Why I’m more excited about the OnePlus 15 than the Galaxy S26

In a smartphone world where Apple, Samsung, and Google are keen on playing it safe and reluctant to bring substantial upgrades to their phones, there’s a fresh wind blowing from the Far East. The OnePlus 15 has been officially unveiled in China, and it will be coming to the US later next month!

There are a couple of reasons why I’m very excited about the global launch of the OnePlus 15, and I think the model will shake things up a bit, especially in the US.

Even though Apple and Samsung enjoy a comfortable co-existence in the States with Google trying to take a bite of that sweet market share pie, OnePlus is in the unique position to bring some real innovation to the US table and poke those three in the ribs.

OnePlus is arguably the Chinese brand that’s easiest to get in the US, and that’s one of the reasons to be excited about the OnePlus 15. But there’s more.

OnePlus has opened subscriptions for its upcoming OnePlus 15 flagship. If you sign into your OnePlus account, you’ll receive a $50 discount code via an email. You can also get a chance to win a OnePlus Pad 3 for free.

Reserve at OnePlus

Modern design

The OnePlus 15 enters the modern flat smartphone era | Image by OnePlus

I’ll start from the least exciting to the most exciting things on this brand-new flagship. Those of you who have used Chinese phones are familiar with the curved screen obsession of those brands. While the rest of the world has moved to flat designs, many brands from the Far East still produce curved phones.

In Asia, and China in particular, these curved designs are associated with luxury, and even though they do look amazing, they’re fragile and not that comfortable to use, especially with a case on.

Now, with the OnePlus 15, the company has stepped out of this curved past and into the modern smartphone future. The new phone has a flat screen, sides, and back, in line with the latest trend. And while following trends is not always wise, in this case it goes hand in hand with a better user experience. Flat screens are easier to use and also more durable.

Speaking of durability, the phone uses aluminum and glass, but OnePlus has used a special micro-arc oxidation (MAO) coating for frame durability (claimed to be ~3.4× stronger than aluminum).

The Sand Storm color option also looks very classy, but as I mentioned, these are not the things I’m most excited about. Moving on.

The hardware

The OnePlus 15 features an innovative 360 vapor chamber tech | Image by OnePlus

I know what you’re thinking. Another mention of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. While the chip is fast and a necessary addition to any modern Android flagship, I’m much more excited about the new 3D vapor chamber cooling system.

I wrote a piece about the RedMagic liquid cooling and how important it is when everything is so tightly packed inside a smartphone. So, when every big flagship gets the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for sure, the cooling solution will be the thing that makes the difference.

I can’t wait to test the OnePlus 15 under heavy load with our FLIR camera and see how hot it gets compared to the previous model and also other phones with the same chipset.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra, for example, loses double digits of percentage performance when it gets hot, and its peak and sustained performance figures are two completely different entities.

Speaking of hardware, there’s a new gyroscope inside the OnePlus 15, and the company says it’s UAV-grade (comparable to drones and other unmanned aircraft). In competitive gaming, this tiny little upgrade can make a big difference.

Solid display and camera specs

The camera system features a new main camera sensor | Image by OnePlus

These two areas are some of the most important in a smartphone. We consume everything through the display of these devices, and we use them as a camera most of the time. The display tech in smartphones has matured to a point where mid-rangers or even budget phones now have great displays.

The OnePlus 15 uses BOE’s X3 material for its 6.78-inch screen, which means it will be very bright and very efficient. It’s also an LTPO panel offering a variable 1-120 Hz refresh rate for your everyday scenarios and the option to bump that refresh rate to 165 Hz if you need super-smooth and precise action, say, for gaming.

Most popular modern flagships in the US cap at 120 Hz, which is not bad, but OnePlus offers the option to check out how 165 Hz feels, and once you’ve tried it, you will not so much see but feel the difference.

The camera system deserves a few sentences here. Now, the OnePlus 13 has a pretty decent camera system, scoring 145 out of 158 in our camera benchmark, so the OnePlus 15 can only go up from there.

Despite dropping the Hasselblad collaboration, the OnePlus 15 features an upgraded main sensor—going from the Sony LYT-808 to the IMX906—and also an upgraded telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom. I think this will push the score above the 150 mark, and I can’t wait to test my prediction.

One of the biggest batteries in the industry

7300 mAh sounds crazy on such a compact and thin phone | Image by OnePlus

I’m going to make a dig at Apple here and say that when the world is developing silicon batteries, the company relaunches the external battery pack for the iPhone Air. Now, that might not be completely fair, but get this—the OnePlus 15 will have a battery (or should I say batteries) with almost twice the capacity of the iPhone Air.

This is one of the most important upgrades and the thing I’m most excited about, because it’s currently the only easy way for the US audience to try the silicon-carbon battery tech. One of our readers asked under an article about this, asking how he can get a silicon-carbon battery phone in the US. OnePlus is here to help.

We have a dedicated piece about this tech, but long story short, there’s silicon imbued in the anode of a conventional lithium-ion battery. Silicon can hold energy better than graphite in this situation, but it’s fragile and unstable. Companies are making strides to fix this, and the amount of silicon in the anode is expanding with every generation.

OnePlus calls it Silicon NanoStack, and according to the Chinese specs sheet, the silicon content in the anode is 15%, which is pretty high. The result? A total capacity of 7,300 mAh in a phone that’s 8.1 mm thick.

Another super-important area where the big three (Apple, Samsung, and Google) are lagging behind is charging. In our tests the flagships from these three charge from zero to full in over one hour, while flagships from Oppo, Honor, Huawei, Vivo, and OnePlus cut this time in half.

With the OnePlus 15, US users will have the option to try and see how convenient it is to have their phone fully charged and ready while they take a quick shower. It’s an amazing quality of life upgrade.

The most exciting feature of the OnePlus 15 could be its price!

A competitive price tag may skyrocket the OnePlus 15 | Image by PixaBay

This should come with a big asterisk, but if OnePlus slaps a competitive price tag on the US version of the OnePlus 15, it could be a game changer.

The big trio is hiking the prices of their flagships, and it seems that this trend is going to continue, and a competitively priced alternative can make the difference. Especially if you consider all the above upgrades.

We have the Chinese pricing for the OnePlus 15, and it looks amazing. The base 12/256GB version starts at CNY 3,999 (~$562), but here’s the caveat. These prices don’t include import taxes, logistics, and other expenses needed to get the OnePlus 15 to the US.

The OnePlus 13 started at $899 for the 12/256GB version, which is not exactly affordable. If OnePlus manages to lower the price and launch the OnePlus 15 for $799, this could give people a chance to get the phone as an alternative to the vanilla iPhone 17, Galaxy S25, or Pixel 10. And I honestly think this phone will be better than these three in most areas.

What do you think about it? Would you buy the OnePlus 15, and at what price?

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