The OnePlus 15 is finally here! This latest flagship smartphone is a real powerhouse and a threat to all the big boys. The phone features the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 silicon, a fast and bright screen, and some tweaks to the camera system, plus one of the largest batteries in the industry.
How does it compare to the previous model, which is oddly two numbers behind, and are there any reasons to upgrade if you already have the OnePlus 13? We'll try to answer these questions in this comparison. There are benchmarks, display tests, camera samples, and everything you need to help you make a decision.
OnePlus 15 vs OnePlus 13 differences:
OnePlus 15
OnePlus 13
New camera housing design (similar to Pixel 10 Pro Fold)
The OnePlus 15 marks a bold redesign for the company, with a move toward the modern flat smartphone design and a completely new camera bump.
While the OnePlus 13 relies on a circular camera housing, the new phone takes cues from the Pixel 10 Pro Fold (or at least the square camera bump on the back looks oddly familiar to the one on Google's latest foldable).
The new phone is also more rounded when it comes to the corner radius, giving off Galaxy and iPhone vibes, while the OnePlus 13 is still more of a rectangle when viewed from the front.
OnePlus 15
OnePlus 13
Thickness 8.1 mm
Thickness 8.9 mm
Dimensions 161.4 x 76.7 mm
Dimensions 162.9 x 76.5 mm
Weight 211 or 215 grams
Weight 210 g or 213 g
In terms of dimensions and weight, both phones still come pretty close, but because of the smaller screen with a slightly different aspect ratio, the OnePlus 15 is a tad shorter but also wider than the previous model. The OnePlus 13 feels better in the hand, due to the curved back, but it's a necessary sacrifice to the modern flat trend for the OnePlus 15.
The new model also features the same IP69 dust and water resistance rating as its predecessor. Check out our IP69 explainer article to learn more about the current highest IP protection in smartphones. In terms of materials, the OnePlus 15 comes with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front, while the old model features the company's proprietary Ceramic Shield material.
The new phone also uses a sophisticated nanocoating on the aluminum alloy frame (for the Sand Storm model) that's cited to be 3.4 times harder than regular aluminum and 1.3 times harder than titanium.
Color-wise, the OnePlus 15 is available in three hues - Sand Storm, Ultra Violet and Infinite Black. The OnePlus 13, on the other hand, can be bought in Black Eclipse, Arctic Dawn, Midnight Ocean
Display Differences
The display of the OnePlus 15 features a couple of upgrades compared to its predecessor. For starters, the diagonal is slightly smaller at 6.78 inches, and the refresh rate can go up to 165 Hz. It's a Super AMOLED panel made by BOE using X3 material, capable of shining with 1800 nits of typical brightness, and featuring 1.5K resolution.
For comparison, the OnePlus 13 comes equipped with a 6.82-inch LTPO panel with a 1-120 Hz refresh rate and a resolution of 1440 x 3168 pixels. The brightness should not be all that different; in our display test, the OnePlus 13 managed 2326 nits at 20% APL, which is one of the best results we've ever had. Let's see how the new phone fares in our display test.
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
The peak brightness of the new OnePlus 15 is amazing, indeed! We measured almost 3,500 nits at 20% APL, much better than the previous model. The other metrics are almost identical; the minimum brightness is the same, and the color accuracy too, so it's almost like the same screen but much brighter. It's a gorgeous display to look at.
Speaking of gorgeous, the bezels around the screen of the OnePlus 15 are quite narrow—just 1.15 mm all around, which looks amazing in person. The phone features the same ultrasonic under-display fingerprint as its predecessor—the OnePlus 13—and both phones unlock fast and reliably.
Performance and Software
Snapdragon Elite Gen 5!
Qualcomm amped up its game with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and it's the desired silicon for all Android flagships. The OnePlus 15 comes equipped with this chip, and it promises to be a real powerhouse (results are down below).
The OnePlus 13 features the first iteration of the Snapdragon Elite silicon, which was a benchmark for Android phones last year, so it will be very interesting to see the new Qualcomm chip next to its predecessor.
The 15% increase in CPU performance is real, and you can see it in the benchmark scores above. What's really interesting is the GPU scores. It seems that the OnePlus 15 limits its own performance to the lowest pass in 3DMark, achieving amazing stability but quite low peak performance. We will investigate this further.
OnePlus offers a wide range of RAM and storage configurations, but they vary from region to region. Last year there was even a 24 GB RAM version of the phone. The global version of the phone comes in two flavors. The base model has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage, and you can also get a 16GB RAM version with 512GB of memory.
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The OnePlus 15 comes running OxygenOS 16 out of the box, based on Android 16, and offers the same 4-year software support cycle as we've seen on the previous two generations.
Camera
50MP triplet
The redesigned camera system of the OnePlus 15 houses a different main camera from the one inside the OnePlus 13. We have a new Sony IMX-906 sensor, while the OnePlus 13 relies on a Sony LYT-700. Both are 50MP sensors but the aperture of the lens on the new one is also different at f/1.8.
The ultra-wide camera looks similar on paper—it's another 50MP sensor (the OmniVision OV50D this time), the focal length is 16 mm, and the aperture is f/2.0.
Telephoto duties are given to yet another 50MP sensor (a variant of the Samsung JN5) under a lens with an optical zoom of 3.5x.
PhoneArena Camera Score:
Photo
Video
Phone
Camera Score
Photo Score
Main (wide)
Ultra Wide
Selfie
Zoom
OnePlus 15
151
159
82
21
27
29
OnePlus 13
145
149
75
21
25
28
Phone
Camera Score
Video Score
Main (wide)
Ultra Wide
Selfie
Zoom
OnePlus 15
151
143
74
20
26
23
OnePlus 13
145
141
72
22
25
23
Find out more details about photo and video scores for all phones we have tested on our PhoneArena Camera Score page
OnePlus 15
OnePlus 13
Main 50 MP, f/1.8 24 mm 1/1.56"
Main 50 MP, f/1.6 23 mm 1/1.43"
Ultrawide 50 MP, f/2.0 16 mm 1/2.88"
Ultrawide 50 MP, f/2.0 15 mm 1/2.75"
Telephoto 50 MP, f/2.8 3.5X zoom (113mm) 1/2.76"
Telephoto 50 MP, f/2.6 3X zoom (73mm) 1/1.95"
The camera score of the OnePlus 13 is 145 (out of 158), which is quite good (with 28 out of 29 in the zoom part of the test). Looking at the comparison tool, the new phone scored 151 points overall, and the difference can be attributed to the main camera. Scores are score, time to look at some side-by-side samples.
Main camera
< OnePlus 15OnePlus 13 >
We were able to snap a quick one just after dusk started to fall and the quality isn't great, but you can still see the better color reproduction on the OnePlus 15 compared to the old model. We'll get you some more samples with better quality soon.
Zoom Quality
< OnePlus 15OnePlus 13 >
Zoom pictures look much better on the OnePlus 15, with more resolved details, better exposure and also wider dynamic range. The OnePlus 13 sample, on the other hand, looks smeared and highly processed.
Ultrawide camera
< OnePlus 15OnePlus 13 >
The ultrawide camera samples are much closer, although we would argue that the OnePlus 15 does a better job with exposure and the colors look a tad more real. The OnePlus 13 produces warmer images with a yellowish tint to them.
Selfie
< OnePlus 15OnePlus 13 >
Selfies in low light conditions look a bit uninspiring, but again, the OnePlus 15 was able to catch more details (take a look at the letters on the T-shirt, and also Vic's beard). The OnePlus 13 is no slouch, and gets the job done as well.
Battery Life and Charging
Wait what?!
The battery race is on, and it seems that the silicon-carbon tech is winning at the moment (check out our explainer article on the subject). The OnePlus 13 brought the Glacier battery (the company's own version of the tech) to the States with the impressive 6,000 mAh capacity. Well, guess what? The OnePlus 15 comes with a massive 7,300 mAh battery inside.
Hail our new battery champion (the RedMagic 11 Pro was de-throned quite quickly). The OnePlus 15 ranks number one with a battery score of 10 hours and 44 minutes. The 30-hour browsing score is quite impressive, as is the gaming result. The OnePlus 13 can't compete despite having a pretty hefty 6,000 mAh battery too, so if you want the best battery phone out there, the OnePlus 15 is your device.
OnePlus is at the forefront when it comes to charging, up there with Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Honor. The speeds the company offers are pushing 100W. The OnePlus 15 features 120W wired charging support in China, but the global version is capped at 80W (up to 100W), whatever that means. Our test showed that you can charge the OnePlus 15 to full in less than one hour, and the charging time is similar to what you get on the OnePlus 13.
The OnePlus 15 is an absolute beast of a phone. The real question here, however, is are there enough reasons to upgrade if you already have the OnePlus 13? There's a new and faster chipset on board of the latest flagship, a bigger battery, and a better main camera. The display is brighter, and the design has now stepped into the modern, flat smartphone world.
The OnePlus 15 rivals the best flagships in the business, namely the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the Galaxy S25 Ultra, when it comes to final scores, and it's absolutely worthy to be an alternative to either of those. Compared to the OnePlus 13, it's undoubtedly better, but we don't think you need to upgrade if you already own the previous model.
One thing worth noting is that the OnePlus 15 is currently not available in the US due to the government shutdown and certification issues, and its official debut will be postponed.
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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