The OnePlus 15 Is One of the Finest Mainstream Phones for Gamers

If you are a cell gamer, you recognize the bliss of taking part in wherever you wish to go — and the anxious draw back of draining your cellphone’s battery as you do. That’s why the OnePlus 15‘s huge 7,300-mAh battery makes this a promising handset for the discerning gamer on the go. Presumably, you can play for longer with out draining your cellphone right down to low capability.

The actuality is a bit more difficult, partially as a result of the OnePlus 15’s benefits will be diminished if graphics and the body charge are cranked as much as the max. It’s downside to have, because the cellphone’s premium specs give it the next ceiling for efficiency. However, players who aren’t cautious can drain their batteries practically as shortly as different top-tier telephones. 

Still, if you don’t need a gaming-specific cellphone just like the RedMagic 11 Pro or Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro, which are not simply obtainable within the US, the OnePlus 15 is a mainstream handset that provides premium specs and options, making it a good selection. 

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The OnePlus 15’s gaming expertise

Good specs, good show, first rate audio system

Battery life whereas gaming is vital, however we’ll set that apart for a second to deal with the expertise of taking part in video games themselves. While each variations of the cellphone pack the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, I used the pricier $1,000 model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which presumably performs higher than the cheaper $900 mannequin with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. I examined a handful of standard video games which are demanding sufficient to gauge the OnePlus 15’s capabilities. 

The impact: excessive graphics and clean gameplay. Aside from its high-end {hardware}, the OnePlus 15 additionally has a 6.78-inch OLED show with HD Plus (2,722 x1,272-pixel decision) and 165Hz most refresh charge. The latter is an enormous deal for gaming, however most video games will not hit that cap, as they’re usually set to 120 frames per second (fps) at most.

One of the few large video games that helps such a excessive refresh charge is Dead Cells, whose roguelike gameplay depends on response time. In principle, it helps an infinite body charge, however I could not inform a lot distinction between 120Hz and 165Hz — with extra frames per second (roughly one per hertz, so 165fps on the cellphone’s most), it ought to allow gamers to reply sooner, within the matter of microseconds. 

But I’ll be the primary one to confess that my clumsy fingers cannot hit the contact controls precisely sufficient to get that degree of fast response. That’s the place utilizing a third-party controller turns out to be useful, and the Backbone I had in my desk drawer labored amazingly properly. I plugged the OnePlus 15 in, and Dead Cells instantly converted to exterior controls, already mapping my assortment of weapons and objects to totally different buttons. In seconds, I used to be slipping in assaults between frantic sequences of dodge rolls and double jumps to evade enemy assaults. 

When I switched to Destiny Rising, the cell model of the venerable on-line shooter, the Backbone was a welcome expertise, giving me much more button controls at my fingertips. There’s much less of a efficiency hole when utilizing the bodily controller with Destiny Rising, because the contact controls work fairly properly, all issues thought of, in comparison with Dead Cells. Ditto with Diablo Immortal. 

The cell version of the hack-and-slash darkish fantasy recreation additionally has respectable contact controls; whereas there are a number of buttons on the display that block a number of the motion, they’re positioned in a manner that I do not hit them by chance and customarily faucet the one I imply to hit more often than not. 

Destiny Rising and Diablo Immortal look good with the graphics cranked as much as their most allowed, however curiously sufficient, they can not fairly attain the very best potential settings. That makes me wonder if there’s even a cellphone on the market that may, as a result of the OnePlus 15’s specs are practically one of the best you may get on a cellphone at the moment. Regardless, with options like reflections and excessive graphics turned on, Destiny Rising and Diablo Immortal have good visuals, someplace between a PS3/Xbox 360 and a PS4/Xbox One. Powerful as it’s, the OnePlus 15 cannot enhance the visuals on outdated video games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, however these with a definite model, like Genshin Impact, look good with the cellphone’s clean body charge.

This matches the OnePlus 15’s efficiency benchmark check outcomes from Geekbench 6 (which assessments the CPU) and 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme (which assessments the graphics). The OnePlus 15 achieved increased scores and body charges than another cellphone, apart from the RedMagic 11 Pro. While handsets within the iPhone 17 sequence weren’t far behind, older telephones are left within the mud — my two-year-old iPhone 15 Pro Max acquired half the scores and body charges that the OnePlus 15 did.

3DMark Wild Life Extreme

OnePlus 15 7,227RedMagic 11 Pro 8,074iPhone 17 4,885OnePlus 13 6,762

Geekbench 6.0

OnePlus 15 3,670 11,061RedMagic 11 Pro 3,683 11,664iPhone 17 3,612 9.18OnePlus 13 3,091 9,362

The large battery helps

But quick charging is rather more helpful

Aside from its highly effective specs, the OnePlus 15’s greatest flex is its 7,300-mAh battery, which is half once more as a lot capability because the 5,000-mAh batteries discovered on most premium telephones, just like the iPhone 17 Pro Max. This ought to result in longer playtime, and from anecdotal expertise, it does: the cellphone was at 2% once I began taking part in Dead Cells to hurry up the battery drain, and I managed to play for 45 minutes earlier than it mechanically shut right down to protect the remaining 1%. It’s potential that OnePlus intentionally undercounts the underside sliver of the battery to present individuals extra time (much like feeling such as you’re getting extra miles in your automobile than anticipated when the gasoline tank’s empty mild is on), but it surely nonetheless provides the sensation of longevity.

But outdoors of a handful of these examples, the capability benefit is extra muted than I anticipated. The OnePlus 15’s battery would not noticeably drain extra slowly throughout gameplay than rival telephones with smaller capability batteries. Some of this may be attributed to the cellphone’s increased graphics and body charge functionality, which considerably counteract this capability benefit. Crank them up too excessive and so they’ll drain battery life sooner.

I examined this out by taking part in Destiny Rising for 20 minutes with all graphics and body charge settings cranked as much as most, which drained 6% of the OnePlus 15’s battery. When I dropped the efficiency to the minimal settings for a equally timed session, it drained 5% of the battery — a small change, but it surely provides up. 

The OnePlus 15’s higher benefit, particularly for players with entry to energy retailers, is its recharging pace. The cellphone packs an 80-watt charger within the field. In my testing, it refilled from practically empty (1%) to 73% in half-hour and reached 100% in 45 minutes. That’s sooner than every little thing however the iPhone 17 sequence and Samsung Galaxy S25 FE in our assessments, all of which have smaller battery capacities. The cellphone additionally helps as much as 50-watt wi-fi charging, and since most wi-fi chargers prime out at 15 or 30 watts, good luck discovering one which’ll juice again up the OnePlus 15 at its most supported charge. The cellphone helps bypass charging, too, letting you play with out draining the battery whereas it is plugged in (so long as you may recreation with a wire protruding of the underside of the handset). 

While I used to be dissatisfied that the massive capability did not result in slower battery drain whereas taking part in video games, I used to be delighted by how shortly I might prime up the cellphone between classes. Heck, you may recharge it even sooner with the cellphone’s most 100-watt charging pace, should you choose up a separate OnePlus proprietary charger. It’s price noting that the bigger battery will nonetheless extend informal cellphone use that does not pressure the {hardware}, comparable to searching and utilizing apps.

Final confrontation

What the OnePlus 15 has for cell players over different telephones

I discovered the OnePlus 15 to be a stable cellphone throughout, and there is one thing to be stated a couple of high-performance handset that appeals to mainstream tastes. There are definitely followers of the “gamer chic” black, angled traces and RGB lights that characterize merchandise offered to the gaming demographic — issues that seem like equipment for Decepticons, together with the Asus ROG sequence of telephones. Personally, I just like the stylized artfulness of the OnePlus 15’s rounded corners, flat sides and clean matte again cowl.

Another benefit the OnePlus 15 has over gaming-specific telephones is a standard software program interface. CNET senior author Mike Sorrentino was pissed off by quite a few annoyances within the RedMagic 11 Pro’s software program, from bloatware to model watermarks on pictures toggled on by default. The OnePlus 15 has a standard interface with its OxygenOS 16 pores and skin on Android 16 — no excessive gamer aesthetic. The Game Assistant app is easy and I discover it mechanically amassing video games inside its folder to be helpful.

And crucially, the OnePlus 15 has far and away higher photograph capabilities than different gaming telephones. Its suite of three 50-megapixel rear cameras captured spectacular shade and element in a sequence of pictures showcasing the streets of Lisbon, Portugal, that have been shot by CNET’s proficient principal editor (and professional photographer in his personal proper) Andrew Lanxon. While they do not fairly attain the standard of a Samsung Galaxy S25 sequence or a Google Pixel 10, they’re respectably shut, and have the utility of essential, ultrawide and telephoto cameras.

The OnePlus 15 does have some drawbacks. Other gaming telephones have neat options, just like the Asus ROG 9 Pro’s exterior cooling fan and, crucially, its facet port for charging when you’re gaming. Worse, the OnePlus continues to lag opponents in providing solely 4 years of Android updates and 6 years of safety patches, which is notably lower than the seven years that Samsung and Google supply (Apple would not promise iOS updates, however usually manages six or extra years relying on the system). Other gaming telephones are worse, with the RedMagic 11 Pro receiving solely three years of Android updates, whereas the Asus ROG 9 Pro receives an abysmally low two years of working system updates. Even if the OnePlus 15 is healthier in comparison with gaming telephones, it isn’t nice to spend a couple of grand on a cellphone solely to see it cease receiving new, enjoyable software program options after half a decade.

There’s one other caveat to the OnePlus 15, which I would not take into account a dealbreaker for players. The cellphone’s 1,800-nit most show brightness is ok outside, however pales compared to its opponents; the iPhone 17 sequence, as an illustration, boasts a 3,000-nit peak brightness outside. But I would not anticipate many cell players to be taking part in outdoors anyway — I certain have not been whereas I’ve executed all this gamer science.