The OnePlus 15 could overshadow every flagship by the end of 2025

OnePlus is hitting the reset button

The OnePlus 15 is already shaping up to be one of the company’s most important releases in years. Wait, but what about the OnePlus 14, you might ask? OnePlus is skipping the number 14 altogether, as it did with the number 4, and it all has to do with Chinese culture, where the number “4” is associated with bad luck as it sounds almost identical to the word “death”.

So, OnePlus 15 it is. OnePlus confirmed it at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit a few days ago, and we learned it will be among the first to use the new flagship chip for Android phones, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

And there is one other big change — OnePlus is moving away from its Hasselblad partnership and debuting its own DetailMax image engine.

Besides the new chip and imaging pipeline, we also expect a tougher body, an absurdly massive battery, and super-fast charging. You can see why this feels like more than just another annual refresh.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: the new foundation

Qualcomm’s latest flagship chip

At the Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm made it clear that the “Elite” label is more than just marketing. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is the pinnacle of its lineup, built on TSMC’s N3P 3nm process and engineered for both raw performance and sustained efficiency.

Here are some numbers that paint an exciting picture:

• Oryon CPU cores clocked up to 4.6GHz (20% performance increase with 35% better efficiency).
• A GPU that’s 23% faster and 20% more efficient with full Unreal Engine 5 support.
• An NPU that’s 37% faster with the ability to run larger AI models locally thanks to INT2 quantization.

You might be asking what the heck is INT2 quantization? It is a technique that compresses AI models into smaller, lower-precision formats, allowing them to run locally on the phone. That means larger language models and more advanced AI tasks (typically hosted in the cloud) can now run directly on-device.

Specs aside, the real breakthrough is arguably the upgrades coming to video recording. This is the first mobile chip to support a new codec that would enable near-lossless recording, with post-production controls for highlights, shadows, and precise color grading.

Qualcomm is also introducing Dragon Fusion, a fully computational video pipeline that treats every frame like a photo, which should vastly improve dynamic range. Paired with Snapdragon Audio Sense for higher quality audio recording and wind noise reduction, this could finally put Android on equal footing with the iPhone for video creation.

What this means for the OnePlus 15

For OnePlus, being among the first to ship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a huge win. It ensures the OnePlus 15 won’t just deliver top-tier performance, but will also be positioned as a genuine creator’s tool — a trend clearly showcased by Apple’s latest iPhone Pro models. OnePlus phones have always held their own in speed tests, but they lagged behind when it came to camera performance. With Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, though, the company might finally catch up.

Dropping Hasselblad: a double-edged sword

The well-known Hasselblad branding added recognition to OnePlus cameras since the OnePlus 9, but now the partnership is over.

In its place comes the DetailMax image engine. OnePlus claims it uses advanced algorithms and powerful processors to deliver images that look “breathtakingly clear and truly real.” It will also unlock AI-powered features like Detail Boost and better optimization of the HDR pipeline.

But this could easily turn out to be a double-edged sword for the OnePlus 15. It gives OnePlus full control and the ability to finetune how the camera works and processes images, allowing it to make full use of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 capabilities.

However, there’s also the possibility that we don’t get a perfect execution here, as these are somewhat new grounds for OnePlus and its first in-house imaging engine. Even if they are some things that need more polishing, though, I’m willing to bet that the OnePlus 15 comes a lot closer to its competition when it comes to camera performance.

A design that plays it safe is a design that wins

The design of the OnePlus 15 is finally changing. I’ve been pretty vocal about my dislike of the camera bump on OnePlus’ recent flagship phones.

Now, I don’t imagine my opinion played a role here, but I am happy to see that things have changed for the better this year. Gone is the circular camera island, and in its place is a rounded square tucked into the top corner. Also, the display is flat, not curved, and the beloved Alert Slider is gone, replaced by a customizable Plus Key.

Now, you could argue that this new design is bland, but that is not a bad thing. A cleaner, simpler, and frankly, more mainstream look is exactly what sells. Phones that appeal to the widest audience are rarely the most polarizing ones. By aligning more with the design language of iPhones, Galaxies, and Pixels, OnePlus is making a phone that more people will feel comfortable buying.

The (classic) killer feature: battery and charging

But if none of the upgrades and changes I mentioned above were convincing enough, then this one alone just might.

Early leaks point to a massive 7,000-7,800 mAh silicon-carbon battery, paired with 120W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.

If true, this would make the OnePlus 15 one of the longest-lasting flagships on the market, and certainly one of the fastest charging ones. In the US, this would solidify the company’s dominance in this segment.

Other phone manufacturers aim for “all-day battery life,” but OnePlus could deliver two days of actual use with the OnePlus 15. For creators, gamers, or just heavy users, this is the kind of upgrade that changes your daily experience with the phone.

Why this could be OnePlus’ most popular phone yet

Popularity in smartphones has never been about raw numbers on a spec sheet (at least not for a while). If that were the case, gaming phones with massive batteries and outlandish designs would dominate the market. Instead, the devices that sell in the millions are the ones that strike a balance: powerful enough to please enthusiasts, simple enough to work for everyone, and as of late, durable enough to last.

That’s why the OnePlus 15 feels like it has the potential to be the company’s best so far. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 ensures it has the kind of performance and creator-focused features that put it in the same conversation as Apple and Samsung. And while DetailMax imaging is a risky step, it is a necessary one toward a more independent future.

We also have a safer and more mainstream design that might appeal to a wider audience (like me), and a massive battery that can make the OnePlus 15 the best phone for battery life in 2025. Not to mention those extremely fast charging speeds.

OnePlus has been stuck between being a cult favorite and a mainstream flagship, but the OnePlus 15 might be the first to escape that reputation. If OnePlus gets the execution right, it might just overshadow the rest of the 2025 flagship phones by the end of the year.

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