OnePlus is changing things up with the launch of the OnePlus 15. (OnePlus is skipping the 14 because four, which sounds like the word for death, is bad luck in Chinese culture.) Instead of following previous years and releasing its flagship Android phone in China first, then following it with a global release a few months later, the tech brand is pushing the OnePlus 15 out before the holidays.
Releasing in China at the end of October, then launching globally and in North America on Nov. 13, the OnePlus 15 ditches the round camera design and image processing co-developed with Hasselblad. The OnePlus 15 has a boxier look with flat sides, a flat display, and a flat square-shaped camera bump (are we just going to call them “plateaus” now because of Apple?) Besides the all-new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip that is its brain, there’s a 7,300mAh battery. This phone is gonna be a battery beast no matter how you slice it.
For comparison’s sake, the iPhone 17 Pro Max that just launched a few weeks ago has a 5,088mAh battery. The OnePlus 13 had a 6,000mAh battery, which was already considered f*cking huge. Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery.
OnePlus is able to pack in a 7,300mAh in a phone using a dual-cell silicon carbide battery. These batteries have started to make their way into flagship Android phones in the past year. They have the benefit of larger capacities with smaller footprints. In other words, phones can be made slimmer or even the same size while having more juice to last multiple days on a single charge.
Related to the battery, OnePlus says the OnePlus 15 can charge at up to 100W with a cable and 50W using wireless charging.
Replacing Hasselblad’s image processing is OnePlus’s own “DetailMax” image engine. We’ll have to see how photos from the OnePlus 15 cameras compare to previous Hasselblad-optimized ones. I really liked how photos came out on the OnePlus 13; they leaned a little warm, with a color science closer to what people generally associate with looking “cinematic.”
We don’t have full specs for the OnePlus 15, however, we can spot a few things from the images of the Sand Storm model. There’s a triple-lens camera on the back. The Alert Slider is also gone, replaced with what appears to be the same programmable “Plus Key” introduced on the OnePlus 13S. The Plus Key works pretty much the same as the Action button found on iPhone 15 Pros, the whole iPhone 16 series except for the iPhone 16e, the whole iPhone 17 series, and the iPhone Air.
Other tidbits OnePlus has shared about its new flagship phone include a 32-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus. The company says the bezels surrounding the display have been reduced by 40% compared to the OnePlus 13. The screen is also “the first Android device to have an always-on 120 fps gameplay, as well as up to 165Hz display refresh rate for select gaming IPs.” OnePlus has always leaned into performance for mobile gaming, so if that’s something you’re into, hopefully it’ll have the sustained performance to allow for smooth, responsive gameplay.
OnePlus is also kind enough to remind us that the OnePlus 15 still has a SIM card tray. This is clearly a shot at Apple, which has moved more toward eSIM. The iPhone Air, for example, is eSIM only worldwide. iPhone 17 and 17 Pro/17 Pro Max devices sold with SIM card slots also have two hours less battery life compared to eSIM versions.
No word on pricing yet, but we should have that info closer to launch. For reference, the OnePlus 13 launched for $899 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and $999 for 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. We’ll have to wait to see whether Trump’s tariffs, which have increased the price of gadgets from Xboxes and PlayStation 5s to Fujifilm cameras, will impact the OnePlus 15. Either OnePlus eats the cost or passes it on to consumers.
