OnePlus 15R review: big 165Hz display and huge battery at a lower price

OnePlus published the 15R just weeks after the OP15 as a more affordable sibling starting at $700 — about $200 less than the flagship. The 15R keeps many strengths of the OP15: a fast, bright display, very long battery life and snappy performance — but sacrifices camera versatility and top‑end silicon.

The phone features a 6.83‑inch 165Hz AMOLED display capable of very high brightness (around 1,800 nits reported), an ultrasonic in‑screen fingerprint sensor, IP69K water/dust resistance and the new Plus Key (replacing the old Alert Slider) for customizable shortcuts.

Performance & battery

The 15R ships with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (not the Gen 5 Elite used in the OP15). Benchmarks show a noticeable gap — the OP15 scored roughly 3,773 (single) / 11,293 (multi) on Geekbench 6 versus about 2,857 / 9,512 for the 15R — but everyday performance is excellent. With 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.1 storage, the phone handles multitasking and apps smoothly.

Battery life is a standout: a 7,400mAh cell (slightly larger than the OP15) matched the OP15 in endurance tests, running long through heavy use. OnePlus includes a 55W SUPERVOOC charger in the box, and the device can charge to full in under an hour.

Cameras — the compromise

To hit the lower price, OnePlus removed the telephoto module. The 15R uses a 50MP main and an 8MP ultrawide, while the selfie camera is upgraded to 32MP with autofocus. In good light photos are fine, but the camera system struggles in tougher lighting and shadow detail, held back by software processing (OnePlus’ “Detail Max Engine” in this iteration).

Software & support

The 15R runs OxygenOS 16 with the same feature set as the OP15, including on‑device AI features and OnePlus’ Mind Space hub. OnePlus promises four years of major OS updates and six years of security patches for the 15R — competitive but still shorter than the seven‑year commitments from some rivals.

Who should buy it?

• If you prioritize display responsiveness, raw performance for apps/gaming, huge battery life and fast wired charging, the 15R is an excellent value at $700.
• If camera quality and telephoto zoom are important, consider other phones (Pixel, Galaxy S-series) or the OP15 instead.
• The 15R makes sense as a flagship experience for users who don’t care much about photography but want speed and battery longevity.

For more details, see the full review: Engadget — OnePlus 15R review.

Discussion: Would you pick the OnePlus 15R to save $200 over the OP15 — or is the camera tradeoff a dealbreaker? What do you value most in a flagship phone?