4 reasons to buy the OnePlus 15 and 3 reasons to skip

• By Marcia Sekhose
Published On: 19 November 2025 | 17:52 IST

OnePlus 15 debuted the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset in India, along with a new design, a bigger battery, and impressive gaming chops. We talked about the phone in detail in our review, where we addressed its upgrades and the new in-house DetailMax Engine for cameras. OnePlus 15 is also pricier at Rs 72,999, after an increase of Rs 3,000 from the OnePlus 13. It’s still a premium and powerful flagship that has several reasons for you to purchase it, and some not.

If you’ve been wondering if the OnePlus 15 is worth upgrading to, then this article should help, as we list out reasons to buy the OnePlus 15 and reasons to skip it based on our review.

Reasons to buy the OnePlus 15

Excellent performance, particularly in gaming

OnePlus 15 is one of the best performance phones you can buy right now. Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the smartphone is extremely fast for just about any task, like switching between multiple apps quickly and even gaming for extended sessions. We didn’t face any stuttering or slowdown during our usage. Its AnTuTu benchmark score of over 36 lakh proves so, as it’s one of the highest in the premium flagship segment.

Gaming is another highlight on the OnePlus 15 as it comes with new Gaming Technology features. As claimed, we did achieve a consistent 165fps while playing games like CoD Mobile and BGMI. So if gaming is a big deal for you, then you’ll be highly impressed with the OnePlus 15.

Subtle but durable design

OnePlus 15 loses the circular camera design for a more minimalist square-shaped design. The overall look is subtle but still premium. OnePlus has made the design durable too, especially the Sand Storm colour variant, which has a ceramic-grade coating. OnePlus says this makes the frame more durable than aluminium or titanium mid-frames. You also get four IP ratings with the OnePlus 15 — IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K, which is the highest rating for protection against dust and water.

The smartphone has three colour options, including Sand Storm, Infinite Black, and Ultra Violet, giving buyers variety to choose from.

Excellent battery life and fast charging

OnePlus 15 packs a 7,300mAh battery, one of the biggest in a flagship phone. It’s also a big bump from the OnePlus 13’s 6,000mAh battery. Not just on paper, but the OnePlus 15 offers a stellar battery life even in real-world usage. We could get a day and a half’s juice from the OnePlus 15 after putting it through moderate usage, including streaming, gaming, using multiple apps, and more. Fast charging has been improved too, from 100W to 120W, which takes less than 30 minutes for 20-100 percent. This is quite impressive for its battery capacity.

OxygenOS 16 is polished and smooth

OnePlus 15 comes with the latest OxygenOS 16 out of the box. The new UI offers a refreshed look with an iOS 16-like transparent glass effect in some areas. It also adds several quality-of-life improvements. An exciting customisation lies in the new Flux Themes 2.0, which lets you add custom text, motion pictures, a variety of widgets, full-screen AOD, depth and glass effects, and more. The search bar has also been moved to the bottom, making it easier to access. The Photos app has also been updated for a cleaner look that’s easier to navigate. OnePlus 15 will get 4 Android upgrades, making it quite secure long-term.

Reasons not to buy the OnePlus 15

165Hz only while gaming, downgraded resolution

OnePlus 15 supports up to 165Hz refresh rate, but this kicks in only while gaming. The result is getting 165fps for games like Call of Duty Mobile. However, when you’re using the phone, the refresh rate sticks to 1-120Hz. While this isn’t entirely bad since 120Hz is still very smooth, you won’t get to experience 165Hz. Adding to this is the downgraded resolution from 2K to 1.5K, something that might upset buyers, especially since the phone costs over Rs 70,000.

Camera performance is not the best in class

OnePlus 15 replaces Hasselblad with the in-house DetailMax Engine for its cameras. The result is still a versatile camera system that takes decent photos in daylight and dramatic photos in low light. The overall output makes the OnePlus 15 good enough for social media. However, if you have higher expectations for photography, you’d probably want to consider alternatives like the OPPO Find X9 or the upcoming Vivo X300.

DetailMax Engine still needs work

On the OnePlus 15, the DetailMax Engine is designed to produce 26MP stills in daylight by fusing 12MP frames with a wide dynamic range and 50MP frames with high resolution. However, the photos we captured were in 12MP rather than 26MP, thus failing to achieve that clear and stunning result, as claimed. This suggests that OnePlus’s in-house camera algorithm still needs some fine-tuning to produce better results.

In conclusion, the OnePlus 15 can be considered for its performance, battery life, durable design, and gaming. But if cameras are a priority, then you might want to skip it.