A 165Hz show and massive battery for $700

I do know what you are pondering, did not OnePlus launch a brand new cellphone simply final month? It did. A little bit over 5 weeks after the announcement of the OP15, the corporate is again with the OnePlus 15R, a extra inexpensive model of its new flagship that begins at $700 (or $200 lower than its sibling). Off the highest, this might be a shorter assessment as a result of most of what I mentioned in regards to the OnePlus 15 additionally applies to the OP15R. It is an incredible cellphone that asks you to make one fairly vital compromise.

Design and show

Just like the OnePlus 15, the 15R seems just like the OnePlus 13s and 13T, a pair of smaller, 6.32-inch telephones the corporate launched in India and China this previous spring. I mentioned the design of the OP15 was boring and spinoff of the iPhone 16 Pro. The 15R has executed nothing to vary that opinion. With one fewer digital camera, the OP15R does not look a lot completely different from the iPhone 12 I have been hanging on to since 2020.

That mentioned, I am extra keen on the 15R’s mint breeze colour (the cellphone can also be out there in charcoal black) than the sand storm shade of my OP15. We’re large followers of minty telephones right here at Engadget, and OnePlus has gone with a very pleasing hue of the colour with its new cellphone. With the redesign, OnePlus has additionally improved the cellphone’s waterproofing, bringing it in step with the OP15. The brand new handset is IP69K-certified towards moisture and mud, that means it will possibly stand up to heated water shot at it at stress. Just like the OP15, the 15R trades OnePlus’ outdated Alert Slider for a brand new Plus Key. It features just like the iPhone’s Motion button, permitting you so as to add a shortcut for a favourite characteristic. For instance, you possibly can configure it to open the digital camera app or act as a don’t disturb toggle, amongst just a few different choices.

One departure from the OP15 is that the 15R has a bigger 6.83-inch show, making it barely taller than its sibling. OnePlus is advertising and marketing this as one cause consumers would possibly choose the 15R over the OP15, however holding the telephones aspect by aspect, there’s not a lot distinction between the 2. They’re each large, and you will both like that or will not.

On prime of being large, the 15R’s display can refresh at a quick 165Hz in video games. The 2 shows are additionally comparable when it comes to decision and brightness; each can push 1,800 nits of brightness. One distinction I observed is the OnePlus 15 has a hotter panel, even when the 2 telephones are set to the identical colorspace. I’ve reached out to OnePlus to search out what is perhaps inflicting the disparity, however for now it could be because of a top quality management concern or oversight within the firm’s software program.

One very last thing, OnePlus has upgraded the 15R so as to add an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor beneath the display. That is positioned in a pleasant spot towards the underside third of the show, and it is quick and correct.

Efficiency and battery

The OnePlus 15R is the primary cellphone in North America to reach with Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset. To not be confused with the Snapdragon Gen 5 Elite within the OP15, this new chipset is much like Qualcomm’s flagship system-on-a-chip however has a weaker CPU and GPU. That is mirrored in benchmarks like Geekbench 6 the place the OP15 handily outperforms the OP15R. It isn’t even shut, both, with the OP15 delivering standout single- and multi-core scores of three,773 and 11,293, whereas the 15R put up extra modest outcomes of two,857 and 9,512.

From that perspective, you are dropping a good quantity of efficiency, however real-world use tells a distinct story. Exterior of the handful of video games reminiscent of Name of Responsibility: Cell and PUBG that help the OP15 and 15R’s 165Hz shows, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 presents greater than sufficient muscle for almost all of purposes. Even for many video games (like those I wish to play, together with Diablo Immortal and League of Legends: Wild Rift), the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is a superb match.

OnePlus additionally hasn’t skimped on the 15R’s different inside elements. You are still getting 12GB of LPDDR5X Extremely RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.1 storage. That is the identical configuration as the bottom mannequin of the OP15. This interprets to a cellphone that does not miss a beat when switching between apps and loading information like photographs and movies.

The 15R has a barely greater battery, coming in at 7,400mAh, up from 7,300mAh on the OP15. In observe, the 2 telephones supply the identical quantity of battery life. Placing them by each Engadget’s video rundown check, they each ran for 38 hours earlier than their batteries died (which is sensible given the OP15R has an even bigger display). Just like the OP15, the 15R comes with the OnePlus 55W SUPERVOOC charger within the field. The adapter can get the 15R from lifeless to 100% in lower than an hour. When you hate charging your cellphone, the 15R makes that course of as painless as doable, with a battery that each lasts lengthy and will not be on the outlet for hours.

Cameras

By this level you are most likely questioning what OnePlus lower from the OP15 to make the 15R extra inexpensive. The reply — fairly actually — is a whole digital camera. The brand new cellphone is lacking a telephoto digital camera, one thing you possibly can discover on its predecessor, the OnePlus 13R. And so far as I can inform, the 2 remaining cameras use the identical 50-megapixel and 8MP sensors OnePlus shipped on final yr’s mannequin. The corporate additionally hasn’t upgraded the glass on both digital camera. That leaves the selfie digital camera as the one space to see some change within the type of a sharper 32MP sensor and the addition of autofocus.

Sadly, not one of the 15R’s cameras stand out. As a complete, they endure from the identical set of issues that plague the OnePlus 15’s cameras. They’re high quality out on a sunny day, however as quickly as the sunshine turns into a bit difficult, the 15R struggles with shadow particulars, leading to muddy footage. The extra I’ve used each the OP15 and 15R, the extra I’ve come to the conclusion that OnePlus wants to return to the drafting board with its new Element Max Engine. It feels prefer it’s holding again what ought to, a minimum of on paper, be stable {hardware}.

Software program

There’s not a lot to say right here aside from the 15R ships with OxygenOS 16, identical to the OP15. OnePlus has additionally promised to help the 15R for a similar period of time because the OP15: 4 years with software program updates and 6 years with safety patches. That is a shorter window than Google and Samsung, each of which promise seven years on all their newest telephones. It is hopefully one thing that OnePlus decides to vary beginning with the OnePlus 16. The rationale I convey that up is that the corporate’s model of Android is one I like lots. OxygenOS is slick, with animations that spotlight the pace of the 15R’s processor and show. The very fact the cellphone comes with the newest model of OxygenOS means you additionally get entry to all the firm’s latest AI options, together with its Thoughts Area hub the place it can save you screenshots and notes for an on-device mannequin to transcribe and summarize.

Wrap-up

Briefly, the OnePlus 15R is the cellphone for individuals who do not care about pictures and movies. That is the identical conclusion I got here to with the OP15. When you’re a OnePlus fan, the 15R excels in all of the areas you’d count on the corporate’s gadgets to make a superb displaying: efficiency, battery life and show responsiveness. Given I wasn’t too impressed with the OP15’s digital camera, I’d truly suggest the 15R over that mannequin. For $200 off the beginning value of the OP15, you are getting a tool that has nearly all the identical strengths of its dearer sibling.

In comparison with other phones in its price range, such because the Pixel 10 and Galaxy S25 FE, the 15R is just not as well-rounded, and might’t compete with these gadgets in digital camera high quality, however you are getting a lot better efficiency, battery life and a show they can not match.