Game on with this new phone suited a lot for gamers

For the past couple of years, OnePlus’ R series has offered some of the best mid-range Android phones money can buy, and with flagship phone prices set to spiral upwards, is the 15R the best bet for folks who are unwilling to shell out the big bucks? Crucially, do the performance and battery upgrades justify the compromises made to hit the lower price point? That comes down to where you’re starting from.

All you need to know about OnePlus 15R

Keeping the design language in line with its flagship sibling, the 15R inherits the squared off metal frame, frosted glass for the rear panel and the offset rectangular camera on the rear It’s slightly larger than the OnePlus 15 across all three dimensions, on account of a marginally bigger display and a slightly thicker screen bezel. Even so, it’s easy to handle in everyday use and feels impressively light for a device with a 7400mAh battery, and it’s just as durable as the 15, with IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K ratings for water and dust resistance. Fit and finish was apt for the price point, and color options range from subtle (black) and interesting (mint) to snazzy (violet). If you rued the replacement of the alert slider with the new customisable Plus key on the 15, the 15R follows the same, slightly controversial path.

New to the R series is the 165Hz refresh rate 6.83-inch display which, coupled with the 1.5K resolution, delivers a strong multimedia and gaming experience, although the benefits of the faster refresh rate are seen only in select games. There’s a tradeoff – the 13R’s LTPO panel was able to drop down as low as 1Hz, whereas the 15R’s LTPS variety can only switch between preset refresh rate modes, including 60Hz, 120Hz, and 165Hz. Now, I get the big-number-spec-appeal of a 165Hz display, particularly for gamers, but the power efficiency of a LTPO panel cannot be denied. Fortunately, battery life on the 15R is downright ridiculously good, taking casual users past the two-day mark or well past a day even for heavy users. 80W charging tops the capacious battery up in an hour, and I like the fact that it supports bypass charging to power the phone directly without impacting battery health. No wireless charging, for what it’s worth. 

OnePlus made its performance-first position apparent with the OnePlus 15, and even as the 15R debuts with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (a pared-down version of the flagship 8 Elite Gen 5) paired with 12GB of fast LPDDR5X Ultra memory and up to 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage, it performs exceptionally well across every aspect of phone use – loading and multitasking between apps, opening way too many browser tabs and playing Call of Duty: Mobile with very high graphics and maximum frame rate settings. Thermals are well managed, with the phone getting mildly warm only after nearly 45 minutes of heavy gameplay. OxygenOS 16 based on Android 16 is just as compelling as on the OnePlus 15, though one does wish for a longer software update policy than the four years of major OS upgrades and six years of security updates. 

Cameras have been a mixed bag, particularly if you compare it to its predecessor – you get a 50-megapixel Sony IMX906 sensor for the primary, which turns out good colors, accurate exposure and strong detail levels in ample lighting – OnePlus’ DetailMax engine with a strong showing again - but it struggles with both exposure and details in low light. The 8-megapixel ultrawide is the same as the 13R, but the quality drop compared to the primary shooter is noticeable. Unlike the 13R, the 15R omits the telephoto lens altogether and relies on the primary camera for portraits. Gamers may not care as much about the camera output, but others sure will.

Now, here’s the thing – you could pick up the 15R and save yourself a pretty packet over the OnePlus 15, while still getting a performance and battery beast. Or you could forgo these benefits, opt for a superior display and a telephoto camera, and save yourself a bit more while the OnePlus 13R is still available for sale. 

Rating: 8/10

Price: Rs. 47,999 (12/256), Rs. 52,999 (12/512)

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