The OnePlus 15 is finally official, and it seems like an impressive flagship Android phone at first glance. That’s largely due to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset (even though it’s rather hot), a gigantic 7,300mAh battery with fast wired/wireless charging, and a set of flexible rear cameras.
Take a closer look, though, and it’s clear that we’re looking at a sidegrade or even a downgrade in some places. This wouldn’t be the first time OnePlus followed a fantastic flagship phone with a disappointing device. In fact, there seems to be a rough pattern emerging in recent years, and I’ve come to an absurd conclusion. OPPO doesn’t really want OnePlus to truly succeed — at least not at the expense of OPPO’s own flagship phones.
Do you think OPPO is trying to ruin OnePlus? 300 votes Yes, they are 56 % I'm not sure 14 % No, I think they've actually improved OnePlus 7 % No, but they're unintentionally ruining OnePlus 22 %
A cycle of great and disappointing phones
Joe Maring / Android Authority
The OnePlus 13 is a fantastic phone, but it’s clear that the OnePlus 15 is a step back in a few ways. The most notable downgrade is the rear camera system, as the main, telephoto, and ultrawide sensors are replaced with smaller sensors. The main and periscope lenses also see narrower apertures. It’s not all bad, as the 3.5x periscope camera offers slightly longer reach than the OnePlus 13’s 3x shooter. However, you’re still getting weaker camera specs in general, and that’s disappointing in light of the OnePlus 13’s excellent camera experience.
This isn’t the only polarizing move, as the OnePlus 15 has a 1.5K 165Hz OLED screen compared to the OnePlus 13’s 120Hz QHD+ display. OnePlus claimed that this screen is actually more expensive than the OnePlus 13 display and that a 165Hz QHD+ screen isn’t technically possible. But it’s still a resolution downgrade after years of QHD+ displays. The company has also swapped out the alert slider for a shortcut button. I was never a fan of the alert slider and prefer a remappable shortcut button, but this will certainly draw the ire of some long-time OnePlus fans.
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It’s not the first time OnePlus flagships have taken a step back, though. The OnePlus 11 was a confusing release following the OnePlus 10 Pro, as it lacked the Pro model’s (admittedly carrier-exclusive) IP68 rating and wireless charging, while offering disappointing cameras. The OnePlus 12 was a much-improved phone, but still lacked proper water resistance and a top-tier camera experience. Even the OnePlus 10 Pro was a somewhat middling release compared to the OnePlus 9 Pro, owing to a downgraded ultrawide camera, lack of mmWave in the US (admittedly not a big deal in 2025), and carrier-exclusive IP rating.
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