OnePlus 15

Not only equalling the competition, but outperforming them too

- 

From £849 oneplus.​com

A prolific phone maker releasing a new model shouldn't be a surprise, but the OnePlus 15 still manages to raise eyebrows with a specification that delivers above and beyond many of the best Android phones - especially its giant battery life, which is a cut above the rest.

The long-held Hasselblad camera partnership may have been axed, and the OnePlus 15’s new zoom optic and new DetailMax Engine can’t compete with Oppo’s Find X9 Pro (which is otherwise the same device in a different finish), but otherwise this would-be underdog is very much ticking all the right boxes for mainstream appeal at a lower price point than many.

OnePlus skipped the 14, so the OnePlus 13 is the model to compare the 15 to. And a lot has changed. The newer handset is marginally smaller and slimmer, with a screen that’s also shrunk by a mite and, as a result, has a lower resolution - but, honestly, you can’t tell.

The most prominent difference is that the camera island is no longer circular, but a rounded-off square that brings a new and more exciting look to the fore.

It’s the so-called Sand Storm finish that really stands out, though, as this fibreglass-backed design is cool to the touch, and feels ceramic-like thanks to being micro-arc oxidation finished. This process also makes it extra tough “3.4x tougher than aluminium and 1.3x tougher than titanium,” according to OnePlus. The finish manages to be different without being outlandish (save for the Ultra Violet version, meh), has a soft-touch feel that’s fingerprint-resistant, and after weeks of use, the unmarked frame has proven its toughness.

There's more, too, with the much larger battery capacity an obvious upgrade. The dual-cell design means fast-charging too, which is one of the OnePlus 15’s biggest sells.