EXCLUSIVE: The Daily Star’s resident ‘I am a OnePlus fanboy’ Adam Cailler has spent several days trying out the new OnePlus 15 device, and he’s made a bold apology
A really solid device
Alright, OnePlus – you’ve made a fool out of me. In the run up to the release of the OnePlus 15, I was annoyed to learn that you were ditching the much-loved alert slider.
It might seem petty to some, but as someone who has had all bar one OP phone since the launch of the OP1 many years ago (I’m old), the alert slider to me is something special.
It’s one of those quality of life things that I loved having, and was genuinely questioning the sanity of OP bosses when they confirmed they were ditching it.
Yes, it takes great cat pictures
I even had the chance to question one boss about it, and was told “wait and see what the OP15 brings to the table”. And credit where credit is due, the replacement is a winner – and all it is is just a little button on the side with many functions.
I set mine to do the same function as the now-gone alert slider, because I’m old and refuse to change my ways. Anyway, yes, this is a review of the new OnePlus 15, which I’ve spent the last few days using as my daily driver.
Firstly, the specs:
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm).
- OS: Android 16, ColorOS 16.
- Memory/Storage: Up to 1TB 16GB RAM (UFS 4.1).
- Display Type: LTPO AMOLED, 165Hz.
- Display Size/Resolution: 6.78 inches, $1272 \times 2772$ pixels.
- Display Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
- Battery Capacity: 7300 mAh.
- Wired Charging: 120W (50% in 15 min).
- Wireless Charging: 50W.
- Main Camera: 50 MP Wide (OIS), 50 MP Periscope Telephoto (3.5x optical zoom, OIS), 50 MP Ultrawide.
- Video Recording: 8K@30fps, 4K@120fps.
- Selfie Camera: 32 MP Wide.
- Water/Dust Resistance: IP68/IP69K.
- Sensors: Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), Gyro (UAV-grade).
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6/7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, Infrared port.
The phone itself has lost a little bit of the OP uniqueness that made me love the brand, and now looks a little bit like an iPhone – but the actual hardware is impressive – however it is a rather stunning device to look at, and feels great in the palm of your hand. I do acccept that it’s hard to make anything look unique in this day and age.
It has the largest battery of any phone on the market that most humans can buy, and is the first to debut the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It also comes out of the box with the new Oxygen OS 16, which is a huge step up in terms of an OS from OP.
Food pics came out great
Those three aspects combined really make this the smoothest phone around, and for the first time ever I was not worrying about having to find a charging port mid-afternoon.
Having spent a day out with the family, taking snaps and playing Pokemon Go while walking, the phone still had around 65% battery remaining at around 4pm – very impressive.
I haven’t used the new AI software much yet to make a comment, but it does seem to be a unique selling point for the device.
Now, for my final talking point – the camera.
This is the first year in about four years that OnePlus has ditched the Hassleblad partnership and returned to doing their own thing.
Whisper it quietly, but from the shots I’ve taken so far . . . this could be a good thing, and might finally end the several years of pain I’ve suffered with OP cameras.
Overall, I’m giving the OP15 a solid 9/10 – you will be hard-pressed to find a better phone for the price on the market today at just £879.
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