OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: All the expected differences

It's no secret I can't wait until the OnePlus 15R arrives. I've been a big fan of the last two R series devices released by OnePlus, and with the phone maker confirming that a OnePlus 15R will follow the release of the OnePlus 15, I'm about to learn if lightning can strike a third time. And that also means it's time to consider a OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R comparison.

The OnePlus 15 is OnePlus' latest flagship phone, and it's a winner, with my colleague John Velasco calling it the best Android phone out there right now. We'll see if that contention holds up after next year's Galaxy S26 release, but the epic battery life, pace-setting performance and improved AI and camera features on the OnePlus 15 will make it tough to beat.

Of course, the OnePlus 15 could face competition closer to home when the OnePlus 15R shows up. OnePlus' R models scale back on a few features like the chipset, screen size and camera specs in exchange for a lower price. But a few early announcements from OnePlus suggest that the gap in features may not be as big as you'd imagine.

We don't know everything about the OnePlus 15R just yet. But we have enough details plus our own time with the OnePlus 15 to do a preliminary OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R comparison in advance of the latter phone's release.

OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Price and availability

The OnePlus 15 debuted last month, though its global rollout is ongoing. U.S. pre-orders for the OnePlus 15 started just last week.

As for the OnePlus 15R, the OnePlus website is teasing an announcement on December 17. We expect to get more details then, including how much the 15R costs.

You can buy the OnePlus 15 for $899 / £899, which matches the starting price of its predecessor. That would seem to suggest the price of the OnePlus 15R would match what OnePlus charged for the OnePlus 13R when that phone debuted at the start of 2025. If true, we're talking about a phone in the $599 / £679 price range.

Some R series models have cost less, like the OnePlus 12R, which was available in the U.S. for $499. Of course, that model offered just 128GB in storage, while the OnePlus 13R featured 256GB. You'd expect that trend to continue with the OnePlus 15R.

OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Design and display

OnePlus hasn't had much to say about the design of the OnePlus 15R, though the images it's posted of the upcoming phone show a less wide camera array than the one that adorns the back of the OnePlus 15.

In the past, the R model has been slightly smaller than the flagship, but with the OnePlus 15 offering a 6.78-inch display to the OnePlus 13's 6.82-inch panel, it's possible the 15R's screen could be smaller, too. OnePlus has confirmed that the 15R will share a 165Hz refresh rate with its latest flagship.

Another thing in common with the OnePlus 15 figures to be durability. The new OnePlus flagship boasts IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K ratings for water resistance, with the last two designations indicating that the OnePlus 15 can withstand high-pressure water jets at 176-degree Fahrenheit temperatures. The OnePlus 15R website lists those same durability ratings.

Images of the OnePlus 15R show off the phone in black and mint colors. You can grab a OnePlus 15 in black, violet and Sand Storm colors.

OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Cameras

OnePlus has also been mum about the camera setup for the OnePlus 15R, though the OnePlus Ace 6 — the phone the 15R most closely resembles — features a main camera and ultrawide lens in its rear camera array. If that crosses over to the 15R, that would mean no telephoto lens like there is on the OnePlus 15 — and also notably on the OnePlus 13R.

The OnePlus website does point to 4K 120fps video capture for the OnePlus 15R. That would match a OnePlus 15 feature and improve upon the 4K 60fps support offered by the OnePlus 13R.

While camera specs remain unconfirmed, we do have a sense of what kind of output the OnePlus 15R cameras are capable of. My colleague John Velasco got a chance to shoot some preliminary images with the OnePlus 15R alongside the Pixel 9a and iPhone 16e.

OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Performance

In the past, OnePlus has equipped its flagship with the latest high-end silicon from Qualcomm while using the previous year's top chipset for its R series model. The OnePlus 15 holds up its end of that equation, with the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 running the show. When we benchmarked the OnePlus 15, we saw the new phone post better CPU and graphics numbers than Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered devices like the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

You would think that Snapdragon 8 Elite silicon would be slated for the OnePlus 15R since it's now a year old, but OnePlus has confirmed other plans. It's going to use a newer Qualcomm chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 — a variant of the Elite chipset inside the OnePlus 15.

The CPU on board the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 isn't as fast as the Elite version of the chip, and the GPU and NPU take a step back as well. Still, the performance gap between the OnePlus 15 and 15R doesn't figure to be as notable as with past OnePlus models, given we're talking about the same family of silicon.

OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Battery life and charging

The OnePlus 15 sets the standard for battery life, blowing away all other phones we've tested with a 25-hour-plus time on our custom battery test. The next closest device with the best phone battery life topped out at 20.5 hours.

Part of the credit for that strong performance belongs to the OnePlus 15's massive battery — a silicon-carbon power pack that's able to squeeze in more capacity in the same amount of space. As a result, the OnePlus 15 is drawing on a 7,300 mAh battery to stay charged for multiple days at a time.

Here's the interesting part: the OnePlus 15R battery is set to be slightly larger. OnePlus confirms that the 15R will have a 7,400 mAh power pack — presumably because it's using the same silicon carbon technology to feature increased capacity.

OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Software and AI

Like the OnePlus 15, the OnePlus 15R is set to debut with Android 16 already installed. In addition, OnePlus is advertising the same Plus Mind feature for the 15R that appears on the OnePlus 15. With Plus Mind, you can grab a screenshot and use AI to retrieve the details later on.

I'd imagine any AI feature the OnePlus 15 offers will also be available on the OnePlus 15R. That was the case when we ran a OnePlus 13 vs. OnePlus 13R comparison earlier this year.

OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R: Outlook

The reason I'm so bullish on the OnePlus R phones is that they closely resemble the OnePlus flagships without costing so much. Things like battery life and AI capabilities have tended to be comparable on past R models, and areas where there are trade-offs, like performance and camera,s don't see too great a drop-off.

We'll see if that holds when our OnePlus 15 vs. OnePlus 15R face-off becomes a reality. But the early features confirmed by OnePlus offer an encouraging look.

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