OnePlus is ending the year on a high note with a new phone: the OnePlus 15R. It’s a handset with a massive battery — we’re talking 7,400 mAh — and it clearly wants to be the device most gamers would want to own.
Design logic
The OnePlus 15R largely shares the design philosophy of the OnePlus 15. The phone continues with a camera-island design and avoids the Google Pixel-style bar that stretches from one end to the other. This means that when the phone is placed on a table, there is the familiar wobble when pressing the top-left side. That doesn’t mean the design fails. The handset is just the right size to be gripped comfortably in one hand.
All the things you expect from OnePlus — including a smooth OS experience — are present. On the front is a 6.83-inch 1.5K LTPS AMOLED display with a 165Hz refresh rate. If 120Hz feels buttery smooth, try 165Hz. It makes a noticeable difference when it comes to mobile gaming, allowing you to spot enemies more clearly and react faster. During everyday tasks, the display can drop to 60Hz to conserve power.
There are three colour options — Mint Breeze, Electric Violet and a personal favourite, Charcoal Black. The first and last options feature a glass back, making the phone feel exceptionally smooth in the hand. Electric Violet is exclusive to OnePlus in India and uses fibreglass.
One area where OnePlus has been focusing heavily is ingress protection. Typically, phones come with a single IP rating. Here, there are four: IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K — meaning the phone can survive a dip in a swimming pool and withstand high-pressure water jets at temperatures of up to 80°C.
Mega performance
OnePlus earns brownie points for its choice of chipset. The OnePlus 15R is clearly aimed at gamers. If photography is your priority, the OnePlus 15 would be the better choice.
The phone is the first to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, tuned specifically for OnePlus. It offers a 36 per cent increase in CPU performance over the previous generation, an 11 per cent boost in GPU performance, and up to 46 per cent improvement in AI performance.
There’s more. The phone introduces the OnePlus CPU Scheduler, designed to prioritise gaming workloads over the standard Android Completely Fair Scheduler.
Think of it this way: on a busy road, cars, trucks and buses all fight for space. The OnePlus CPU Scheduler gives high-performance “cars” their own lanes, ensuring smoother gaming. The difference is tangible. CPU performance remains stable during long gaming sessions, helped along by LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and UFS 4.1 storage, both of which enable faster data transfer speeds.
Enhancing the gaming credentials further is a 360-degree Cryo Velocity Cooling System. Beneath the display sits the Cryo Velocity Screen Cooler, which uses aerogel to protect against heat. There’s also a Cryo Velocity 3D vapour chamber. Measuring 5,704mm², it uses a mix of materials, including hand-tearable steel, to dissipate heat efficiently.
Then there’s the headline feature: a colossal 7,400 mAh silicon battery. OnePlus claims it will retain at least 80 per cent of its capacity after four years. The large battery also supports 80W SuperVOOC fast charging.
Make the call
That brings us to the cameras. On the rear are two sensors: a 50MP Sony IMX906 main camera and an 8MP ultra-wide. They use a new image pipeline called the OnePlus DetailMax Engine.
The good news is that OnePlus proves it can deliver pleasing results even without Hasselblad branding. Photos look largely natural, shutter speeds are excellent, and the phone supports 4K video recording at 120fps. There is minimal colour shift between the main and ultra-wide cameras, and low-light photography is acceptable.
Where it falls short is versatility. Compared to some Samsung mid-range phones, the camera system feels limited, and zooming beyond 5x doesn’t offer the best experience. There’s no dedicated telephoto camera on the 15R, which is understandable, given the pricing.
All the familiar AI features OnePlus has been experimenting with are present, accessible via the Plus Key. Plus Mind stands out, allowing the phone to understand the context of what you save.
OnePlus is also working with Google to integrate Plus Mind with Google Gemini. This will allow Gemini to access everything stored in Plus Mind and combine it with its advanced large language models and real-time Internet access.
The OnePlus 15R (begins at ₹47,999 for the 12 GB/256 GB variant) makes a strong case for a performance-first phone; it shows how far focused engineering can still go.
