The OnePlus 15 is an interesting smartphone. In some regards, it’s fantastic. It offers monstrous battery life, ultra-fast charging, and the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip. However, with camera and design downgrades compared to its predecessor, it’s not the slam dunk we were hoping for.
Following a global release in November, pre-orders for the OnePlus 15 in the US finally went live on December 4. It starts at $900 for the base model with 256GB of storage and 12GB RAM, or you can upgrade to the 512GB storage and 16GB RAM model for $1,000.
The OnePlus 15 isn’t a terrible value on its own, but it also wouldn’t be our first recommendation. Here are five other Android phones you should buy instead of the OnePlus 15.
What do you think is the best OnePlus 15 alternative? 61 votes OnePlus 13 26 % Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 26 % Google Pixel 10 Pro 28 % Nothing Phone 3 8 % Motorola Razr Ultra 5 % Other (let us know in the comments) 7 %
OnePlus 13
Joe Maring / Android Authority
If you’re considering buying the OnePlus 15, it’s probably because of all the things mentioned above: its battery life, charging, and performance. For most people reading this, the OnePlus 13 is the easiest recommendation as a direct alternative to the OnePlus 15.
Why is that? Because the OnePlus 13 also excels at those things. Its 6,000mAh battery may not be quite as impressive as the 7,300mAh one inside the OnePlus 15, but it still delivers excellent endurance, with the OnePlus 13 easily lasting two days on a single charge. Both phones also share the same 80W wired charging spec, which allows the OnePlus 13 to go from 0-100% in a little over 30 minutes (slightly faster than the OnePlus 15). And although the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip powering the OnePlus 13 may be a little over a year old, it’s still incredibly powerful. More importantly, it doesn’t have any of the overheating issues we’ve experienced with the OnePlus 15.
There are two other areas where the OnePlus 13 asserts itself as the superior OnePlus phone. The OnePlus 15 has smaller camera sensors across the board compared to the OnePlus 13, and it results in a less impressive photography experience. And while design is subjective, I think it’s fair to say that the OnePlus 15 is far less visually interesting than its older sibling.
The OnePlus 15 isn’t a bad phone, but it is a flawed one — especially compared to the OnePlus 13. If you can find a good deal on the OnePlus 13, buy it instead of the OnePlus 15 and don’t look back.
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