OnePlus 15R review

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Introduction

OnePlus 15R is now available worldwide side by side with the OG OnePlus 15, and it's only fair to ask which one is the better deal. The 15R sits comfortably between the Nord 5 and the 15, a sweet spot for a "flagship killer" - a category OnePlus coined back in the day.

Compared to the more expensive 15, the OnePlus 15R has the same premium build with Gorilla Glass 7i shield, an aluminum frame, and an IP68/IP69K rating. It has a larger 6.83-inch AMOLED with 10-bit color depth, 450ppi density, 165Hz refresh rate, and HDR10+ support.

The 15R model employs the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chip with 12GB RAM and UFS4.1 storage.

The camera department on the 15R is more suitable for a mid-ranger - there is a 50MP OIS primary and an 8MP ultrawide camera on the back, plus a 32MP selfie imager with fixed focus at the opposite side.

Finally, the 15R is powered by a large 7,400mAh battery with 80W fast wired charging.

So the 15R is a trimmed-down version of the 15 with a similar build and display but featuring the non-Elite Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chip. It has lost the telephoto and opted for more basic ultrawide and selfie cameras, too.

Looking at it from a Nord 5 standpoint, the 15R has a tougher build, more powerful hardware, faster storage, and a larger battery, so the 15R slots right between these two.

Let's look at the specs sheet.

OnePlus 15R specs at a glance:

• Body: 163.4x77.0x8.1mm, 213g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass 7i), aluminum alloy frame, glass back or fiber-reinforced plastic back; IP68/IP69K dust tight and water resistant (high pressure water jets; immersible up to 1.5m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.83" AMOLED, 1B colors, 165Hz, PWM, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, 1800 nits (HBM), 3600 nits (peak), 1272x2800px resolution, 19.81:9 aspect ratio, 450ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8845 Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (3 nm): Octa-core (2x3.8 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix L + 6x3.32 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix M); Adreno 829.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 4.1.
• OS/Software: Android 16, OxygenOS 16.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm, 112˚, 1/4.0", 1.12µm.
• Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.0, 25mm (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60/120fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, gyro-EIS, OIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS, OIS.
• Battery: 7400mAh; 80W wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 6.0, aptX HD, LHDC 5; NFC; Infrared port.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); stereo speakers.

There is only one potential setback we can see for the OnePlus 15R, and it's not on the specs sheet. It's the price, which is just one bit too close to the OnePlus 15's tag that has already seen its first cuts.

Unboxing the OnePlus 15R

The OnePlus 15R ships inside a typical red box that contains the phone and one of those signature red USB-C cables.

The EU box does not contain a charger. The 15R, though, has a pre-installed protective layer atop its display.