We may as well start with the bad news first. Today was supposed to be the day OnePlus 15 pre-orders kicked in, but that is not happening. Due to the current US government shutdown, which is expected to come to an end shortly, the company does not yet have a release date.
This delay is due to the FCC not getting a chance to certify the OP15 before it’s greenlit for sale here in the US. Everything has been submitted on OnePlus’ side, and now we’re just waiting for the FCC employees to get back to work to test and hopefully approve. Now let’s discuss everything that will be available when it goes on sale.
As anticipated, the OnePlus 15 will offer high-end specs you wish your favorite phone manufacturer would use. It features a 6.7-inch OLED display with a maximum brightness of up to 1,800 nits, capable of a 165Hz refresh rate in select scenarios. We already know it’s powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, coupled with 12GB & 256GB of storage or 16GB of RAM & 512GB of storage. Its outer shell has a scratch-resistant coating, but I would still apply a case to it.
Unfortunately, there are no Qi2 magnets inside, but the company does sell its own cases, which include them. OnePlus added a multi-functional Plus Key button, which replaces the beloved alert slider. This can be mapped to act as an Alert button, to activate Gemini, and more. There’s also dual eSIM, Bluetooth 6.0, and Wi-Fi 7 support, as it also retains its super-fast ultrasonic in-display fingerprint reader and infrared remote feature, which has been a fan-favorite feature for years.
On the camera side of things, we have three rear 50MP sensors: an f/1.8 main sensor with OIS, an f/2.0 ultrawide sensor, an f/2.8 telephoto sensor with OIS and 3.5x optical zoom, and an f/2.4 32MP selfie camera. The OP15 is capable of capturing up to 8K video at 30fps. Surprisingly enough, the OP15 is the first Android phone capable of recording 4K 120fps slow-motion Dolby Vision.
It runs OxygenOS 16 with Android 16, which includes Gemini baked into the software. Unfortunately, there’s still no seven years of software support like you would get on Google and Samsung flagship phones. OnePlus is offering 4 years of OS and 6 years of security updates, which is closer but not quite there yet.
The real star of the show is its massive 7,300 mAh battery, which is a more dense cell and should last longer than other smartphone batteries in regard to degradation over time. It also includes 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging, but only when using the company’s proprietary charging solutions.
Every OnePlus 15 purchase will get 3 months of Google AI Pro with 2TB of cloud storage. The $900 OnePlus 15 (12GB RAM/256GB storage) will only have the Matte Black color option, while the $1,000 (16GB RAM/512GB storage) comes in Matte Black, Ultra Violet, and Sand Stone color options.
