to true gaming phone standards set by the likes of the RedMagic 11 Pro, it’s a solid alternative if you want something a little less gamer-y. 

OnePlus has also included the latest in connectivity via a dedicated chipset, meaning you get the likes of Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 for super-fast speeds – though you’ll need compatible wireless gear to truly take advantage of the tech.  

Cameras

• 50MP main and 8MP ultrawide on rear
• No telephoto lens, a big downgrade from 13R
• Fine performance, but not a camera-first phone

That focus on performance had to come at a price – and it seems that the OnePlus 15R’s camera system has taken a particularly major hit. 

You’re getting the same 1/1.56-inch 50MP main camera as the OnePlus 15, which is pretty solid, but it’s paired with an underwhelming 8MP ultrawide, which is a little surprising at this price point. Phones like the £199 / $199 Galaxy A17 have an 8MP ultrawide. 

There’s also no dedicated zoom lens this year, a notable step down compared to last year’s 13R and its 50MP telephoto lens, making the 15R a less versatile snapper than its predecessor.

With a spec like that, it’s clear that most of the focus is on the main camera. With the same hardware as the flagship OnePlus alternative, it delivers similarly sharp, detailed images with pleasing – if not always totally accurate – colours and solid dynamic range, even in challenging lighting conditions. 

It does a decent job once light levels begin to drop, with solid results in environments with some environmental lighting, but results get a little softer and muddier in true low-light conditions. It’s not going to win awards for night-time shots at this price; best to look to phones like the Pixel 10 or Xiaomi 15T Pro if that’s a priority.

That said, it’ll perform much better than the accompanying ultrawide. Shots in bright daylight look fine, though a little lacklustre in fine detail, mainly due to the low-res sensor and lack of pixel-pinning tech. However, it struggles much more once the light begins to dwindle. If there are lights in your photo, it’ll be passable, but in truly dim conditions, you’ll be left with blotchy, soft images that won’t exactly knock your socks off.

Without a dedicated zoom lens on offer, you’re limited to in-sensor zoom up to the 2x mark, and pure digital zoom from that point on. It’s fine to push to around the 3-5x mark depending on conditions, but you really don’t want to go any further if you want to avoid that overly processed look. The 13R’s 50MP 2x telephoto wasn’t exactly industry-leading, but it did allow for better zoom shots than the 15R. 

Flip the phone over and you’ll find an upgraded 32MP selfie camera that, crucially, features both OIS and autofocus tech. This allows for much sharper, in-focus selfies, particularly when there’s a group of people bunched together, with results that are generally quite reliable, with plenty of detail and solid skin tone reproduction. 

It’s more than enough for video calls and selfies, and there is 4K video capture too, though it’s limited to 30fps – you’ll need the rear camera for full 4K@120fps. 

Software & AI

• OxygenOS 16 based on Android 16
• Plenty of customisation options
• AI is here, but it’s pretty standard stuff

Software is an area where OnePlus rarely struggles. Even in the early days, OnePlus’ OxygenOS offered far more customisation and a better overall experience than most other Android skins, and that continues with the OxygenOS 16 based on Android 16 on the OnePlus 15R. 

Like older versions of the custom Android skin, the OnePlus 15R software experience is all about customisation; you can tweak not only the size and shape of your icons, but also the lock screen and always-on display, with plenty of stylised wallpaper templates that you can tweak to your liking. It’s all very Apple, if I’m honest, but in the best way. 

That continues with very little pre-installed bloatware. There are a few outliers, namely LinkedIn, TikTok, Amazon, Netflix and Facebook, alongside a handful of OnePlus-branded apps, but for the most part, these are apps you’d have likely installed anyway. And for those you have no interest in, you can delete them after setup. 

There’s also a stronger push for AI in the latest OxygenOS, though I wouldn’t say OnePlus is doing much that the competition isn’t. The company’s tools include AI-powered writing tools, the ability to remove subjects from photos (along with other photo-based tools) and recording transcription, but none of these are exactly game-changing.

There is Mind Space, a feature that lets you take a screenshot, which is analysed by AI and added to a dedicated Mind Space app, helping you keep track of things you see online, order receipts, and more, with automatic categorisation. 

It’s supposed to replace the packed-out screenshots folder we all have on our phones with something a bit more proactive, but without the ability to sync content with my other OnePlus products – like the OnePlus Pad 3 – it seems a little half-baked.

Rounding out the software offering is a long-term commitment of four years of full software updates and six years of security patches for the OnePlus 15R. It’s a solid offering, but it’s not quite the full seven years you’ll find from cheaper phones like the Samsung Galaxy A56. 

Battery life

• 7400mAh silicon carbon battery
• Can stretch to two full days of use
• Full charge in under an hour

Battery life is an area where the OnePlus 15R stands out from much of the competition – both at its £649 / $699 price point and well above. 

That’s thanks mainly to a massive 7400mAh silicon carbon battery that’s actually 100mAh bigger than that of the flagship OnePlus 15, and only 100mAh off the Oppo Find X9 Pro’s 7500mAh cell – one of the biggest in the market right now. 

As you might expect, the 15R boasts superb battery life as a result. 

Like the full-fat 15 and the Find X9 Pro, this smartphone can get through the most demanding days with a good chunk of battery left in the tank, offering easy two-day battery life for most users. I’d usually get to the end of busy days with 40-50% left, and on days when I didn’t really use my phone, it’d only sap around 25-30% of the battery.

Simply put, it’s a phone that lets you do whatever you want, be it high-end gaming or editing videos in CapCut, without giving battery life even a glancing thought, and there aren’t many smartphones around that can do that – especially at the 15R’s price point. 

Charging isn’t quite as rapid as the 120W flagship it’s based on, but with 80W SuperVOOC charging, it matches the Find X9 Pro’s rate and delivers a full charge in a similar 56 minutes, with 41% in 15 minutes. This is one of the downsides of big batteries – they take longer to charge, even with what most would consider rapid charging. 

It also supports bypass charging, allowing you to play even demanding games for hours without the phone overheating or unnecessarily degrading your battery. 

There isn’t any wireless charging, however. There was clearly a choice between a big battery and wireless charging – and I’m glad that OnePlus went for the former. Some may lament the convenience, but I’d argue that wireless charging doesn’t matter as much when your phone can comfortably last a day or two.

Should you buy it?