OnePlus Outperforms Samsung S25 Ultra in Key Areas

Priced at $899, the OnePlus 15 delivers flagship Android performance with a massive 7,300mAh battery, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, and 80W wired charging. While its camera hardware takes a step back from the previous model, the device isn’t available for purchase just yet due to pending regulatory approvals.

When details about the OnePlus 15 first surfaced, it made me question whether smartphone specifications were advancing too aggressively. Could a device become over-engineered, or were those earlier, bulkier Android models actually pointing toward future trends? This new model certainly pushes boundaries, featuring a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a 165Hz refresh rate, the latest Snapdragon processor, and an IP69 rating for serious dust and water resistance.

Thankfully, the OnePlus 15 avoids the industrial design of niche rugged brands. Unboxing it revealed a refined device built from metal and glass, with enough weight and solidity to convey premium quality. You immediately sense that your money has been well spent.

To put the phone through its paces, I brought it along on a trip to South Korea, testing it side-by-side with rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. The experience yielded some surprising results.

I always test phones without a case to fully appreciate the design choices, materials, curves, and overall handfeel. With the OnePlus 15, that felt like a safe bet. This model replaces the faux-leather back of its predecessor with a satin-finish fiberglass panel. The Sand Storm color option, with its subtle tan and beige tones, includes textured side rails that offer a secure grip whether you’re typing a message or checking maps outdoors.

As a result, the OnePlus 15 no longer feels as slim or uniquely contoured as earlier versions. Several people I met in South Korea remarked that it now resembles an iPhone Pro Max or a Google Pixel XL, a shift that may disappoint fans of the brand’s original design language.

OnePlus emphasizes its display engineering, though not necessarily in the way users might expect. The bezels measure a slim 1.15mm, maximizing screen real estate, but the resolution has been reduced from 2K to 1.5K. I suspect this trade-off helps maintain the fluid 165Hz refresh rate without draining the battery. During my travels, whether scrolling through news sites or playing demanding games on long flights, the display remained consistently smooth.

Gaming performance proved especially impressive. The OnePlus 15 showed no signs of throttling until about 30 minutes in, while competing flagships from Samsung and Google began dropping frames and heating up within just five minutes. This smooth performance stems from the powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and OnePlus’s own CPU Scheduler, which reserves processing power specifically for games. Add in a dedicated Wi-Fi chip supporting Wi-Fi 7, and it’s clear this device is aimed squarely at the growing mobile gaming audience.

Unexpectedly, OnePlus also stands out in mobile AI integration. The classic alert slider has been replaced by a programmable action button. While you can set it to open the camera or flashlight, I found it most useful for activating Mind Space. Similar to Nothing’s Essential Space, this local database stores screenshots and voice memos. Gemini AI then references these files to answer context-aware questions. In Korea, I saved travel confirmations and notices, allowing me to simply ask Gemini for flight times or required documents without manually searching.

Camera performance, however, reveals some compromises. Every sensor on the OnePlus 15 is technically inferior to what was offered on the OnePlus 13, with smaller sensors and less advanced hardware. To compensate, OnePlus relies on AI-enhanced processing and Qualcomm’s image signal processor.

This approach works reasonably well, especially if you prefer vivid, high-contrast images. In daylight, wide and ultrawide shots appear saturated and balanced, with HDR processing that feels more restrained than Samsung or Google’s sometimes aggressive style. The telephoto capabilities are particularly strong, the 120x optical zoom captures distant text and signs more clearly than Samsung’s 200MP sensor. A touch of generative AI enhances results subtly, likely pleasing most users.

Where the camera struggles is in low light. The smaller sensors simply don’t gather enough light to keep faces sharp or colors natural. While no flagship truly masters night photography, the OnePlus 15 lags behind its premium rivals in this area.

Battery life, on the other hand, is exceptional. The 7,300mAh cell easily lasted through full days of photography, navigation, and exploration in Korea, often carrying over into the next morning. On occasions when a recharge was needed, the 80W wired charging brought the battery from zero to fifty percent in the time it takes to brush your teeth and wash your face.

Overall, the OnePlus 15 doesn’t represent a radical change from its predecessor, and that’s a positive. Building on the OnePlus 13’s solid foundation, this model reinforces core strengths like battery endurance, rapid charging, and raw performance. At $899, it’s an easy recommendation for mobile gamers, power users, and tech enthusiasts, though you’ll need to accept some camera limitations.

One important note: as of this writing, the OnePlus 15 cannot be sold in the United States until it receives FCC certification, a process delayed by the recent government shutdown. OnePlus has completed all required lab tests and submitted its application, hoping for a swift approval. U.S. customers can register on the OnePlus website to be notified when the device becomes available. In Canada, the phone will go on sale as planned beginning November 13.

(Source: ZDNET)