I know what you’re thinking — didn’t OnePlus just release a new phone last month? It did. Just over five weeks after unveiling the OP15, the company is already back with the OnePlus 15R. This is a more affordable take on its latest flagship, starting at $700 — $200 less than its sibling. This will be a shorter review, because much of what I said about the OnePlus 15 also applies to the 15R. It’s an excellent phone, but one that asks you to accept a fairly major trade-off.
OnePlus 15R
The OnePlus 15R retains many of the strengths of the pricier OP15, trimming $200 from the price by cutting back on the camera setup.
Pros
- Fast processor
- Large battery with quick charging
- Bright, colorful OLED with 165Hz refresh rate
- Available in an attractive mint color
Cons
- One fewer camera than last year’s OP13R
- Remaining cameras are underwhelming
- Only four years of software updates
Design and display
Like the OnePlus 15, the 15R closely resembles the OnePlus 13s and 13T — smaller 6.32-inch phones the company released earlier this year in India and China. I described the OP15’s design as bland and overly reminiscent of the iPhone 16 Pro, and the 15R hasn’t changed my mind. With one fewer camera, it actually looks even closer to the iPhone 12 I’ve been using since 2020.
That said, I much prefer the 15R’s Mint Breeze finish (it’s also sold in Charcoal Black) over the Sand Storm color of my OP15. We’re partial to mint-colored phones at Engadget, and OnePlus chose a particularly pleasant shade this time. Along with the redesign, OnePlus also improved the phone’s durability, matching the OP15’s IP69K rating for dust and water resistance — meaning it can withstand high-pressure, heated water. Like the OP15, the 15R replaces the old Alert Slider with a new Plus Key, similar to Apple’s Action button, which you can customize to launch apps or toggle features like Do Not Disturb.
One notable difference is the display size. The 15R uses a larger 6.83-inch screen, making it slightly taller than the OP15. OnePlus suggests this could sway buyers toward the 15R, but side by side, the difference feels minimal. Both phones are large, and whether that’s a positive depends entirely on personal preference.
The 15R’s display can refresh at up to 165Hz in supported games. Resolution and brightness are on par with the OP15, with both reaching up to 1,800 nits. I did notice the OP15’s panel looks slightly warmer even when both phones are set to the same color profile. I’ve asked OnePlus about this, but for now it may come down to software tuning or quality control variation.
One welcome upgrade is the addition of an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor under the display. It’s positioned comfortably in the lower third of the screen and proved fast and reliable in use.
Performance and battery
The OnePlus 15R is the first phone in North America to ship with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset. This isn’t the same as the Snapdragon Gen 5 Elite used in the OP15 — it’s a step down, with weaker CPU and GPU performance. Benchmarks reflect that gap clearly. In Geekbench 6, the OP15 posted strong single- and multi-core scores of 3,773 and 11,293, while the 15R came in at 2,857 and 9,512.
On paper, that’s a sizable drop. In everyday use, though, it matters far less. Outside of a handful of games that fully take advantage of the 165Hz display — like Call of Duty: Mobile and PUBG — the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 has more than enough power for most apps. Even for games I play regularly, such as Diablo Immortal and League of Legends: Wild Rift, performance was smooth and consistent.
OnePlus didn’t skimp elsewhere. The 15R includes 12GB of LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.1 storage, matching the base OP15. As a result, the phone feels quick when switching apps or loading large files.
Battery capacity is slightly higher on the 15R at 7,400mAh, compared to 7,300mAh on the OP15. In practice, battery life is effectively identical. In Engadget’s video rundown test, both phones lasted 38 hours before shutting down. Like the OP15, the 15R ships with OnePlus’ 55W SUPERVOOC charger, which can fully recharge the phone in under an hour. If you dislike waiting around for your phone to charge, the 15R makes the process painless.
Cameras
So where did OnePlus cut costs? The answer is simple: cameras. The 15R drops the telephoto lens found on last year’s OnePlus 13R. The remaining cameras appear to use the same 50MP main sensor and 8MP secondary sensor as before, with no upgrade to the lens glass. The selfie camera does get an improvement, moving to a sharper 32MP sensor with autofocus.
Unfortunately, none of the cameras truly impress. They suffer from the same shortcomings as the OnePlus 15. In bright daylight, photos are acceptable, but as soon as lighting becomes more challenging, shadow detail falls apart and images start to look muddy. The more I’ve used both phones, the more it feels like OnePlus’ new Detail Max Engine is holding back otherwise capable hardware.
Software
The 15R ships with OxygenOS 16, just like the OP15. OnePlus has committed to four years of software updates and six years of security patches — the same support window as its flagship. That’s notably shorter than Google and Samsung’s seven-year promises, and it’s something I hope OnePlus revisits with the OnePlus 16. It’s worth mentioning because OxygenOS remains one of my favorite Android skins. It’s fluid, visually polished, and well-matched to the 15R’s fast processor and display. You also get access to OnePlus’ latest AI tools, including the Mind Space hub for saving screenshots and notes that can be summarized on-device.
Wrap-up
Put simply, the OnePlus 15R is for people who don’t care much about photography or video. That’s the same conclusion I reached with the OP15. If you like OnePlus phones, the 15R shines where the brand traditionally excels: performance, battery life, and display smoothness. Since I wasn’t especially impressed by the OP15’s cameras to begin with, I’d actually recommend the 15R instead. For $200 less, you’re getting nearly all of the same strengths.
Compared with other phones in this price range, like the Pixel 10 and Galaxy S25 FE, the 15R isn’t as balanced overall and can’t match those devices when it comes to camera quality. but you’re getting much better performance, battery life and a display they can’t match.