OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: High-End Refinement or Lower-Priced Power

Continuing the same strategy OnePlus has followed the past few years, the company released two flagship phones at the end of 2025, the top-tier $900 OnePlus 15 and the mid-range $700 OnePlus 15R. This is the third year that OnePlus has used this phone strategy, which began with the then-$500 OnePlus 12R. At the time, I said OnePlus had killed its own flagship. 

The $800 OnePlus 12 was the true flagship that year with the latest Snapdragon chip, tons of RAM and storage, a fantastic display and smooth software. Yet the 12R delivered almost 90% of the power and performance of the 12, but at several hundred dollars less.

Much the same is true this time with the 15 series. OnePlus made a few small changes to the 15R that don’t really lessen the overall experience of using the phone, while still delivering a flagship-level phone. It has a fast new processor, a giant battery with fast charging, an expansive screen and the same software as the more expensive OnePlus phone.

As such, it’s worthwhile to ask: Should you spend more for the flagship OnePlus 15 or does the OnePlus 15R provide everything you already need for less money? 

Let’s find out. 

Watch this: OnePlus 15R Unboxing: First Look at the New Phone

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Display

The first notable difference between these two phones is the display. The OnePlus 15 technically has a slightly smaller 6.78-inch display than the 6.83-inch display on the 15R. The smaller bezels on the OnePlus 15 make the difference essentially negligible. I personally prefer the slightly smaller footprint of the 15, but the size difference is basically moot. 

The more important difference is the technology used in the displays. Both have 1.5K resolutions and up to 165Hz refresh rates. Even though OnePlus touts that faster refresh rate, you’ll see the phone hit only 144Hz or 165Hz in supported games. Despite that limitation for gaming, both phones will run at 120Hz at all other times, which is still plenty fast.

The big difference is that the 15 uses an LTPO display, which dynamically refreshes from 1 to 165Hz, depending on what you’re doing. This means the phone can lower it when your phone’s not active, potentially saving some power, and then crank it back up when you’ll notice it. The 15R uses an LTPS display, which can only switch between 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz and 165Hz. Technically, that means the screen on the 15R is not quite as smooth or power efficient, but in reality, you’d be hard-pressed to notice.

Performance

OnePlus has always prided itself on delivering flagship-level performance across its devices, and both the OnePlus 15 and the OnePlus 15R are packed to the gills with power. 

The OnePlus 15 does technically have a bit more power as it has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, while the 15R has the slightly lower-clocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. Both processors are new for 2025, even with the 15R going with one that’s slightly slower. 

The OnePlus 15 starts with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but for an extra $100, you can get the even higher-end model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The OnePlus 15R comes with 12GB of RAM across all models, and you can choose 256GB or 512GB of storage. Whether you have 12GB or 16GB of RAM in your phone, that’s still perfectly acceptable in 2026 and more than most people will ever need in their phones. 

Also, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, particularly on the OnePlus 15, has been known to have some heating and throttling issues since it came out, so it won’t perform as well over longer periods. In my own testing on the OnePlus 15, it could not even complete one of the most-used stress-test benchmarks because it got too hot. 

After using both of these phones for several weeks, I can assure you that I never once could tell a difference in the performance. From gaming, to scrolling, to streaming and everything in between, both phones simply flew through everything I did. 

Having reviewed smartphones for several years now, there were times when I could very slightly discern a small stutter or slowdown, especially as I switched between them, but that’s only because I’ve been doing this long enough to notice those things.  

Battery and charging

OnePlus is still my favorite manufacturer when it comes to battery life and charging speeds in its phones. The OnePlus 15 has a massive 7,300-mAh battery, but the OnePlus 15R one-ups that (sorry) with a 7,400-mAh battery. They both take advantage of the new silicon carbon technology that every other phone-maker (read Samsung and Apple) should really start taking advantage of. 

What this means is that both phones will easily get you more than a full day of solid usage. I easily got to a day and a half several times, and was even able to push it to two days with lighter usage. It really is a game-changer to have this much battery life in my phone.

And even when the phones do get low, they charge extremely quickly thanks to OnePlus’ SuperVooc fast charging. The OnePlus 15 will charge at 80 watts (up to 100 watts with a OnePlus GAN charger) while the OnePlus 15R is slightly slower at 55 watts. Even though they require using the power adapter made by OnePlus, both of those speeds still blow most other phones out of the water. The phones will also charge quickly with the more common USB-PD power adapters, but they just won’t be as fast as the charger provided in the box. The OnePlus 15 will even charge at 50 watts wirelessly, provided you have a OnePlus fast wireless charger.

Cameras

Sadly, it couldn’t all be good news for these two phones. In order not to cannibalize the OnePlus 15 too much and to hit a lower price, OnePlus had to compromise somewhere, and the cameras are where the OnePlus 15R takes the biggest hit. 

The OnePlus 15 has really great cameras (even if they aren’t quite as good as the ones on the OnePlus 13, oddly) with 50-megapixel main, ultrawide and telephoto cameras. CNET’s Andrew Lanxon had some good things to say about the cameras in the OnePlus 15 review, and I echo his sentiments. While it’s likely not the absolute best smartphone camera setup today, it still takes really great photos. And truthfully, a lot of photo preference is subjective anyway. 

The OnePlus 15R is a bit of a different story. It drops the telephoto camera entirely and pairs up the main camera with an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera. It doesn’t necessarily take bad photos, but the quality is certainly much worse than what you get on the OnePlus 15. In his OnePlus 15R review, CNET’s Mike Sorrentino said he felt the cameras were more on par with what he’d expect in a $500 phone, not a $700 one. 

Essentially, the cameras on both phones will serve you well, but the OnePlus 15R will be more inconsistent and won’t give you the level of clarity and sharpness you’ll get from the OnePlus 15. 

Software

Both phones are running OxygenOS 16, which is built on top of Android 16. OxygenOS 16 brings some of the biggest design changes we’ve seen from the company thus far, and they certainly took more than a few cues from Apple’s Liquid Glass design language in iOS 26. I don’t mind it too much, and it’s still very fast and smooth. I still prefer it over most other Android versions. 

Both phones also get four years of guaranteed Android software updates and six years of security updates, which is sadly quite a bit less than the seven-year commitment Google or Samsung include on Pixel and Galaxy phones, but I personally don’t mind it that much. Most people, at least in North America, don’t keep their phones much longer than that. 

Final thoughts

For me, comparing these two devices ultimately comes down to raw power versus refinement. The 15R is, in many ways, focused on raw power in a lower-cost phone. Yes, the 15 technically has a slightly better spec sheet, but the 15R has a larger screen, a larger battery and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is more than powerful enough for everything you need from gaming to intensive multitasking. In fact, the 8 Elite in the OnePlus 15 has suffered from severe heating and throttling issues since it launched. The 8 Gen 5 in the 15R has had no such issues and, in my usage, has performed just as well as the 8 Elite, but without all the heating and throttling issues. 

The OnePlus 15 is just a bit more refined than the OnePlus 15R. The screen is slightly smaller, but the smaller bezels make it seem bigger. The screen dynamically refreshes just a bit more smoothly than the OnePlus 15R, and the haptics are smoother as well. The speakers on the OnePlus 15 are also more refined with a fuller sound than the still perfectly acceptable ones on the OnePlus 15R. 

All of this adds up to a more premium smartphone experience on the OnePlus 15. But that comes with a higher price as well. The OnePlus 15 is currently $899 for the 12GB/256GB version and $999 for the 16GB/512GB version. 

The OnePlus 15R is $699 for 12GB of RAM with 256GB of storage and $799 for 12GB of RAM with 512GB of storage.