I love the OnePlus 15, but here are 5 reasons I’d recommend the OnePlus 15R instead

OnePlus typically launches its flagship with an R-branded companion. The latter is characterized by slightly less impactful specifications, including a relatively dull display, a less appealing camera, or a generation-old processor. This year, however, the OnePlus 15R has earned a separate launch, independent of the OnePlus 15‘s shadow. That’s because the gap between the two phones is closing, as they share several features on their spec sheets, and these similarities help elevate the OnePlus 15R closer to the status of a flagship Android phone — even though it’s still a flagship-killer at heart.

My colleague Joe Maring reviewed the OnePlus 15R and wasn’t quite convinced it is the appropriate update to the 13R, especially given the downgraded cameras, OxygenOS 16’s shift towards an iOS-like aesthetic, and a $100 price bump. While I don’t disagree, I view the OnePlus 15R as packing all the essential bits from the flagship 15, especially for those craving performance and longevity. And if you’re not looking for the swankiest of features, the OnePlus 15R may be worth your consideration.

While I have been enjoying the OnePlus 15 since its launch last month, here are five reasons I would still recommend the OnePlus 15R over it for most people.

One of the main reasons I mentioned the closing gap between the OnePlus 15 and the 15R is the display. The 15R also has a 165Hz AMOLED panel. While it uses an LTPS AMOLED panel, which is less advanced than the OnePlus 15’s LTPO, it is equally capable of running (certain supported) games at a charming 165fps.

Backing that ability on the OnePlus 15R is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. Despite its deficiencies compared to the latest Elite, this non-Elite variant delivers exciting performance. While the specifications, including core frequencies, position it below the Snapdragon 8 Elite, I found its performance to be strikingly close — at least while testing CPU capabilities using synthetic benchmarks, particularly Geekbench 6.

Although it packs a weaker GPU than the OnePlus 13 from earlier this year, I was amazed to see the OnePlus 15R barely ever heat up.

Even after running the intensive 3DMark’s Solar Bay Extreme stress test continuously for 20 iterations, the 15R’s external temperature never rose past 35ºC (95ºF). I measured the external temperatures on all three devices using an infrared camera attached via USB-C to an Android phone.

The OnePlus 15 rose to 38ºC (100ºF), while the OnePlus 13 went on to 42ºC (108ºF). And among the three, the OnePlus 15R was also the quickest to cool down.

Admittedly, the 15R’s GPU performance is also the weakest in the lot, as per 3DMark. And these results raised some concerns about its gaming capabilities. So I rushed to put my doubts to rest by testing its performance using some top-tier Android games.

With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, Qualcomm has attempted to recreate the impact of the Elite variant but at a lower price point. The price limit has also led to some performance cutbacks, as we saw above. But despite those deficiencies, OnePlus aims to deliver similar gaming benefits for those using the OnePlus 15R as with the flagship 15. That includes OnePlus’ Trinity Core Engine, which offers features such as resolution upscaling, HDR, frame rate enhancement, touch improvements, and more. And so it only makes sense to test OnePlus’ claims with actual games.

Call of Duty: Mobile is one of the titles that support 165 fps natively on the 15R, which made it my chief choice for testing. I ran a series of Team Deathmatches in COD:M for a 30-minute stretch, and the OnePlus 15R barely ever wavered from the 165fps mark.

Notably, choosing the higher refresh rate forces the graphics settings to Medium, disabling HDR, reflections, and shadows. Thankfully, OnePlus offers a workaround by artificially upscaling the resolution and overlapping the visuals with HDR. I hoped that this would stress the phone enough for its frame rates to dwindle, or at least reduce marginally, but it proved me wrong.

To confirm it performs similarly with heavier workloads, I ran another test using PUBG: Mobile. This time, I set the graphics to HDR, which typically supports 60fps output natively. OnePlus claims another solution to enhance the experience for some competitive titles, including PUBG:M, which uses frame interpolation (generating artificial frames between actual frames to boost smoothness).

And thankfully, the feature isn’t a mere gimmick. While testing PUBG:M, I found the OnePlus 15R consistently ran at 120 fps, with occasional drops when a bomb dropped in my vicinity or during cutscenes while I was respawning.

More interestingly, the OnePlus 15R barely felt warm after several minutes of pushing it to the edge, trying to crank out every frame it could.

I recently tested gaming on the OnePlus 15, intending to melt the phone. And while the OnePlus 15 absolutely stunned me with its grip over modern Android titles, I felt the raw power underutilized and more suited for emulating, which only a fraction of people will actually indulge in.

So, the OnePlus 15R’s power more than suffices, even for the most elite gamers.

Aiding the faster (read: closer to flagship) processor on the OnePlus 15R is fast storage, identical to that on the OnePlus 15. Both the 256GB and 512GB variants use UFS 4.1 storage, which is not only the fastest we’ve seen on Android phones but also faster than the previous flagship, the OnePlus 13.

The newer storage version boosts read speeds, which, in theory, should improve game loading times, among other benefits. In my testing, I noticed a nearly 25% increment in the sequential read speeds compared to the OnePlus 13, and identical speeds to the OnePlus 15.

You could also imagine copying files to or from external sources, taking a similar, if not less, amount of time on the OnePlus 15R as on the 15.

A slightly better battery experience than the OnePlus 15

The OnePlus 15R also gains a marginally larger — 7,400 mAh silicon-carbon — battery than the OnePlus 15. While the extra 100mAh of battery capacity doesn’t seem like a big bump, it can result in a longer backup, thanks to the chipset sipping slightly less juice.

On my usual day outside the office, the OnePlus 15R barely drops about 30–35% with messaging on the go, constant 5G and hotspot running, and some doomscrolling in breaks. A single charge easily goes for 48-plus hours, with an average screen usage of 3 hours a day.

With some more demanding labor, such as running competitive first-person shooting games, including the ones I mentioned above, the battery can still dish out 18–20 hours per charge, allowing me to roam without the added bulk of the charging brick.

And, in times when I need the charger to do its work, the OnePlus 15R doesn’t disappoint; it gets 80W fast wired charging across all markets. If you’re not in North America, that translates to slightly slower charging than the 120W supported on the OnePlus 15. However, if you are in the US or Canada, your friends planning to buy the OnePlus 15 will not be able to brag about faster charging since it also gets 80W wired charging in the region (sadly, though, you only get a 55W charger in the box and will have to buy the 80W one separately). They might still try to pull you down for the lack of wireless charging, but you could perhaps remind them about the lack of proper Qi2 support.

But if you’re not the kind to be impacted by the lack of wireless charging, the OnePlus 15R flies. The 80W takes slightly longer than the OnePlus 15, but it’s still better than devices such as the Galaxy S25 or iPhone 17, whose charging rates peak but then drop off quickly. The OnePlus 15R delivers a consistent charging rate until it reaches around 90% battery, which suffices for an entire day of outdoor usage.

All of the benefits I tallied above make the OnePlus 15R look like a good offering, though not better than the OnePlus 15. However, that perspective fades away immediately when the prices of the two phones are taken into account. For most use cases, especially in terms of performance and battery life, the OnePlus 15R stands neck and neck with the OnePlus 15 — while offering better value for your buck.

The OnePlus 15R starts at $699.99 in the US, which is $200 cheaper than the standard 15. For that price difference, you get an additional telephoto camera, a bigger ultrawide-angle camera, slightly faster wired charging, and support for wireless charging. Like I mentioned in the beginning, you need to be mindful of the middling camera and OnePlus’ growing tilt towards an iOS-inspired interface.

More importantly, as I mentioned in my gaming test above, the OnePlus 15’s hardware feels excessive and overkill, even for most modern Android games. Its actual advantage is only useful if you’re using it to emulate heavier PC games on the phone, though I doubt a large chunk of OnePlus 15 or 15R buyers will actually do that.

Among other upgrades, the OnePlus 15R also gets a superfast ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, similar low-light eye protection features, and Dolby Vision compatibility.

In essence, the OnePlus 15R is nearly as good as the OnePlus 15 for most people. And a similar promise for four years of software updates makes it as compelling as the 15. And unless you need unwaveringly top-notch performance, primarily for bragging rights, the OnePlus 15R will serve as an excellent choice.