OnePlus 15 review: The best battery life on any phone, period
OnePlus sends a direct shot at Samsung and Google with one of its best phones to date
🏆 Rating: 4/5
✅ Pros
🔋 Gigantic 7,300mAh battery lasts for days
🚀 Bleeding-edge performance with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
📸 Revamped camera system takes great photos
📱 Display is one of the best on the market
⬇️ Lower price than most alternatives
❌ Cons
📅 Only four years of software upgrades
🎥 Video quality still needs work
📵 Not available at carriers
The Shortcut review
It’s impossible not to be impressed with the OnePlus 15. The company’s latest flagship phone, which starts at $899, feels like a return to their “Flagship Killer” days but for a modern generation. Doubling down on top-notch specs and premium design, the OnePlus 15 delivers a more powerful performance than most phones that cost hundreds of dollars more. Plus, you simply can’t kill this huge 7,300mAh battery.
I’ve tested a lot of OnePlus phones in my time as a tech reporter, and this is by far one of the best I’ve used, if not the best. Compared to a Pixel 10 Pro XL or Galaxy S25 Ultra, the OnePlus 15 has no issue standing on its own with a gorgeous screen, incredible performance, and the best cameras on a OnePlus phone yet.
The highs and lows of the OnePlus 15 make it one of the most compelling smartphones of 2025, and if you’re someone who needs the best battery life you can get, I can’t recommend this phone enough. Unless you’re a serious stickler for Samsung or Google’s ecosystem, you should strongly consider this phone.
Editor’s note: OnePlus can’t technically sell the OnePlus 15 in the United States until the FCC gives it the all-clear. While it’s available in Canada, you can’t yet pre-order it in the States. The company shared the following statement with the media about the delayed launch:
As is the case with every smartphone manufacturer, the United States’ Federal Communications Commission certifies OnePlus devices before they are sold in the U.S. As a result of the government shutdown, device certifications have been delayed. Subsequently, U.S. sales for the OnePlus 15 will be postponed until they have been secured. The OnePlus 15 has already finished all the required tests from the FCC’s recognized labs and the certification application has been formally submitted. We are hopeful that approvals can be generated quickly and as a result, we can bring the OnePlus 15 to our customers in the U.S. expeditiously.
People who are interested in purchasing the OnePlus 15 in the U.S. should visit OnePlus.com/us, enter their contact information, and they will be notified when the device is on sale. The OnePlus 15 will be available for purchase in Canada starting November 13, as scheduled, atOnePlus.com/ca_en.
When the phone is available for purchase, we’ll update this review with a link to where you can pick it up.
Review notes
🔋 I can’t kill this battery. OnePlus started using silicone-carbon battery technology with the OnePlus 13 earlier this year, which allows a battery with a large capacity to shrink in physical size and fit in smaller places. That allowed the OnePlus 13 to ship with a 6,000mAh battery which already delivered great performance, but the OnePlus 15’s 7,300mAh battery is even more impressive.
📅 A three-day phone. Folks, I kid you not, you can cruise through three days with the OnePlus 15 on a single charge. I’ve done it; I started a day at 8 a.m. with 100% in the tank, started the next with 70 percent, and the following day with 35% before it died around dinner. If I’m more careful, this phone could’ve easily lasted the remaining few hours of the day so it conks out at the same time I go to bed. Of course, I used it more lightly than I normally use my phone, and heavy users can expect closer to two days of endurance. Still, this is reliable, multi-day battery life we’re talking about, which is impressive on any smartphone.
⚡️ Thank God for SuperVOOC. Given the size of this battery, I’m glad that OnePlus continues to include super-fast 80W SuperVOOC charging. Otherwise, it would take forever for it to recharge. Instead, I can get the phone to go from zero to 50% in about a half hour, and it takes around an hour to reach 100%. There’s also support for fast wireless charging.
📱 A better display than Samsung. The OnePlus 15’s screen is so good that it beats Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra, which is saying something. The 6.8-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel is incredibly bright, colorful, and sharp, making it ideal for watching movies, reading e-books, and more. The refresh rate is also higher than what you get on normal phones; at 165Hz, it’s even smoother than my iPhone 17 Pro Max’s screen, helping everything feel even more responsive.
👀 High-end looks. The display sits at the front of a smartphone that looks more or less like the lovechild of OnePlus and Apple. Between the rounded corners and large camera module in the top left corner, the OnePlus 15 sort of looks like an iPhone 16 Pro Max, but with OnePlus DNA. It’s a fine design, one that manages to look like it costs $1,000. My favorite part is the finish on the exterior which, when ice cold (like when you take it out of the box), feels like granite or stone. The Sandstone colorway has this effect, at least.
💦 IP69 and feelin’ fine. The OnePlus 13 was the first to offer an IP69 rating, which means that it can survive not just dunks in a pool but being sprayed with water jets. The OnePlus 15 gets the same certification, so if you feel inclined to throw your phone in a dish washer, you can technically do it.
🔊 Great speakers and haptics. Two things I look for in a phone’s design to help evelate its quality are the speakers and haptics. I’m happy to report that the OnePlus 15 aces both areas. The speakers offer a lot of bass and volume to bring games and other media to life, while the haptics are sharp and very satisfying. There isn’t anything cheap about the OnePlus 15’s design.
🚀 You can’t get much faster. OnePlus uses the bleeding-edge Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for the OnePlus 15, which is a chip that Samsung isn’t expected to use until late February in the Galaxy S26. It offers better graphics and AI performance compared to the older Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 3, and it’s very impressive to say the least. Other than the A19 Pro in the iPhone 17 Pro series, you aren’t gonna find a phone that’s faster than this one. You also get a choice between 12GB and 16GB of RAM, plus up to 512GB of storage.
🎮 Great for gamers. OnePlus always delivers great performance for gaming on its phones, and that hasn’t changed here. Between the advanced cooling system inside and powerful performance, all of your favorite titles will run buttery smooth on this phone. The phone manages to stay cooler than my iPhone 17 Pro Max does, too, and it’s about on par with what it’s like gaming on the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
📸 Game-changing camera upgrade. If the OnePlus 13 had B+ or A- cameras, the OnePlus 15 scores a perfect A. The company has introduced its own custom DetailMax Engine for processing pictures and videos, which it’s been working on for years. The result is a camera system that rivals the best phones on the market when taking still photos. The 50MP main lens, 50MP ultra-wide, and 50MP telephoto deliver punchy results with good detail, contrast, and colors. You can punch out to 116 degrees (a bit less wide than competitors, but still adequate for ultra-wide), and the phone supports 120x AI zoom (more of a gimmick than anything, but fun to show your friends).
🎥 Nice video specs, but it still needs work. You can shoot video in Dolby Vision at 4K 120fps, in LOG, and use other advanced settings to pull extra detail out of each video clip you capture. While this is good news for professionals, if you’re just capturing occasional videos here and there, the results won’t impress you. Compared to what I can get on my iPhone 17 Pro Max, you won’t find the same clarity and crisp processing on the OnePlus 15. Colors are slightly muted and details are softer, which makes videos feel less lifelike.
🤳 Solid selfies. There’s a 32MP selfie camera on the phone which takes good photos. Detail could be a bit sharper, but other than that, it can get enough light to keep you and your friends visible in the frame. I tested the camera in the same variety of conditions as the rear cameras, and the only place it suffered was in super-dark environments like late-night bars.
🤖 An AI evaluation. I was surprised at the dedication OnePlus seems to have for delivering its AI features on the OnePlus 15. The company swapped out its mute switch for an Apple-like button in the upper left, meant to serve as an easy way to access the new Mind Space feature. It’s similar to Nothing’s Essential Space, giving you a place to store random screenshots, voice memos, links, notes, and more. You also get an AI-powered recorder, AI tools for editing photos, Google Gemini integration, and more.
🤷 Useful, but not as powerful. After playing around with all the AI on this phone, here’s what I can report: it’s obviously better than what you get on the iPhone, and it’s a bit more robust than what’s available on a Samsung phone. I like how vast the array of tools and methods of interaction are, giving you plenty of opportunities to lean on one or two features to complete the task you need. But Google’s AI experience on the Pixel 10 series feels cleaner and more integrated, whereas OnePlus has to lean on its own software chops and lean on Gemini where it can. I also think OnePlus’ voice memo transcription ability isn’t as good as what’s on the Pixel, and neither are the photo editing tools.
🍎 The iPhone-ification of Android. OxygenOS has taken on many forms over the years, but most recently, it’s kept trying to get closer to feeling like using iOS. While that might be good for convincing people to switch from Apple’s phones, there’s something cheap and novel about the concept, and those feelings carry over on the latest version of OnePlus’ software skin. Sure, OxygenOS 16 is blisteringly fast and all the animations are silky smooth, but... c’mon, everything just looks like iOS 26, even down to faux Liquid Glass designs. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I much prefer a stock-feeling version of Android over all of this glitz and glamour.
🧑🔧 Mediocre software support. Every phone company nowadays supports their devices for 7+ years with software updates. Not OnePlus - it’s only promising four years of major upgrades and six years of security patches. Is that enough for you? Maybe it is, but when it comes time to choose this phone over others on the market, you’ll be missing out on extra software support that competitors are happy to offer.
Should you buy the OnePlus 15?
Yes, if..
✅ You want multi-day battery life
✅ You want bleeding-edge performance
✅ You typically upgrade your phone after four years
✅ You want to save money
✅ You want to take great photos
No, if...
❌ You take a lot of video (get the Galaxy S25 Ultra or iPhone 17 Pro)
❌ You buy your phones through carriers (get the Galaxy S25 Ultra)
❌ You want the smartest AI features (get the Pixel 10 Pro)
Max Buondonno is an editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.