OnePlus 15R review

We have spent the better part of December asking ourselves one question. Do we really need to spend over Rs 50,000 to get a flagship experience these days? The OnePlus 15R is making a very persuasive argument that the answer is “no”. Landing on our desks just in time for the holiday season, this device seems like a watered-down version of the OnePlus 15. But given its price, the compromises are surprisingly few. We have been testing the phone for a couple of weeks and here’s our review.

OnePlus 15R: Design and build

OnePlus has finally decided to switch things up. If you have seen the new OnePlus 15, you know the company has moved toward a boxier, flatter aesthetic. The 15R follows suit with a metal frame that feels surprisingly premium for a device that is supposed to be the “value” option. That said, we have to talk about the comfort. While the flat sides look incredibly clean and modern, they dig into your palms a bit more than the curved edges of yesteryear.

We’ve received the Mint Breeze colourway, which looks remarkably like the trendy olive greens “fashionistas” have been wearing this winter. The back panel on our unit features a silk glass finish. It is smooth to the touch, almost like a polished stone, and does a fantastic job of hiding fingerprints.

But the biggest talking point here is the omission of the beloved Alert Slider. It is gone. In its place sits the “Plus Key”, a customisable button that can do anything from silencing the phone to launching apps. We miss the physical click of the slider, but having a dedicated button to instantly launch things is arguably more useful. For instance, we assigned it to Spotify for when we’re out and about and controlling tracks has never been easier.

OnePlus 15R: Display

If there is one area where this phone absolutely screams “flagship”, it is the screen. We are looking at a 6.83-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel that pushes a ridiculous 165Hz refresh rate. Most phones cap out at 120Hz, but this is a different beast entirely.

While the difference is subtle beyond 120Hz, scrolling through social feeds or whipping through menus does feel unnervingly fluid. The brightness is also stellar, hitting a peak of 1,800 nits. We used Google Maps under the bright sun for a bit, and the visibility was perfect without us having to squint or shade the screen with a hand.

OnePlus has also included the TÜV Rheinland Intelligent Eye Care 5.0 certification here. It sounds like marketing speak, but we noticed less eye strain during late-night reading sessions compared to other OLED panels we have tested recently.

The colours are punchy by default, perhaps a bit oversaturated for the purists, but you can dial that back in the settings. For media consumption, specifically watching high-res content, the pixel density of 450 PPI ensures that everything looks very sharp.

OnePlus 15R: Battery life

We need to be very clear about this. The battery life on the OnePlus 15R is not just good, it is absolutely absurd. OnePlus managed to stuff a massive 7,400mAh battery into this chassis using their Silicon Nanostack technology. To put that in perspective, that is larger than the battery in the standard OnePlus 15 and significantly larger than almost anything else in the mainstream market.

We tried to kill this battery. We really did. We took it off the charger at 7AM, navigated through the city for an hour, streamed music all day at the office, watched some YouTube when we went home, and doom-scrolled for another two hours before bed.

When we plugged it in, we still had 45% left. It changes how you use a phone when you simply stop caring about battery percentages. You just use it. And when you do need to charge, the 80W SuperVOOC wired charging gets you back up to speed rapidly.

OnePlus 15R: Software and performance

This is where things get interesting. The 15R is the first phone globally to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset. It is supposedly “co-optimised” for this handset, and the performance backs that up. We threw everything at it, from heavy multitasking to rendering video clips, and it didn’t stutter once. The phone also features a vapour chamber cooling system that seems effective. Even during long download sessions, the back only got mildly warm.

On the software side, it runs OxygenOS 16 based on Android 16. Generally, we love the fluidity. The animations are slick, and the customisation options are endless. You can tweak icons, fonts, and fingerprint animations until the phone feels entirely unique to you. However, there is a weird lack of visual coherence in some places.

For instance, the system generally follows a clean, flat Android look. But then you open the Calculator app, and suddenly you are looking at buttons that try to imitate liquid glass with weird skeuomorphic reflections. It is jarring.

One thing we did like is the new “Plus Mind” AI features. We used the Plus Key to capture a messy group chat about dinner plans, and the AI successfully parsed the data to create a calendar invite for the right time and location. That is the kind of AI utility we actually want.

OnePlus 15R: Camera

The camera system is a bit of a mixed bag, borrowing the primary sensor from its more expensive sibling. That’s the Sony IMX 906, which is paired with the new DetailMax Engine. In good lighting, the results are fantastic. The 15R captures plenty of detail, and the dynamic range is solid.

We also have to mention that this phone supports 4K video recording at 120fps, a feature usually reserved for the ultra-premium tier. The footage is buttery smooth and looks professional right out of the camera.

However, the processing can be aggressive, especially in low-light conditions. Some of the resulting images turn out sharp, too sharp.

That said, portrait mode is lovely. We took some shots of ourselves at the office, and the subject separation was spot on, with a nice creamy bokeh that didn’t look too artificial.

Unboxed Take: Who should buy the OnePlus 15R

The OnePlus 15R is a confusing device in the best way possible. It cuts corners in places that most people won’t notice, like the lack of wireless charging magnets, and doubles down on the things that actually matter for daily use.

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This is a phone for the performance purists, who want the speediest performance and smoothest display. It’s especially ideal for mobile gamers: the combination of that ridiculous 7,400mAh battery, the 165Hz display, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor makes it a portable console of sorts. At Unboxed by Croma, we rate it a solid 4/5.