I used the OnePlus 15R so you don't have to: The camera downgrades and price hike effectively make this phone dead on arrival — get the 13R while you still can

I thought the OnePlus 15R would be like the 12R or 13R, where you get a device that makes you question why $1,000 flagships even exist. However, the device that landed at my desk is closer to the 10R, which was so bland and forgettable I didn't even bother reviewing it.

The second issue is with the launch itself — who launches a phone a week ahead of Christmas? I was looking forward to just cranking out end-of-year posts and taking a well-deserved break, but OnePlus obviously had other ideas, so I'll do my best to keep this as short as possible.

The OnePlus 15R is billed as the affordable alternative to the OnePlus 15, and it comes with a same design, even bigger 7,400mAh battery, and has the same software. And as with the OnePlus 15, the 15R costs more while giving you less, with the device retailing for ₹47,999 ($531) in India and $699 in the U.S. — a $100 increase over the 13R. The 12GB/512GB model costs ₹52,999 ($586) in India and $799 in the U.S., and there's no 16GB RAM, as is increasingly becoming the case.

OnePlus settled with the 15R design

I don't like the OnePlus 15, and I like the OnePlus 15R even less; the design just doesn't do it for me, and I feel that this is a downgrade to what was arguably one of the best phone designs of 2024. Look, I like that it doesn't wobble when I'm using it on a desk, and the new ultrasonic module is pretty good. But other than that, there isn't anything remotely exciting about the 15R, and it is about as interesting as a middle seat on a 16-hour flight (trust me).

It's almost as if the designers had a month at an exotic location design inspiration journey to come up with the look of the phone, had a whale of a time, realized on the last day that they didn't get any actual work done, and just stretched out the 13s to "create" a new device.

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The only fun thing with the design is an Electric Violet color variant, but in characteristic OnePlus fashion, it is limited to India. Now, I would've had something to talk about the design had I got that variant, but there just isn't much to say about the black model other than it's mundane.

Thankfully, the device gets the same IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance as the OnePlus 15, so you can use it outdoors without any worries. That said, the phone uses the custom Panda glass, and it isn't quite as resilient to tumbles as Corning's solution.

Cameras you'll be embarrassed to use in public

The biggest issue is with the camera; the OnePlus 15R doesn't have a telephoto lens, instead offering a 50MP main camera and an 8MP wide-angle lens. Last year's OnePlus 13R came with a 50MP telephoto (which was actually good!), so you're basically getting a phone that's not even as good as its predecessor.

Obviously, this was something I asked the manufacturer in a product briefing, and I got a truly ridiculous answer: OnePlus says that its DetailMax imaging engine is so good that it didn't see the need to fit a dedicated telephoto lens on the 15R. Great! Now we can tell OPPO, Vivo, Samsung, Google, Huawei, Honor, and all the other brands to ditch their efforts in this area, and focus solely on software.

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There's just one issue: OnePlus' claims don't hold up at all in real-world use. The OnePlus 15R has objectively worse cameras than the 13R, and the lack of a telephoto lens is egregious enough to be a deal-breaker. But hey, OnePlus says the 15R has the best selfie camera of any of its phones, using the same module as last year's OnePlus 13s.

The main camera itself is decent — it uses the same Sony IMX906 module as the OnePlus 15, and it does a good enough job in challenging situations. I don't have an issue with the main camera, but it is annoying to see OnePlus once again intentionally hobble the device by not including a tele lens.

You get great internals — and the same old foibles

OnePlus put a 6.83-inch 1.5K LTPS AMOLED panel on the 15R, and it is very good. It has standout colors, gets bright, and is easy on the eyes. It doesn't go down to 1Hz, and while it is billed as a 165Hz panel, it doesn't use the 144Hz or 165Hz modes outside of six games. In all other scenarios, you get the same 120Hz refresh as all other devices in this category.

It's annoying that most games are still limited to 60fps, and although OnePlus says it is focusing on gaming, I don't see that in real-world use. The phone does a good job while gaming, and the bigger panel is particularly good in this regard, but I would've liked to see it hit its full potential.

On that note, the device is powered by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, and I'm just as confused as you are when it comes to Qualcomm's naming convention. It isn't clocked as high as this year's Elite variant, and you get pretty good performance — it is similar to that of last year's iQOO 13. OnePlus says it added a new 360-degree cooling system on the device, but it doesn't do much to curtail overheating.

Another new feature OnePlus added is a G2 Wi-Fi module, noting that it delivers better connectivity. Having used the phone, I didn't see a difference in connectivity versus other devices that use Qualcomm's built-in Wi-Fi modem, and I don't really understand why OnePlus even bothered.

OnePlus indicated that the DRAM situation isn't going to cause any bottlenecks, but it's clear that it is affected seeing as how there's no 16GB model this time: both the 256GB and 512GB storage variants come with 12GB of RAM as standard.

There's no doubt that the battery is the best feature on the 15R. The 7,400mAh battery is even bigger than that on the regular model, and it lasts up to two days without issues. Even with heavy use, you can easily get it to last a day and a half, and it uses 80W charging tech. It isn't a silicon battery, and you get a single-cell design to maximize density, but the battery life itself is among the best in this category.

Don't buy the OnePlus 15R

I don't usually recommend older phones, but I will do so wholeheartedly here. The OnePlus 15R just isn't worth your time or money, and if you've been waiting to buy a value-focused flagship, you should just get the 13R while it's still available. It's clear that OnePlus doesn't want to sell good phones any longer, and I thought the downgrades with the regular OnePlus 15 were a one-off — that isn't the case.

Thankfully, the OnePlus 13R continues to be a good phone as we head into 2026, and it should last you several years.