For nearly a decade, every time I’ve got my hands on a OnePlus phone, I’ve always asked the questions: “What am I missing?” After all, we’re dealing with a phone that fundamentally checks the box for a flagship performance, but costs a few hundred dollars less than your usual top-tier offering from Samsung or Apple.
Over the past couple of years, OnePlus has kept aiming higher and closed the gulf. Yes, the price has climbed above the good ‘ol “flagship killer” territory, but so have the product standards. The OnePlus 13 was a complete package. Almost, I’d argue. Its successor — the OnePlus 15 — could very well change perceptions.
So far, OnePlus has confirmed a healthy few details about its upcoming phone, while leaks have been spoiling the party, as well. Based on what I’ve seen so far, here are a few reasons that I am excited about the OnePlus 15, more so than the upcoming wave of flagship phones from other brands.
The display is going to be special
Over the past few years, display tech from top smartphone brands has run into an innovation wall. OLEDs are mainstream, and so are 120Hz screens. The only notable upgrades have been the bump in brightness levels, and that too, by merely a margin that isn’t going to make a tangible difference.
Samsung pulled a surprise with an anti-reflective glass ceramic cover that minimized the ambient glare problem. I loved it as the difference in day-to-day usage was noticeable. On the OnePlus 15, we are going to see a similar focus on quality-of-life improvements.
The big upgrade is the 165Hz panel by BOE, one that also unlocks 165 fps gaming for nearly a half a dozen games. You won’t feel the difference compared to a 120Hz panel, and I’m also skeptical about the number of games that will tap into the 165 fps gameplay perk outside the Chinese market.
It’s a progress, nevertheless, but something that is targeted at mobile gaming and e-sports enthusiasts. I am more excited about the “other” tweaks that the company is touting. Among them is the panel’s ability to reduce the brightness output all the way down to 1 nit.
In a nutshell, if you are reading an article in a dark room, the screen’s brightness will trickle to the lowest permissible value for maximum visual comfort. It’s also going to be a tad more forgiving on the battery. And while at it, OnePlus claims that its next phone won’t ignore color accuracy or uniformity.
In marketing material shared on Weibo, the company claims that when compared to Apple’s flagship iPhone, the OnePlus 15’s display offers 31% better brightness uniformity and 57% superior color uniformity at the lowest brightness level. There’s also hardware-level flicker-free tech in place.
OnePlus is also pushing a 7-layer AI system that promotes healthy screen habits. Among them is a nudge system that tells users to blink through a small notification pill appearing around the selfie camera. The system also warns users when the display is too close to their eyes, and automatically adjusts the screen’s color profile at night.
These are kind of thoughtful changes that make a positive difference in daily usage. The subtle kind, which does its job without downgrading the rest of the experience. I am just hoping that the display comes with improved scratch-resistance, as well.
A more meaningful design evolution
So far, OnePlus has focused most of the hype on the phone’s design, and rightfully so. In the past half a decade, every mainline OnePlus phone has had a distinct identity. And not just in terms of core aesthetics, but also the material choice.
The OnePlus 15 takes that philosophy to the next level. The sand dune-inspired trim features a ceramic coating atop the metal frame. OnePlus notes that the strengthened material is stronger than titanium or aluminum, and that the company has applied the aerospace-grade Micro-Arc Oxidation process to the camera hump, as well.
It looks stunning, and a departure from the usual glass-sandwich design with the same flat set of colors that we’ve seen on Samsung and Apple smartphones in recent years. And given OnePlus’ history of paying special attention to the surface finish on its phones, I am pretty excited to see how far the ceramic coating goes at enhancing the in-hand feel.
I dearly hope that it can do a better job of keeping scratches at bay. But it seems the other two color options will also be a sight to behold. The black trim will be “blacker than black,” OnePlus said in a community post on its Chinese forum, adding that it’s an industry-first fully matte silk finish glass shell. OnePlus notes that the glass shell has only 3.7% light reflectance, which makes it look even darker.
The purple variant will also be something special, it seems. OnePlus says this one utilizes some kind of flowing glass that uses photosensitive materials. As a result of material doping, the rear glass shell will subtly change its color when light falls on it from different angles.
Adding to the whole design debate are the eye-catching bezels, which are just 1.15mm thin. Notably, despite the camera hump, OnePlus claims that the phone is not top-heavy, and that it offers a 50:50 weight balance. Overall, it seems the OnePlus 15 will focus as much on design excellence as it does on the in-hand experience.
The software is less flash, more substance
The OnePlus 15 will be the first phone to run Android 16-based OxygenOS 16 out of the box. There’s a lot to unpack with the latest software evolution. The lock screen customization options are pretty diverse — motion photos and video support, customizable text, and depth effect— alongside a unique, scalable design option for the home screen icons.
But there are plenty of functional tricks that I am particularly intrigued to try. OxygenOS 16 allows OnePlus phones to share files with iPhones (and OnePlus phones) by just bringing the two devices together. It also opens the doors for seamless file sharing and screen sharing with iPads.
The O+ connect app, on the other hand, lets users share and move files across their Mac and Windows PC. I’ve tested the remote Mac system, and it works pretty well. And finally, you can pair an Apple Watch with a OnePlus phone, with full notification and health data support in tow.
Cross-platform syncing and connectivity have always been a hassle, especially with Android devices. Apple’s ecosystem, on the other hand, has remained the gold standard for seamless cross-device interactions. It’s great to see OnePlus breaking these functional barriers and offering more flexibility to users.
The excellent Plus Mind system, which serves as an AI-powered memory bank, is now tightly integrated with Google’s Gemini and adds a bunch of new tricks into the mix. OnePlus is also bringing call summaries to third-party apps such as WhatsApp and real-time translation with OxygenOS 16.
The big picture
So far, every bit of information shared officially by OnePlus has painted a pretty exciting picture of its upcoming flagship, and expectedly so. The phone will come armed with Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line chip, an improved telephoto camera (within an all-big-sensor array), and a large battery.
Some of the camera samples that OnePlus has shared so far look pretty sharp, and I am excited to see what the new Camera Engine brings to the table, now that the Hasselblad tuning is gone. Leaks suggest that the battery size will be the biggest on a phone by mainstream brands available in the US, and that the charging speed will touch the ridiculous 120W output.
Overall, it looks like the OnePlus 15 will turn out to be the most rewarding phone the Chinese brand has made so far. I am just hoping that the company retains the competitive pricing that made OnePlus a fan favorite brand in the first place. It officially launches in China on October 27, followed by an international launch in November. Stay tuned for our review and feature analysis, which is due soon!
