The new OnePlus 15 has made quite a splash, thanks to its silicon carbon battery that lasts up to two days on a charge. But how good are the cameras? To find out, I put it up against one of the best camera phones around.
The OnePlus 15 has seen a number of changes from the previous generation, such as an upgraded zoom and the end of the company's Hasselblad camera partnership in favor of OnePlus' own "DetailMax" image processing.
Main camera
The iPhone 17 Pro Max, like other iPhones with a 48MP main camera, takes 24MP shots by default. The OnePlus 15 takes 12MP shots out of the box, but you can set it to a 26MP default with a quick trip to the camera settings. So to make a fair comparison, I took this photo of a stone planter after adjusting that setting.
Here we see the OnePlus shot is cooler than the iPhone's shot, but OnePlus' image is also a little sharper, perhaps thanks to its slightly higher resolution. It lets us admire elements like the thin wispy spider webs between the flowers in the figure's hair, whereas there's no clear sign of them in the iPhone image
2x zoom
Punching in with the main cameras on this cappuccino, we again see a big color difference. The OnePlus is seemingly prioritizing the milk foam in the cup over balancing the light level of the cup itself, which is why the detailing on the side of the drink comes across better on the iPhone.
Focus-wise, and ignoring the slightly different angles of the two shots, both have done well to zoom in using in-sensor cropping. There are plenty of microbubbles visible in both shots, allowing us to admire the barista's handiwork properly in both images. The iPhone 17 Pro Max delivers a bit more detail and a more pleasing shot.
Max resolution
Setting both phones' main cameras to maximum resolution (50MP for the OnePlus, 48MP for the iPhone), and pointing them over the ponds in Hyde Park's Italian Gardens, we see there is much more color in the iPhone image. It's looking a little grey in the OnePlus' world.
Zooming in on the water fountains, we see that the iPhone does a better job of making the water droplets visibly distinct from one another, while it's all a bit mushy on the OnePlus' image.
HDR
This carving in a wall near Hyde Park Corner was taken at night, but with strong street lighting and without night mode enabled on either phone. It's the ideal spot to look at how the two phones deal with extreme light and dark present in the same frame.
The linework of the carving is easy to make out in both photos, as is the brickwork. But I'd say the iPhone 17 Pro Max offers more depth and contrast. The OnePlus has really focused on the light coming through the railings above and shining on the wall, which gives the image quite a different tone compared to the iPhone's.
Night
Looking at the Wellington Arch after sunset, this scene appears much darker in the OnePlus shot, with the iPhone brightening more areas to prioritize detail. The iPhone 17 Pro Max is more evenly exposed with the main subject.
While the statue on top of the arch and the carvings in its side are more visible in the iPhone image, the shadows in the OnePlus shot look more natural. Some might prefer this look for a moodier image.
Ultrawide
This statue of a pair of cuddling bears is our subject for this standard ultrawide camera comparison. The iPhone 17 Pro Max has more detail in the texture of the sculpture, while the OnePlus 15's shot is brighter, giving the two ursine pals a shinier look.
However, I have to also note that the OnePlus' ultrawide proved to be oddly inconsistent in this context. Half of the photos I took looked like the one in the comparison above, while the rest looked like this - much more overexposed, losing both detail and adding a farcical level of highlights.
Macro
Ultrawide cameras usually enable macro photography on premium smartphones, so I brought both of the contestant phones up close and personal with these pink flowers.
At first glance, the iPhone has cooler colors, while the OnePlus has warmer ones. But interestingly, the OnePlus has more detail and better-balanced colors, showing more of the most brightly lit petals than the iPhone does
Selfie
Moving now to the phones' front cameras for some portrait mode selfies, we have two similar but still very different shots of yours truly.
The warmer iPhone shot is exactly how I like (or at least how I am used to) my selfies appearing, with a good portrait cutout to boot. The OnePlus' portrait effect has a gentler bokeh effect, is generally darker, shadowier and cooler, but the image is still a good selfie that keeps my glasses intact, unlike so many other phones.
Optical zoom
We'll wrap up with a two-part telephoto camera face-off. Our two phones have slightly different zoom ranges - 4x in the iPhone's case, 3.5x in the OnePlus'. But here they are together, looking at this church steeple, to see how both produce an image with their max optical zoom.
The iPhone's image is dark in the middle, while the OnePlus' is lighter, giving us more detail in the tiles of the steeple. This could perhaps be due to the OnePlus being less zoomed in, and having to balance the image out against the surrounding bright sky, but I think I like it more overall.
Hybrid zoom
Closing in on the steeple by doubling the respective zoom levels of both phones (7x on the OnePlus, 8x on the iPhone), brings us to the maximum lossless zoom that these phones offer, by combining physical and digital magnification.
Other than being closer to our subject, there's not much different to talk about in this pair of shots. The steeple is still darker for the iPhone, and brighter for the OnePlus, letting the Android phone grab a detail advantage.
Verdict
I was not expecting a competition this close, going by OnePlus' historic camera capabilities and the fact it no longer has help from Hasselblad. But it's taken a lot of thought to try and draw some conclusions and pick a winner.
OnePlus' tendency to brighten shots can be useful in certain situations, but can also lead to some muddy images. When it goes dark though, it goes really dark, as we saw in the nighttime comparison, which makes for some dramatic-looking shots.
If it weren't for the weird experience I had with the ultrawide camera, I'd be tempted to give this comparison to the OnePlus 15. But the consistency of the iPhone 17 Pro Max lets it snag yet another trophy for Apple's mantle.
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