7 must-know OnePlus 15 rumors: the good, the bad and the great

OnePlus 15 is just around the corner, much like October itself, when the next highly anticipated flagship (at a great price) is expected to be released. As usual, the phone will kick off in its homeland and only then – most likely in early 2026 – it will be rolled out to global markets.

Now is the perfect time to talk about the OnePlus 15 and see what it's all about: you might want to start saving, once you get a glimpse of its (rumored) specs. Or, in contrast, you could find out that this isn't precisely what you thought it would be.

Either way, it's important to be informed – $899 is the possible price, so it's not exactly pocket change we're talking about here. On the other hand, OnePlus flagships can really make you wonder why spend $1,300 on something like the Galaxy S25 Ultra model.

7,000 mAh battery that charges superfast

The previous OnePlus flagship – the OnePlus 13 (in China, companies often skip monikers with "4", so we're not getting a OnePlus 14) – had a 6,000 mAh capacity battery. Now, that's expected to be surpassed by a lot and the OnePlus 15 might come with a 7,000 mAh cell.

Some reports state that OnePlus could've easily packed an 8,000 mAh battery in the upcoming model, but refrained from doing so to keep the chassis slim and sleek.

To help maintain the wasp waist, the company is reportedly using high-density silicon-carbon technology, the same approach it adopted in its previous flagship.

In addition to its larger battery, the OnePlus 15 is expected to retain support for 120W fast charging and 50W wireless charging. Personally speaking, 100W (and beyond) charging speeds is an amazing feature and could give you another day of use in just a few minutes' time.

Screen downgrade, but a higher refresh rate could be introduced

The OnePlus 15 is expected to launch with notable changes compared to the OnePlus 13.

The biggest shift may come from its display, which could feature a 165Hz refresh rate but at a reduced 1.5K resolution on a slightly smaller 6.78-inch panel (OnePlus 13 has a 6.82-inch 2K screen, 120Hz refresh rate).

Leaks suggest OnePlus is also working on a performance engine that would let games run at 165 fps (frames per second), fully utilizing the upgraded screen. While the higher refresh rate may stand out for some, this upgrade adds little value for the majority of users, as current 120Hz flagship displays already provide an excellent experience.

No more three-way switch on the side?

The OnePlus 15 could drop the signature three-way alert slider, replacing it with a customizable button. While this new button offers more flexibility, switching between alert modes becomes less straightforward compared to the simple flick of the classic slider.

Early impressions from Oppo's similar approach show that users must cycle through modes or hold the button, making the process slower and less intuitive. OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has suggested the change comes from a desire for greater customization, but it risks sacrificing a long-standing feature that gave the brand its unique identity.

Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 raw power

Despite being cheaper than the 512 GB baseline iPhone 17 (which is $999), the OnePlus 15 is expected to come with the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 (a.k.a. Snapdragon 8 Gen 5) chipset on board. This is Qualcomm's top-tier mobile chip, offering incredible raw power, efficiency and various capabilities.

Although not official yet, this chipset's early benchmark results suggest notable gains over its predecessor, with single-core scores surpassing 4,000 points and multi-core scores above 11,000. The new Oryon CPU architecture delivers around 30% higher performance, while the Adreno 840 GPU shows a clock speed increase to 1.35 GHz. Built on TSMC's 3nm process, the chipset features a 2+6 CPU layout with cores reaching up to 4.8 GHz, although a peak clock speed of 5.3GHz might've been reached.

The rear camera island design

A big design change is rumored to take place, as the phone might move away from its signature circular camera module in favor of a rectangular design with rounded corners.

This new camera bump will reportedly be positioned in the top-left corner, aligning the flagship with the look of the upcoming OnePlus 13T and 13s. The module is said to be larger than on the smaller models, signaling a stronger focus on camera hardware. This shift marks one of the most significant design changes for OnePlus in recent years.

No more Hasselblad partnership, but here's DetailMax Engine

Oppo and OnePlus are joined at the hip – their flagships often share the same specs. Both companies have been in partnership with the legendary camera maker Hasselblad for their mobile cameras and results have been super impressive.

That's why it's interesting to see how Oppo and Hasselblad extended their strategic partnership in mid-July 2025, while OnePlus has apparently ended their collaboration.

OnePlus 15 is set to debut its own camera system called the DetailMax Engine, designed to deliver sharper detail, realistic tones, and natural colors without excessive processing.

The company's collaboration with Hasselblad lasted from the OnePlus 9 through the OnePlus 13 series.

A new telephoto camera?

Early tips suggest the OnePlus 15 could introduce a stronger zoom system with a 50MP periscope telephoto lens, offering an 85mm equivalent focal length and an f/2.8 aperture.

This setup would translate to roughly 3.5x to 3.7x optical zoom, depending on the primary camera's focal length.

Compared to the OnePlus 13, which used a 73mm periscope lens with an f/2.6 aperture for 3x zoom, the new design may deliver more reach but slightly weaker performance in low-light conditions. Of course, there might be a larger sensor inside, so we'll have to wait this one out for the official info.