If you’re in the market for a high-end OnePlus phone, then you now have two devices to choose from — there’s the flagship OnePlus 15 and the OnePlus 15R, the latter of which is both slightly newer and a fair bit cheaper.

These are both impressive devices on paper, and we know they impress in practice too, especially the OnePlus 15, which is among the few phones we’ve awarded a full five-star review score to.

But exactly how do they compare? What’s different between them? And which should you buy? To help you answer those questions, we’ve compared the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 15R in full below.

OnePlus 15 vs OnePlus 15R: specs comparison

Before we look in depth at these two handsets, the chart below gives you a glimpse of all their key specs.

OnePlus 15 vs OnePlus 15R: price and availability

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The OnePlus 15 launched in October 2025, and it’s available now in the US and UK. It starts at $899.99 / £849, for which you get 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but there’s also a model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $999.99 / £979.

The OnePlus 15R was announced in December 2025 and began shipping in January 2026. It starts at $699.99 / £649, which gets you a model with 256GB of storage, and that price rises to $799.99 / £729 for one with 512GB — in both cases, you'll get 12GB of RAM.

That makes the starting price of the OnePlus 15R some $200 / £200 less than that of the OnePlus 15. Neither phone is available in Australia.

Winner: OnePlus 15R

OnePlus 15 vs OnePlus 15R: design

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The OnePlus 15 has an aluminum alloy frame, a glass back (unless you grab the fiberglass-reinforced plastic ‘Sand Storm’ model), and comes in at 161.4 x 76.7 x 8.1mm and either 211g or 215g (depending on the finish you choose).

The phone has Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the front, either Gorilla Glass 7i or Crystal Shield Glass on the back, and it has both IP68 and IP69K ratings, giving it extensive water resistance.

As well as Sand Storm (a very pale brown), it’s available in Infinite Black and Ultra Violet colors, and it has a squarish camera block, with our OnePlus 15 review describing the phone as having “extreme durability and classy looks.”

The OnePlus 15R also has an aluminum alloy frame, along with either a glass back or a fiber-reinforced plastic back, and it has Gorilla Glass 7i protection for the screen.

It comes in at 163.4 x 77 x 8.3mm and either 214g (for the Charcoal Black model) or 215g (for the Mint Breeze version). It also has more water resistance than most phones, with both IP68 and IP69K ratings, and it has a similar overall design to the OnePlus 15, just with a smaller, more rectangular camera block.

In all, the OnePlus 15R is marginally less durable, due to the use of Gorilla Glass 7i rather than Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection on the front, and it’s slightly thicker too. But otherwise, there isn't much to choose between these two phones as far as their designs and builds go, and all that water resistance makes both of them tougher than the average handset.

Winner: OnePlus 15

OnePlus 15 vs OnePlus 15R: display

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The OnePlus 15 has a 6.78-inch 1272 x 2772 AMOLED screen with a 165Hz refresh rate, around 450 pixels per inch, and an 1,800-nit high brightness mode, while the OnePlus 15R has an even larger 6.83-inch 1272 x 2800 AMOLED screen that can match the OnePlus 15’s for refresh rate, pixels per inch, and brightness.

So, there's little to choose between these two screens other than their size, with our reviewer saying the OnePlus 15R has a "very responsive and colorful" display, while our review of the OnePlus 15 said its “excellent display is bright and colorful”.

Winner: tie

OnePlus 15 vs OnePlus 15R: cameras

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The OnePlus 15 has a 50MP f/1.8 wide camera, a 50MP f/2.0 ultra-wide camera (with a 116-degree field of view), a 50MP f/2.8 telephoto camera (offering 3.5x optical zoom), and a 32MP f/2.4 front-facing camera.

The OnePlus 15R, on the other hand, has the same 50MP f/1.8 wide camera, but it’s joined by an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide (with a 112-degree field of view) and a 32MP f/2.0 front-facing camera.

For video, both phones can record in up to 4K quality at up to 120fps, but the OnePlus 15 can additionally record in 8K quality at 30fps.

So, this is one area in which there are major differences between the two phones, with the OnePlus 15R lacking a telephoto camera and having far fewer megapixels in its ultra-wide camera than the OnePlus 15, as well as slightly worse video recording capabilities.

In our OnePlus 15 review, we said its “excellent camera quality beats anything at this price range”, which is something we can't quite say about the OnePlus 15R. Still, we found that phone to be capable of capturing natural colors and impressive low-light photos, albeit with the main camera, rather than its (non-existent) zoom lens.

Winner: OnePlus 15

OnePlus 15 camera samples

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OnePlus 15R camera samples

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OnePlus 15 vs OnePlus 15R: performance and software

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The OnePlus 15 has a top-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset paired with either 12GB or 16GB of RAM, while the OnePlus 15R has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset (so not the ‘Elite’ version) and 12GB of RAM.

The OnePlus 15, then, has the more powerful chipset, and it tops out at 4GB more RAM. In our review, we said this phone offers “stellar performance”.

But while the OnePlus 15R can't quite match it for on-paper power, both its chipset and RAM amount should allow for a very decent amount of power. Indeed, as our reviewer noted, "the OnePlus 15R feels every bit like a flagship phone in everyday use. Scrolling through apps is as smooth as you’d want it to be, and when running multiple apps at one time through Open Canvas, the phone never buckled under the pressure.

"The only instance where I could see a noticeable gap between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 and the even more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 was when loading in larger areas in Honkai: Star Rail. This is quite a demanding game for those who haven’t played it, but I was impressed to see that, outside of those moments, the combat and exploitation ran to a high standard on the OnePlus 15R."

As far as software goes, there's nothing to choose between the two phones, with both running OxygenOS 16, which is OnePlus’s take on Android 16.

Winner: OnePlus 15

OnePlus 15 vs OnePlus 15R: battery

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Interestingly, the OnePlus 15R actually has the on-paper edge when it comes to battery capacity, as it has a 7,400mAh cell, while the OnePlus 15 has a 7,300mAh equivalent. But because the OnePlus 15R also has a slightly bigger screen and a less efficient chipset, its actual battery life is worse than that of its more premium sibling.

Neither of these phones should run out of juice fast, though. Indeed, our OnePlus 15 reviewer managed to eke out three (yes, three!) days of use from the phone, which is among the longest battery life we've ever recorded in testing. The OnePlus 15R, meanwhile, managed to last for a similarly respectable two days, which is mightily impressive given the phone's mid-range price.

One other advantage the OnePlus 15 has over the 15R is charging power, as it supports up to 120W wired charging, 50W wireless charging, and 10W reverse wireless charging. The OnePlus 15R, on the other hand, tops out at a still impressive 80W wired charging and doesn’t support wireless or reverse wireless charging.

Neither phone has built-in magnets, but OnePlus does sell MagSafe-compatible cases for both.

Winner: OnePlus 15

OnePlus 15 vs OnePlus 15R: verdict

The biggest difference between the OnePlus 15 and the OnePlus 15R might simply be their respective prices, with the 15R costing $200 / £200 less than its flagship sibling.

So, what do you miss out on as a result? The OnePlus 15R lacks a telephoto camera and has fewer megapixels in its ultra-wide lens; it tops out at less RAM, and uses a slightly less powerful chipset.

Its charging power is also lower — but it still has most other phones beat — and there’s no wireless charging.

But other than that, most things are the same or similar, and the OnePlus 15R actually has a marginally larger screen, so it has some advantages over its pricier sibling.

So, while the OnePlus 15 is undoubtedly the better phone overall, the OnePlus 15R is a very tempting alternative to a superb flagship.

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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.